Speak your weight machines sing the Hallelujah Chorus
After 46 years I had hoped I'd meet N.F. Simpson again. But on the preview night of If So, Then Yes, he wasn't there. He was due the next night, apparently.
Which is a great shame. In 1964, he man who invented absurdity - the creator of the speak your weight machines which were being taught to sing the Hallelujah Chorus - taught English A-level at the City of Westminster College. I was one of his students. Actually, he thought I was rather talented. He said so.
Read more: Speak your weight machines sing the Hallelujah Chorus
No, Blair didn't make Labour electable
The myth that Tony Blair "made Labour electable again" is getting another outing in the wake of the great man's memoirs. Yesterday I participated in a small and secret gathering of five people (I'm not allowed to tell you who they are, but they are all well known names and have good political contacts) to choose the Daily Telegraph's 100 most influential people on the left.
I confess - I shared a room with a male colleague
William Hague's strange troubles reminded me of the misunderstanding that arose when, in the days we were both national officials of the NUJ, Jake Ecclestone and I told our Norwich hotel that we wished to share a room.
Read more: I confess - I shared a room with a male colleague
Is Gordon working on his memoirs?
Just after Gordon Brown left office, I spoke to his aide Wilf Stevenson, who was helpful when I wrote my instant biography, suggesting Brown might co-operate with a rather fuller version.
The best book about teaching ever written...
...is How to Teach by Phil Beadle, just out from Crown House Publishing.