Mary Lutyens, who became the acknowledged world expert and writer on Krishnamurti, was only two years old when her mother, Lady Emily Lutyens, became a theosophist. In 1911 Krishnamurti and his brother Nitya were brought to England by Mrs Besant and as Lady Emily took the two boys ‘under her wing’, the young Mary grew … Read more
Joe Links was a modest man who was extremely wise, versatile and able; he was always polite and worked hard all his life not to make an enemy. ‘I have had a very private life and I hope to go on being private for what’s left of it,’ he said in 1989. He was born … Read more
EMILY HAHN ‘I have deliberately chosen the uncertain path whenever I had the choice…A more important freedom was that which made it possible to travel ‘ wrote Emily Hahn in China to Me (1944). In 1930 after making some money from her first book Seductio ad Absurdum: The Principles and Practices of Seduction (1930) Hahn … Read more
Martha Gellhorn was one of the finest war-correspondents of the twentieth century. She learnt her craft for war reporting in the Spanish Civil War where she worked for Colliers; this was where she grew up politically: ‘We knew, we just knew, that Spain was the place to stop fascism. This was it. It was one … Read more
Ivan Chambers, the witty, erudite and distinguished bookseller has died at the age of ninety five. Chambers was born in Philippopolis in Bulgaria on January 20th 1902, where his father was working on the financial side of a silk spinning factory. He returned to England as a small child and was educated at St George’s … Read more
As a child in London, Lesley Blanch and her parents were often visited by the Traveller, a mysterious Russian, who enthused the young Lesley with Siberian stories and tales of his daring-do. This passion for Russia and things Russian never left her: the ‘Love of my heart, the fulfilment of the senses and the kingdom … Read more
By nature, Richard Trench who has died from a heart attack at the age of 48, was a nomad. He was a scavenger for information and because he found almost everything interesting he adapted to any situation with relative ease. This desire for knowledge made him a very lively companion; he took a keen interest … Read more
I am going to have an exhibition of my paintings in Aldeburgh in Suffolk at the beginning of November during the poetry festival which is over the weekend of November 2nd. This is exciting but also rather daunting – I need to produce around forty framed pictures which I will need to sell as I … Read more
I wrote the following review for the September 2014 Conde Nast Traveller: Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard. After reading Annie Dillard’s finely observed descriptions of nature and place you begin to see the world truly. On her walks, Dillard sees herself as both explorer and stalker and Tinker Creek – near her home in a valley … Read more
This article was first published in The Observer on 4 May, 2008. Click here to read the article on the Guardian and Observer website > My first independent trip … Around America in a Greyhound bus when I was 23. I bought a 99-days-for-$99 pass and stayed for a year. After that I went round … Read more