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Alistair Lack and my black shoe luck

alastair lack
This is Alistair Lack. He will be leading a small group of us on a literary walking tour of Oxford the day before courses begin. He seems a very interesting man. He studied at Oxford (Modern History), then taught in India, then went on to spend some “colorful” years working in the publishing world in New York.

After that he went home where he worked for the BBC for almost 27 years, from 1971-1997, developing programs for both television and radio, almost always for the World Service. During Mr. lack’s time he has met all of the British Prime Ministers, Nelson Mandela, Terry Waite, several American Presidents and more than a few celebrities.

Moving to Oxford, he became The Secretary of The Oxford University Society (the organisation that supports Oxford alumni groups throughout the world), and then moved on to freelance work, including Oxford city and university guiding, local journalism and tutoring students in media studies. He is said to be a witty and knowledgeable guide and I believe it. I’m looking forward to our morning and the stories he will share as we amble along.

walk-easy-black-2
These are the SAS walking shoes I finally decided on taking to Oxford after trying out multiple brands of shoes, including those highly recommended Keens, which just ate up my heels. I’ll be doing that walk in these loafers. I know they aren’t stylish but they sure as hell are comfortable, which is important in my book, given that artificial knee and hip which now make it possible for me to even go on a slow, literary ramble. And they are black, which means they will disappear and maybe even “go with everything”. Hah rueful hah.

I hope Alistair Lack is into black leather…