Alan Bennett
by Guy Garvey
'He had never read Proust, but he had somehow taken a short cut across the allotments and arrived at the same conclusions.'
Alan Bennett, from "Russell Harty, 1934 – 1988", p. 52 (1988)
Alan, in my opinion, is the greatest living Englishman. He, like a lot of us, was born bewildered by his surroundings and family. Rather than rant angrily about it he has poured his life into gently and affectionately mirroring the absurdities of every day Englishness. There is sympathy for the bigots and the prejudiced in his stories and deep love and respect for the humble and ordinary. I'm always laughing so heartily at his wit the moment before he grabs me with a moment of tender poetry. A heart the size of his brain.The size of the county of Yorkshire itself. The biggest in England.
Guy Garvey is lead singer in band elbow and a presenter on BBC Radio 6 Music
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