My discoveries at the Book Festival
today include...
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My favourite moment today (actually, my
favourite moment of the last two decades) was making Michael Palin
laugh. He's my absolute idol, so now that he's shaken my hand, I'm
never washing it again. Except just now, because my cat sneezed in
it.
When his understandably popular event
swung round, I went in early and accidentally became a sort of
honourary Front of House assistant, helping set things up. When I sat
down, a very nice lady with a very tiny baby sat next to me. So she
could take off her jacket, she handed me her programme and said
“please could you hold this?” And then her coat; “please could
you hold this?” And then her baby: “please could you hold this?”
I'd never held a baby before, but I think I managed not to hold him
like a coat. And that was how I met the youngest Michael Palin fan in
the world (eight weeks old).
My other favourite event today was Colm
Tóibín's. Isn't it amazing when someone combines great talent with
great humility? It was as if his terrific rhetoric and insightful
remarks slipped out by accident.
So on the whole, an excellent day.
Also, I think I've stolen Gordon
Brown's pen.
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