Looking back, they were both
\npretty ordinary guys trying to fit in:
\nPaul was a year behind me,
\nson of a famous politician,
\nfitting in pretty well on the football
\nfield, gangly as the rest of us;
\nBarry was a zany misfit,
\nson of a famous writer,
\npractising debauchery better than most.<\/p>\n
Only in the past decade has
\neither come into my field of view:
\nPaul as a rising politician,
\nself-made shipping magnate-
\nmillionaire, then amazing politician
\nthen flameout Prime Minister
\nwho dithered away all our hopes for him.
\nBarry was meanwhile, like many
\ngeniuses, simmering, growing
\nphenomenally: writer, broadcaster,
\npublisher, scholar, front-line liver of life,
\nstill a debauched bullshitter, mellowing
\nin the best way, prodigious in his
\ndaring, in his zest for life, in his
\ntalent, his scholarship, his accomplishments.<\/p>\n
Both men have now overreached their fathers,
\none disappointingly so, the other
\nprodigiously, reverentially, with the
\nrespect and confidence of genius.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Looking back, they were both pretty ordinary guys trying to fit in: Paul was a year behind me, son of a famous politician, fitting in pretty well on the football field, gangly as the rest of us; Barry was a … Continue reading