Cometo ANOLDIE LITERARY

LUNCH SePage 65

C O N T E N T S

THE OBAs TheOldieBritish rtists Award Sepage 52

FEATURES & REGULARS

7 The Old Un’s Diary 12 What Went Wrong with Parky?

Jeremy Hornsby 14 House Husbandry Giles Wood 16 Modern Life What is rewilding? 16 Olden Life What was a maître d’? 17 Profitable Wonders James Le Fanu 18 A Night at the Opera Stafford Dean 20 Pearls of Wisdom Melanie McFadyean 21 Notes from the Sofa Raymond Briggs 23 Granny Annexe Virginia Ironside 25 I Once Met… Boy George 26 God… Melanie McDonagh 26 …Mammon Margaret Dibben 27 Fashion Tamasin Doe 28 Dr Stuttaford’s Surgery Tourette’s;

care in general practice 30 Roving Reporter John Sweeney 32 Rant Sonali Chapman 32 Wilfred De’Ath Slumming it 35 Brave New World Jane Thynne 35 Words Diarmaid Ó Muirithe 37 Superbyw@ys Webster 38 Making a Difference Chris Mullin 39 Mind the Age Gap Lizzie Enfield 40 East of Islington Sam Taylor 43 Still With Us Bamber Gascoigne 45 Whiteboard Jungle Kate Sawyer 46 Face Value Barry Fantoni

48 Pedants’ Revolt Jane Thynne 48 Olympic Journal Janie Hampton 50 Readers Write 52 Oldie British Artists Award 53 Unwrecked England Candida Lycett Green 55 Out and About 56 Travel Mark Ellingham on Ethiopia and Rwanda 65 Oldie Literary Lunches 90 Dear Mavis with Mavis Nicholson

BOOKS 59 Robert Fisk on Muhammad Mossadegh

Tam Dalyell on General Patrick Gordon Peter Lewis on Rupert Sheldrake Jim Swire on Megrahi and Lockerbie

John Amis on Gunther Schuller Jeremy Lewis on Alan Judd

Rachel Redford reviews audiobooks

73 MEMORIAL James Hughes-Onslow 74 FILM Marcus Berkmann on ‘The Best

Exotic Marigold Hotel’ and ‘A Dangerous Method’ 74 theatre Paul Bailey on ‘The

Recruiting Officer’ and ‘Hay Fever’ 75 OLDIE MASTERS Philip Athill 76 DVD Richard Ingrams on ‘Staying On’ 76 wireles Valerie Grove 77 TELEVISION Richard Ingrams on

Russell Harty 79 WINE Robert Joseph

PLUS 81 CROSSWORDS by Antico 82 COMPETITION with Tessa Castro 82 SUDOKU 83 CLASSIFIED

REVIEWS 66 MUSIC Richard Osborne 70 SPORT Frank Keating 70 cokery Elisabeth Luard 71 homefront Alice Pitman 72 GARDENING David Wheeler 72 EXPAT Caroline Seebohm in New York

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jeremy HORNSBY spent 10 years in Fleet Street as a feature writer and foreign correspondent. A decade in television followed, writing documentaries, combined with several years of broadcasting on the BBC World Service. He has scripted films, is the librettist of two children’s operas and a cantata, and has written half a dozen books, short stories, poetry, and a ballet scenario. On page 12 he tells us what went wrong with Michael Parkinson. STAFFORD DEAN joined Sadler’s Wells Opera as a principal bass in 1964 and sang Leporello in the opening production of DonGiovanniwhen the company moved to the Coliseum. He made his international debut in Stuttgart in 1971 and, specialising mainly in Mozart, appeared at Covent Garden and the major houses in Europe and the USA. He is therefore very well placed to tell us about some operatic mishaps – see page 18.

HRIS MULIN is an author, journalist and former MP and minister. His books include three volumes of political diaries (AViewfromtheFoothills, Decline andFalland AWalk-OnPart) and the political thriller AVeryBritish Coup, which was made into an award-winning TV series. On page 38 he writes about 82-year-old Joe Homan and the charity Joe set up to improve the lives of impoverished children in India.

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