Editor’s Note

Ioften listen to a radio station that plays interesting podcasts while I’m driving. The problem is, I often start listening in the middle of a story and arrive at my destination before the end, catching only snippets of the narrative. This happened the other day when a podcast about the life of Louis B. Mayer, co-founder of Metro-GoldwynMayer (MGM), one of Hollywood’s most prestigious filmmaking studios, was playing. The part of the biopic I heard (on my short trip to the shops) was about Mayer’s sharp wit and animated talking style.

He is credited with creating the “star system” and famously said: “The idea of a star being born is bush-wah. A star is made, created; carefully and cold-bloodedly built up from nothing, from nobody. All I ever looked for was a face. If someone looked good to me, I’d have him tested. If a person looked good on film, if he photographed well, we could do the rest. We hired geniuses at makeup, hair dressing, surgeons to slice away a bulge here and there, rubbers to rub away the blubber, clothes designers, lighting experts, coaches for everything fencing, dancing, walking, talking, sitting and spitting.”

I lingered in the parking lot to listen to more of his witty utterances. “Once I’ve fired you, you’ll never work for me again. Unless, of course, I need you,” he said. As well as this pearler: “People who go to therapy should have their heads examined.”

I’m definitely going to use that one.

The next morning I caught bits about the life and times of Abraham Lincoln the part about how his wife, Mary, skimmed government money to fund her extravagant tastes, much to her husband’s dismay.

I’m looking forward to doing some travelling so that I can get to complete these stories. It’s a joy to be driving and listening to a well-told tale.

Stay safe on the roads, wherever you’re going.