I was in my thirties before I learnt that I too would prefer not to see what I could no longer have

In Australia surfing was for the oiks. It was always rebellious. And sadly it was for a long time a bit unreflective and macho and anti-intellectual. Unlike other sports it was essentially a youth cult, like rock and roll. But like rock and roll its people grew up.

We are all part of that global traffic and I think that the effort to make yourself understood and to be not a problem for anyone or to hide your own particuarly is a mistake. I think people will and do value individuality.

Different tenses and perspectives offer you different things. It helps to distinguish the world that they are in.

I grew up in a family that believed love was at work in the world. I guess that's a religious idea, though of course it needn't be.

Surviving is the strongest memory I have; the sense of having walked on water.

The blank page doesn't bother me. It's the voice in my head (not always my own) that gives me the yips. It's worse when I'm not making stuff up.