In 1961, Chris Holmes and I started courses at Cambridge University. Chris was a bit of an enigma. He was a public schoolboy, hailing from Yorkshire, who stuck to saying “Bratford” rather than “Bredford”, and a player of football rather than rugby. We were both Christians, but he was a Methodist, while I was an Anglican.
Chris loved words, and understood and embraced their power. Determined to become an effective debater, he joined the Cambridge University Conservative Association to gain access to the best public speaking tutor, and read voraciously. He did listen attentively to others, but when his turn came he would talk, argue, declaim and rant, and the rest of us would just have to sit back and take it. However, we always knew that the words were only a means to an end, a call to action to promote a fair, just and caring society.
