My first role model.

My dad was kind, humble and devoutly Catholic. A lovely man but not really a role model. My brother in law Trevor was different. Unconstrained by Catholicism, Trevor was a bit flash. But in a good way. He and my sister Anita married as teenagers and moved out to a brand new 1970s house in Essex, where Trevor worked as a sales rep. They had a company car, a chest freezer and a 26″ colour TV. They went abroad for their holidays. This was more like it. This was what I wanted when I left school. Though when I did leave school, I quickly realised that life as a sales rep and a house in Essex were not for me. But that didn’t matter. Trevor had unwittingly given me something priceless: he’d given me ambition. It was his birthday yesterday. He’s still flash. And still clever.