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Grandma Norman and the Queen
Philip Norman
‘From the fifties to the seventies the Queen hadn't put a foot wrong.’
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‘Feelings can be very obscure but numbers never lie.’
Kevin Brazil on metrics, obsession and fitness.
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‘An intense workout is an ecstasy of punishment packaged as self-improvement.’
Mary Wellesley on exercise, ritual and Barry’s Bootcamp.
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‘I was not good at sports because I would not do sports because I did not have the body for sports because I would not do sports.’
Saba Sams on girlhood, embodiment and avoiding sports.
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‘Following United rarely brings me any great joy and most often it depresses me. If I could disengage, I would.’
Jonny Thakkar on Manchester United.
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‘I deployed my body against an opponent like a blunt and effective instrument.’
John Patrick McHugh on playing Gaelic football.
Philip Norman
Philip Norman was born in 1943 and was brought up on the Isle of Wight, where his father operated the Amusement Arcade and Skating Rink at the end of Ryde Pier. He has written widely about music for the Sunday Times and The Times. He is the author of SHOUT! The True Story of the Beatles, The Skater’s Waltz and The Road Goes on Forever. In 1983, he was named one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists. His most recent biographies include John Lennon: The Life (2008) and Mick Jagger (2012).
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