The media can be a small world, especially when you’ve been around long enough

Gosh, the stories I could tell about John Humphrys

It doesn’t happen very often, but when you’ve been kicking around for a while you sometimes have to write about people you know. Or are in danger of doing so. It’s a penalty of simply having been kicking around for so long that you once had supper with Harold Wilson.

Some are sad assignments, such as obituaries or remembrances, such as the one I sketched about the late Paddy Ashdown, who I knew a little about a thousand years ago.

Others are happier. For example, I recently almost talked myself into a piece about John Humphrys, when the news broke that he was on his “lap of honour” on the Today programme. Gosh, the stories I could tell about the old boy.