Which living person do you most admire, and why?

Originally asked

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

The Guardian's Q&A repeatedly uses this prompt, sometimes dropping 'living' while retaining the same comparative judgment.

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

Recorded Patti Smith said elsewhere, not written here
The artist Gerhard Richter.

Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, July 2024 source ↗

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Esther Rantzen
Alan Bates, Lord Arbuthnot and Nick Wallis for exposing the Post Office and Fujitsu and, let’s hope, for ensuring everyone is properly compensated.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 February 2024 source ↗
Bear Grylls
I love and admire Julia Roberts, one of our Running Wild guests, for the way she has a few close friends, is loyal to her family, doesn’t believe in all the fame stuff and can laugh at herself.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 January 2026 source ↗

More from Patti Smith

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Question What advice would you give your twenty-year-old self, and what should they ignore? Time & hindsight
Build a good name. Keep your name clean. Don’t make compromises. Don’t worry about making a bunch of money or being successful. Be concerned about doing good work and protect your work. […] Protect your work and if you build a good name, eventually that name will be its own currency.
Recorded Christian Lund, Louisiana Literature festival, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 24 August 2012, Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 24 August 2012 source ↗

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Carrie Fisher, Armistead Maupin, Eugene Levy, Daniel Clowes, Mary Berry, Judith Kerr

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