Take a glance at Nick Clegg's extraordinarily varied CV during his time BP (before politics), and one period stands out. Not the time in 1990 he spent working as an intern with the journalist Christopher Hitchens in New York. Not even his spell at Cambridge University studying anthropology, which included acting in a version of Cyrano de Bergerac directed by Sam Mendes, or the road-trip across America with his friends Marcel and Louis Theroux.
No, the most intriguing period by far is his year spent as a fellow at the University of Minnesota from 1989-90, doing a masters in political philosophy.
In pre-election interviews, Clegg – who is "holding the fort" while the prime minister David Cameron is off on his summer hols – began to flesh out some tantalising details about this "formative" year, which included "religiously" following Prince from gig to gig in his royal purpleness's home town.
"I wasn't what you'd call a groupie," Clegg recalled, "but I did spend a whole year following him around . . . Once I spent all night drinking in a bar waiting for him, before eventually giving up and going home. Then I heard he'd turned up at 1 or 2 am and played the best gig anyone had seen."
Clegg has also talked about practising transcendental meditation at that time. But now new details have emerged about this mysterious year, courtesy of his principal academic adviser, Professor Terence Ball, whom I tracked down in his new post at Arizona State University.
According to Professor Ball, Clegg also had a "fascination" with hardcore environmental activist groups. Not in a sympathetic sense, but in terms of their radical political tactics and outlook.
"He was very interested in environmentalism and all things American," Ball recalls. "He took a voluntary seminar from me in green political thought, and by the end of that course, he'd expressed an interest in writing his thesis on radical, or 'dark green', environmentalism.
"Groups such as Earth First!, who were interested in direct action and sabotage, and had a fear of being co-opted with political parties. Nick was fascinated by their unconventional, destructive approach, and how this could be viewed as successful in a political sense. Although I also think he thought it all a bit daft."
Clegg wasn't active in student politics on campus, says Ball, but held very strong views about the recently departed president Ronald Reagan.
"He was gobsmacked by the Reagan revolution, which echoed the Thatcher revolution. He was fascinated that a political party could go that far in dismantling all kinds of things, but especially environmental rules and regulations. I sensed in his writing that Nick had feelings for environmental organisations. He said something like, 'Margaret Thatcher couldn't get away with what Reagan has done.'"
Ball says Clegg "stood out against the other students for his eagerness, enthusiasm and boyish charm" – so did he think he would end up in politics? "Not really. I thought he would probably end up as a columnist for a newspaper such as the Observer, because he was such a good writer."
