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.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 February 2021 source ↗
Climbing Scafell Pike in the Lake District when I was about 15. The winds were about 85mph, my legs lifted and I nearly flew off. Thankfully somebody grabbed me.
I went on a private jet with David Hasselhoff, and it was so turbulent between LA and Vegas I thought it was going down. I also thought: “The headline won’t be about me; it will be: David Hasselhoff and friend.”
Before I was DPP, I did a lot of work trying to get rid of the death penalty in various countries, and one was Malawi. We’d been in court in Zomba and had to get a plane in Lilongwe, about 200 miles away. We got a local taxi: the guy changed his wheels for the journey because the car wasn’t roadworthy and then hurtled at speed, mostly on the wrong side of the road. I’ve never been so terrified.
Ten years ago, I went to visit my dad in Australia. I walked to the edge of a cliff and looked over and tripped. I righted myself but my head was over the edge. No one saw it.
Chekhov said, any idiot can weather a crisis, it’s the day-to-day living that wears you out. I think the same is true for great achievements. It’s not a big thing, but one ought to feel proud about the small moments in which you might have helped, cared for, or done something good for others.
We don’t play songs at funerals where I’m from, but if they had to – Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean.
Today, waking up in the dark hours of the morning with a litter of puppies snoozing on my bed.
That to-do list I am supposed to get through but can’t summon the energy for in these weird, distracted times.
Ian McEwan, Christopher Hitchens, Sara Pascoe, Jo Nesbø, Meera Syal, Maggie O'Farrell
Search the directory for somebody in particular.