off the record

Counting down

I’m sitting in a concert hall listening to the pre-match ritual. Harpist is tuning. Trumpeter is checking some corners. One of my fellow horn players is alone up at the […]

Rugby

I was there

Take me home, where I belong

In brief

LettersOfNote: I’m a lousy copywriter

“If all else fails, I drink half a bottle of rum and play a Handel oratorio on the gramophone. This generally produces an uncontrollable gush of copy.” A brilliant letter […]

Style

1936: With that coat, she should ask him in

I’m a huge fan of the vintage ad illustrations and editorial copy-writing of the 1930s: the prose has the style and flair of the tailoring. Here’s a classic! Esquire, […]

Food

Gin o’clock

One of the unusual literary things everyone should do at least once is to read the Bond novels in their original form. Ian Fleming was at times a fairly awful […]

In brief

Hold the front page

If you haven’t had chance to see the Storyville documentary about the New York Times on BBC4, I’d recommend it. Journalists are a unique bunch. I’ve worked with them all […]

In brief

Saw this letter today: superb

Credit to the always excellent “Letters of Note” blog. The price for ridding society of bad is always high.

America

Obama does God, and that’s a good thing

In speaking for the nation, President Obama has reclaimed religion from the right. And America is better for it. The president is the voice of a nation. No words can […]

Long read

For the love of rugby

“Whoso would be a man must be a non-conformist, and preferably play in the pack.”

America

His words defined an era

RIP Ted Sorensen, JFK confidante and master of words.

Long read

Keep our valleys. Tidy.

Why the valleys matter

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