Tag Archives: Latin

Aristotle, Shakespeare, Pirandello, Henry IV – and a shop for sale in Stirchley (Rousse)

The university reunion in Birmingham was a very dull affair, attracting only the quietest of my former classmates. I eventually managed to persuade JG into a conversation. She spoke of her preference for the study of Latin and Greek over … Continue reading

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A polyglot and a primate (Rousse)

TPR threatened to accompany me to the ball naked. Happily, instead, he dressed in his dinner suit. However, he did have a big surprise for me. He had rounded up my two best friends from undergraduate days (HJ and SL) … Continue reading

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French air force fighter pilot shares the lingo (Rousse)

I was a fighter pilot in the French air force. One sunny afternoon I went for a wander through the grounds of a stately home in the south of England. An Arabic woman in army fatigues approached me and asked … Continue reading

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Harry Potter tattoos: the only clue to “Pedro’s” past (Rousse)

I lost TPR during the final stage of the long journey to the US aboard an ocean liner. Occasionally I would spot him in the distance across deck, usually driving one of the small open cars used for deliveries by … Continue reading

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Condensed milk cures homesickness amongst British ex-pats (Rousse)

Whoever thought that I was qualified to examine a PhD in Latin on the French Enlightenment needed their head examining. Four of us gathered for the viva around a table in an over-heated room at the end of a long … Continue reading

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Rousse’s posh tattoo

I was working for a high-profile international committee when the guerilla tattoo artist attacked me. For three years I was lumbered with his creation in inky lettering embedded into the full length of my back. Although I hated it, at … Continue reading

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