for Sam Mendes
I joined North London Collegiate School when I was six years old and left when I was eighteen. It was also my haven and sanctuary. I vowed when I left that I’d never go back unless they asked me to. Well, now they have. It will be an honour to talk to them on the evening of Tuesday 4 May 2027 and to see how this distinguished School has not only grown and changed, but came top in the recent Sunday Times review.
on launching VMBooks in 2020
I’ve always been a walker, trudging miles to and from School as a child and as an adult in London longing for green spaces. Moving to Woodstock in 1976 deliberately brought me close to Blenheim’s extraordinary landscaped gardens, where every Sunday, come rain or shine, I’d walk and admire. I little thought the walk I made one dawn in 2020 would have so many significant memories for me six years later.
for Andrew Gasson
Short-sighted from childhood, I wore contact lenses for more than sixty years. Now, thanks to Zacks brilliant new eye clinic in London, I have abandoned them in favour of three pairs of modern spectacles. The new examination machines are staggeringly complex and useful, diagnosing and solving problems before they become real trouble.