Hero Wolfe had the ‘write’ stuff

TOM WOLFE, who died last week, was my favourite writer and he made a lie of the old adage ‘never meet your heroes’. I did and he was kind and considerate. He was also a dandy, proud to have learned his craft as a gumshoe reporter with a notebook and a fountain pen (he disdained ball point pens). When my son decided to become a journalist, I gave him a copy of ‘The Right Stuff’, the best book of journalism I have ever read – and I will reread it on an upcoming holiday to remind myself that great writing never dies.