'I don't have to call them freedom fries, do I?': Lunch with Sabine Herold

par Alice Thompson

Source : National Post

When Sabine Herold was on her way to England, she sent an e-mail message saying, "I would like to spend my time meeting politicians. I don't wear jeans; I like red meat; please, could I bring a camera crew?"

Taken to lunch at the House of Lords by Lord Deedes, the former editor-in-chief of The Daily Telegraph (who long ago was a model for Boot of the Beast in Evelyn Waugh's novel Scoop), she ordered steak (English beef, mad cow notwithstanding) and chips, asking, "I don't have to call them freedom fries, do I?" As for McDonald's hamburgers, "The French should be allowed to eat them, even though they taste disgusting."Deedes gave her some good advice for public speaking: "Never speak on a full stomach -- a tankard of champagne is all Anthony Eden needed."

Herold was pleased to learn that Friedrich von Hayek, a great libertarian economist and a hero of hers, had been given his first typewriter by Lord Deedes.

She declined an opportunity to watch tennis at Wimbledon: "No, I am here to work. Margaret Thatcher lived on five hours' sleep; so can I."