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The question

Who alive today do you admire most, and what draws you to them?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

The Guardian's Q&A repeatedly uses this prompt, sometimes dropping 'living' while retaining the same comparative judgment.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

LC
Lee Child
Recorded said elsewhere, not written here
The exact median middle-aged black woman in the US. If hard work guaranteed success, she’d be the most successful person on the planet. But she isn’t, yet she keeps on going.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 June 2025 source ↗

Mentioned in this answer

Others on this question

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Dawn O'Porter British writer, director, and television presenter
My Auntie Jane. She took me in, aged 10, and, after my mother died, healed my broken heart by filling our dining room with food and people. Still cooking at the grand old age of 89. My icon.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 August 2026 source ↗
Rebecca Lucy Taylor
Julie Hesmondhalgh – she’s the kindest, brightest, most truthful woman. She’s so talented, works hard, cares about the right things, puts her energy in the right places. I adore her.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 November 2025 source ↗
Jason Byrne Irish comedian
My mother, because she raised all of us. I do have a dad, but in those days dads never helped with the kids.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 November 2012 source ↗
Ed Harris American actor and director
My father. He has treated every person he has met with kindness and respect.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 August 2007 source ↗

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Shirley Hughes, Stephen Fry, Bill Bryson, James Corden, Ted Danson, Jennifer Egan

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