civilising influence

Paul Newman…aah, Paul Newman. It’s 1972 in the Potteries, I’m eight and every thirty year old man in town wants to be Paul Newman. This is an improvement. When they were twenty they wanted to be Elvis, by all accounts. It’s also a surprise. Thirty year old men in Stoke-on-Trent werent supposed to want to be anyone.

Sophistication had come to town. Paul Newman. Lava lamps. Paul Newman. Water beds. Paul Newman. A Jensen Interceptor leaking oil over the A500. Paul Newman. Unisex hairdressers. Paul Newman. Nite Spots. Robert Redford? Fuck off, he’s for girls.

Thing about Paul was that – as it used to be said of certain type of English character actor –he was manly and gentlemanly at the same time. In local parlance, you could have a dick without being a dickhead about it, which was about as much feminism as the local boys were equipped to handle.

Good bloke then. Tara Paul. All the best, mate.