The Week UK - 14.03.2020

10 NEWS People

THEWEEK 14 March 2020

McGowanonWeinstein

RoseMcGowanfeelslikea

weighthasbeenliftedfromher

shoulders,saysZoeWilliams

inTheGuardian.In2017,the

actresswasamongthefirst

womentoaccuseHarvey

Weinsteinofassault:shesays

herapedheratafilmfestival

in 1997 .She’sbeenbattlingfor

himtofacejusticeeversince.

Now,heisinRikersIslandjail,

facingaprisontermofatleast

fiveyears,andupto2 5 .She

stillfindsithardtobelieve,and

haslittlesympathywithreports

thatWeinstein,67,isindeclin-

ingphysicalandmentalhealth.

“What’sleftforanoldmanto

dobuttotryandshrinkthem-

selves,sothey’renotasscaryas

theywereattheir peak?He’s

havingpanicattacks?Welcome

totheclub.Nightmares?

Welcometotheclub.”

JanMorris’sadviceforlife

As aformer soldier,reporter,

spy,and travel writer,Jan

Morrishasseentheworld,says

TimAdams inTheObserver.

ShevisitedHiroshimasoon

after theatombomb,and

reported onthe first ascent

ofEverest. Butperhapsher

definingquestwasher

transitionfrommaletofemale.

“Inever usethewordchange,

asin‘sexchange’, forwhat

happenedtome,”she says.

“Idid notchangesex, Ireally

absorbedone intothe other.”

She had reassignmentsurgery

in Casablancain 1972 before

returningtothehomein rural

Walesthat she shared withher

wifeElizabeth(towhomshe’s

stillpartnered) and theirfour

children.Shewasworried

aboutthereceptionshewould

getathome,butonherfirst

visittothevillageshopasJan,

nobodybattedaneyelid–

somethingsheattributesto

kindness.“Everythinggood

intheworldiskindness,”she

says.Andat93,shehassome

simpleadviceforliving.“If

you’renotsurewhatyouthink,

themostusefulquestionsare

these:areyoubeingkind?Are

theybeingkind?Thatusually

givesyouananswer.”

Demandsofthesuper-rich

OliviaRiggismatchmakerto

thesuper-rich,saysBridget

HarrisoninTheTimes:she

chargesmen£20,0 00 tofind

themawifeorgirlfriend.But

thereisaprocess.First,she

getstoknowherclients,to

seeifshethinksthey’dmake

adecentpartner.Then,ifthey

pass,shepreparesabriefof

theirdemands. These are

always extensive, and

sometimestheyareconflicting.

“Myclientswantawoman

whoisintellectuallystimulating

and canholdherown inthe

environments thattheirlifestyle

leadsthemto –say,astate

dinner, ortheOscars.”Yet

they also want awomanwith

the “flexibility”tofitinwith

theirlife–which canbe an

obstacle.“Ifyouare awoman

workingall hoursin corporate

law,youmightnotbeable

to jump onajetto aprivate

island offBoraBora.”Andof

course, theywon’tsettlefora

plain Jane.“There’s the joke

aboutthe unicorn–the super-

model with thePhD.Iwork

withthe kind ofpeoplewho

wantthebestof everything.”

Damien Hirst is one of the world’s wealthiest living artists; he

claims he once made $200m in two days, and for years pursued the

drink- and drug-fuelled life ofarock star. “I felt like the machines

were giving me cash for free,” he told Tom Hodgkinson in Idler

magazine. “I’d have like five cards and I’d get as much asIcould

on each one and fill my pockets with cash and go out for three

days. More drugs, more cash. My manager would say to me:

‘You’ve had another double rollover lottery weekend.’ I’d make

like 30 or 40 million between Friday and Monday.” In 2008, at the

height of his reputation, he earned an estimated £111m atasingle

sa le at Sotheby’s. But one day he woke up and realised that his

entourage had become “a big f***ing monster”, and was no longer

sustainable. “You start by thinking you’ll get one assistant and,

before you know it, you’ve got biographers, fire-eaters,f***ing

minstrels and lyre players all wandering around. Then one night,

you ask the lyre player to play and they say: ‘My lyre isall

scratched up andIdid as kfor alyre technician.’ Suddenly you’ve

got an overdraft when before you had loads of cash.” Eventually,

he had tosellhis ar tcollection and sack dozensofpeople toget his

finances back inshape. The lesson, he suggests, is this: “Anywhere

there is money, there are c***s trying to take it off you.”

Viewpoint:

Rewriting history

“EnglishHeritagehas announced

that this year’s shortlistofBluePlaque

nominees is 80% female.Thisis

presumedtobeagoodthing. Butthis

retrospectivecelebration ofafewbold

outliers tendsto obscurethe real reason

for female invisibility. Formost of

history,women couldn’t gettothe top;

they weren’t even allowed in at the

bottom.Half thehuman racewas kept

in legalandsocial servitude.Noone –

noteventhewell-meaningfolkof

English Heritage–can undo that

injustice. Andtheyshouldn’t tryto.

This hole in therecords wheregreat

women oughttobeisavivid illustration

of thesuffocatingpowerofpatriarchy.

It’s not an oversight: it isamonument.”

JemimaLewis in The DailyTelegraph

Farewell

Freeman Dyson,

visionary theoretical

physicist and

mathematician, died

28 February, aged96.

Fiona MacCarthy,

author who revealed

Eric Gill’scrimes, died

29 February, aged80.

Javier Pérez de Cuéllar,

former UN secretary-

generalwho helped

releaseTerry Waite,

died 4March,aged 100.

Max von Sydow,actor

who played chesswith

Death inThe Seventh

Sealand foundfame

inThe Exorcist,died

8March, aged 90.

Book:bothofLewis Carroll’sAlicebooks

Luxury:sketchbooks andpens *Choice if allowed only one record

Castaway of the week

This week’s edition of Radio 4’sDesert Island Discsfeatured

Chris Riddell, illustrator, author and political cartoonist

1*Fantasia onaTheme of ThomasTallisby RalphVaughan Williams,

performed by theSinfonia of London,(cond.Sir John Barbirolli)

2 The Funeral:September 25, 1977by GeorgeFenton and Jonas

Gwangwa,performedbyThuli Dumakude

3 SmokeSignalsby PhoebeBridge rs and Marshall Vore,performed

by PhoebeBridgers

4 FinalDayby Stuart Moxham, performed by Young MarbleGiants

5 Suzanne,writtenandperformed by Leonard Cohen

6 Horace In Brightonby HoraceSmith and Bird in the Belly,

performed by Bird in the Belly

7 ClarinetConcerto inAmajor, K.622, II. Adagioby Mozart,

performed by KálmánBerkes with the LisztFerenc Chamber

Orchestra (cond. JánosRolla)

8 Tabularasa:II.Sile ntiumby Arv oPärt, performed by Viktoria

Mullova and the EstonianNationa lSymphony (cond. Paavo Järvi)

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