People I have seen at author evenings or corresponded with (and who have no doubt shaped my thinking):

AE

1995 – Richard Ford (author of The Sportswriter)

1996 – Tim Willocks (Green River Rising)

1997 – Hanif Kureishi (The Black Album)

1997 – Julian Barnes (Talking It Over)

2003 – Robert Newman (The Fountain at the Centre of the World)

2004 – George Monbiot (Captive State)

CW

1994 – Gordon Strachan (former Leeds United captain)

1996 – Ronnie Scott (Jazz musician)

1997 – Guy Bellamy (author of The Secret Lemonade Drinker)

2002 – Satish Kumar (Resurgence Magazine)

2005 – Michael Albert (Stop the Killing Train)

2005 – Ela Gandhi (grandaughter of Mahatma Gandhi)