Ian McEwan
British novelist and screenwriter
Having a gun held to my head at a May Day rally during the revolution in Grenada. I was mistaken for a CIA agent.
How close have you come to death?
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Question
What keeps you awake at night?
Daily life
Question
What most recently made you cry?
Identity & self
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
What would you like to be remembered for?
Death & what remains
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
A recurring Guardian Q&A prompt asked directly across respondents and years.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
In a helicopter crash in Wyoming in 2005. My cameraman broke his back and both legs; the pilot broke his back. The helicopter didn’t catch fire, so I’m still here today.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 September 2016 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 209 →A running accident when I was 14 or 15. I fainted but I was a bit of a jester and they thought I was taking the piss, so I was left for a bit. I woke up in hospital.
David Hasselhoff
American actor, singer, and television personality
Scuba diving in Costa Rica. My stunt double and I were trying out some equipment that let us talk to each other and I ran out of air at 80ft - probably because I talked too much. I had to use his air. Then we were surrounded by sharks. It was scary.
Erin O'Connor
English model
An emergency landing in a snow storm in Philadelphia.
More from Ray Mears
View profile →My wife, Ruth, because she holds the fort, making it possible for me to do what I do.
The sound of nightingales, but it is the most lovely sound. If someone said it was an elf playing a flute, I would believe them.
While tracking wolves in Idaho, we came across a wolf carcass. It was likely the pack had been poisoned in a deliberate act. I am a hunter, but I respect wildlife and I also respect predators.
Right now. I live in the present.
For being genuine.
More on death & what remains
- What would you like to be remembered for? 214 answers
- What song would you like played at your funeral? 178 answers
- If you had only one day left to live, how would you spend it — and what would you deliberately avoid doing? 54 answers
- What happens when we die? 51 answers
- What would you like to leave your children? 44 answers
- How would you like to die? 44 answers
Also answered this · A–Z
Adam Clayton, Adam Peaty, Adeel Akhtar, Adrian Edmondson, Aidan Gillen, Alex Lawther
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- All death & what remains questions
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