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.
I feel almost certain I don't know them. It would be one of these types who dedicate their lives to the welfare of others, whereas the people I tend to know are people making stories out of the dramas of themselves.
Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, November 2016 source ↗
My mam, dad and sister, who have all been through an incredible amount. They’ve all had health problems and have come through with strength, grace and positivity.
Victoria Rose, a British surgeon operating on children in Gaza.
Clive Stafford Smith. He campaigns for prisoners on death row in the US.
My mom. She has been a fashion designer and run a catering business.
Protect the time and space in which you write. Keep everybody away from it, even the people who are most important to you.
Don’t romanticise your “vocation”. You can either write good sentences or you can’t. There is no “writer’s lifestyle”. All that matters is what you leave on the page.
Reading quietly, in high grass, among loved ones (who are also quietly reading). Followed by a boozy lunch.
Violent death. Death generally.
Narcissism, solipsism.
Oblivious to the event or on the brink of a genuine religious conversion.
Ruth Jones, Ronald Harwood, Julian Clary, Jane Asher, Reece Shearsmith, Abi Morgan
Search the directory for somebody in particular.