Write a letter to your 100-year-old self.

“I remember you,

I remember you.”

…it’s the end of the poem “Remembrance “ by Ray Bradbury.

Where would you go on a shopping spree?

I dunno. I can’t think of anything I want at the moment. We went to Alnwick in Northumberland last year for holiday, and I wouldn’t mind going back there. It’s a historical town and has lots of nice shops and cafes. Lovely place.

What is your middle name? Does it carry any special meaning/significance?

The name Howard is a masculine name of Old Norse and German origin, generally meaning “high guardian” or “brave heart“. It is derived from Hávarðr (high guardian) or the Germanic Hugihard (heart-brave).

What is the last thing you learned?

That I’m not impervious to the latest marketing from Apple. I just ordered a MacBook Neo.

How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?

In the early Eighties, I was happily working as a bricklayer, when along came a major recession, which was largely caused by the policies of Mrs Thatcher. I found myself unemployed along with 350,000 other construction workers.

Being out of work was no fun, not least because of the low income. So I decided to use my spare time to get some qualifications. Within a couple of years, I had enough to gain entry into university. I studied philosophy with the history of scientific thought. And I gained a class IIii BA and went on to become a college lecturer.

It was quite a career change.

You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence?

Although I was born into relatively humble circumstances, I consider I was blessed to be born into a loving family, with loving parents and grandparents.

Now as I approach my sixty-eighth birthday, I’m an old man with a number of chronic illnesses, but I still try to count my blessings. I have two wonderful children and five grandchildren plus two step-grandchildren.

Life is good.

What are three objects you couldn’t live without?

A camera, a computer and my photo collection.

What experiences in life helped you grow the most?

If you look after a plant; nurture it, water it, feed it and give it light, it will likely grow and blossom. If you neglect it , it will likely wither and die. People are a bit like that. They need food and shelter, love and warmth, then they will blossom.