RIP John Michell
29 April 2009
I have just heard that the great John Michell died on 24 April. An original and inventive thinker, his books were always a delight and an inspiration as were his columns in the Oldie. Over the years, I visited John a few times in his Powis Square flat to drink white wine till late. With great good humour, he would question everything you said, and make you look at life with a fresh eye. I remember him chuckling to me as I put forward some half-baked theory of life and saying: “The thing is, Tom, you’re still trying to make sense of it all. But you must see that the world is confusion. Confusion!”
"All pubs are terrible places now. I mean you wouldnÕt have known a decent pub at your age, I shouldnÕt think. They didnÕt have fucking music. They didnÕt have cigarette machines. They didnÕt sell the chemical beer. They were for proper drinkers, not for fucking yobs, hooligans. I want to go into a pub and meet interesting people, not to look at a lot of people sitting on the floor drinking out of tins. I canÕt stand it. Mostly people in your age group. Ruin pubs."