Many years ago, when I lived in Toronto, a huge TV favourite for me was a late-night talk show hosted by Dick Cavett, a very erudite gentleman, with a great sense of humour, and this keen eclectic interest in everything under the sun and for a quirky but sharp sense of humour; Cavett was a joy to watch. I’m talking here, some 30 years ago, so the show is long gone, but out of the blue recently I ran into a copy of a book by him I had bought, which is a series of conversations – he called them Brief Encounters – Cavett had with a wonderful range of famous people. He welcomed leading figures from film, theatre, literature, comedy and politics and engaged them in free-flowing conversations that made you feel you were sitting in on a chat in his home with these wonderful guests. Cavett chatted with them all in the most engaging way, using no notes, and he clearly had no trouble getting guests. They ranged from the famous pop music star of the time, Eddie Fisher to movie actor Tony Curtis. Here is Cavett on prejudice: “Growing up in Nebraska I had a sixth-grade teacher who referred to American Indians as “sneaky redskins” and our enemies in the Pacific as “dirty Japs”. This abated somewhat after I asked one day in class, ‘Mrs. G. Do you think our parents would like to know that you teach race prejudice?’ She faded three shades. The rest of that year was difficult.”
