The wisest man I ever met

And why his design for life has never left me

Once upon a time, when I was a magazine editor, I receive an email written entirely in caps lock. I used to get tons of emails every day back then and tended to ignore 90% of them. But I’ve always understood that anyone who writes exclusively in capital letters is worth paying attention to, either because they are important, angry, mad or all three.

This particular email turned out to be from the filmmaker, restaurant critic and bon-viveur, Michael Winner - a man I had always found fascinating but never had any personal dealings with. He had a new TV show out and wondered if I would like to collect my copy in person FROM HIS HOUSE!

I was so excited that I whizzed over to his impressive pile in Kensington almost immediately.

I don’t know what I was expecting to get out of my visit, beyond a free book that I was unlikely to actually ever read. Maybe just a selfie, a snoop around the house and a couple of anecdotes about the making of Death Wish. That would have been enough for me. But, as it transpired, the afternoon I spent with this (now departed) showbiz raconteur provided me with some of the wisest, most inspirational, educational, unusual and entertaining pieces of life advice I have received before or since.

Rarely a day goes by without me thinking about the stuff Winner told me on that sunny afternoon in 2010. Now, I shall pass some of it on to you…