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.
Probably Daniel Barenboim. His blend of insane talent, intellect, and profound humanitarianism is one that comes along very, very rarely. I would put Martina Navratilova and Stephen Sondheim in a tie for second.
Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, June 2015 source ↗
Mandela. Also, artists and painters. I admire people who are creative.
Geoffrey's widow, Alma.
My mother, Hannah: nearly 82, mother of four, homemaker, retired GP and knitter extraordinaire.
My dad, because he is full of integrity and good humour; and my grandad, because he's full of the same.
Being found out.
My laziness. Not in work-related matters, but social laziness. Thank-you letters, organization, that sort of thing.
Over two weeks, in a pleasant fug of palliative morphine if necessary. Just time to say a cheerful good-bye to everyone.
Lying in one of two twin hammocks on an English lawn in June. A glass of something cool and vinous is balanced on my tummy. A speaker hanging above the tree plays Glenn Gould. A Wodehouse novel is spread-eagled on my chest. I will pick it up in a moment. Oh, the other hammock is occupied by my beloved husband.
Jane Asher, Julian Clary, Isla Fisher, Audra McDonald, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Ruth Jones
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