Lee Child: When were you most embarrassed?

The question

Originally asked

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

A verbatim recurring question in The Guardian's Q&A series.

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

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

Appearing on US breakfast radio. I heard the DJ say that after the news we would hear from the author Lincoln Child. I had to choose between making a guy with a mixed-up PR release look like an idiot or pretending to be Lincoln. I pretended.

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

Others on this question

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Frank Bowling

In the 1950s I went to the Chelsea Arts Club’s New Year’s Eve ball at the Royal Albert Hall dressed as a Christmas pudding, with swimming trunks under my costume and holly in my hair.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 June 2026 source ↗

Seann Walsh

At school, I got my head stuck in a balustrade on the stairs at lunchtime. I had pupils laughing at me, parents laughing at me, teachers laughing at me and eventually, at the end of the day, the fire brigade laughing at me.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 31 January 2026 source ↗

Jared Harris

Where do I begin?

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 February 2025 source ↗

Meghann Fahy

In my 20s I was in a show called The Unauthorised Autobiography of Samantha Brown. The actor who played my dad messed up his lines and it made me laugh so hard that I ended up peeing my pants.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 April 2026 source ↗

More from Lee Child

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Question What lesson has mattered most in your life? Time & hindsight

Do the secret thing you know you were born to do.

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

Question Who alive today do you admire most, and what draws you to them? Values & belief

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.

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