No more broken hearts in every port

Sir, at age sixteen and a week, I signed up for three months on a Swedish merchant ship, where I would wash dishes and scrape rust for the next four months (delayed by strikes and storms).

Luckily that happened just “before the containerization, when it took days to unload and days to load, and you were young”. That kind of seafaring was indeed quite different from that described by Horatio Clare in “A freight adventure” Life & Arts December 28… So different I must admit I would never have even thought about the idea of signing up on a container ship.

So different that one of Sweden’s most famous poets and troubadours, Ever Taube, who among other sang about “The girl in Havana”, might never have become inspired.

I feel sad for today’s sailors, and for current sixteen years old who lack the opportunity to really sail the seas and explore ports... perhaps leaving some broken hearts, or breaking one’s own heart a bit while doing so.

My Ms Bolivia

63 year old grandfathers need to stick together, ‘cause next year… we’ll be "Sixty-Four"

Sir, to be interviewed in FT´s Life&Arts must be an honor for an author. But for 63 year old grandfather Martin Amis, to be described when opening the door to the interviewer Martin Dickson, as having skin which has advanced from “plump to papery”, clearly must spoil much of the fun.

As a 63 year old grandfather, pondering the fact that next year we’ll reach that so distant “When I’m Sixty-four”, we heard the Beatles sing just minutes ago, with our respective Vera, Chuck and Dave on our knees, I feel I should express my deepest sense of solidarity with Mr. Amis.