A detective, a train driver on the underground and Leyton Orient’s centre forward.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 July 2023 source ↗
The question
As a child, what career or life did you imagine for yourself?Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
This is a standing question in The Guardian's decades-long The Q&A and also recurs independently in career and life interviews.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
A detective, a train driver on the underground and Leyton Orient’s centre forward.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 July 2023 source ↗
I always wanted to play tennis. Otherwise, I always thought it would be fun to do something in mathematics or physics.
Something in comedy. It was either this or Jimi Hendrix.
A jazz drummer.
A soldier and adventure guy.
My cello. At the time, in 1983, it was £192,500.
When the surgeon told me I wouldn’t be able to play the cello again, in 2013. I have a herniated disc and it’s pressing on a nerve in my neck. I announced I was stopping playing in 2014. I absolutely did not want to stop.
When I was 16, I’d just won full scholarships to both the Royal Academy and the Royal College of Music, and felt like the world was my oyster.
Our beautiful cat was so ill that we were hours away from having her put down. Somehow, we’ve managed to nurse her back to full health again.
I’m president of my neighbourhood association. At my first meeting there was a discussion about developments the association should oppose. I said: “Nothing could be as bad as that horrible new house next to the church.” “I designed that,” the chairman replied. I shut up.
Frightening, exhilarating and all-consuming.
Salman Rushdie, Serena Williams, Daphne Guinness, Paul O'Grady, Chris Hoy, James Blunt
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