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What do you do for a living?

I’m a residential and commercial landlord. I’m also involved in designing and building.

What do you do to feel alive?

I love to go into my garden and start cutting and lawn-mowering…just spending time in the garden. I have a really large garden. Also it’s traveling – traveling to a beautiful beach and feeling the sand on your toes and the sun on your body. In the winter we wear all these clothes and we don’t connect to anything! Connecting is another way to feel alive. I also really connect to the world through reading. I read a lot of history. I like to be connected.

A lesson you learned from your mother:

To be elegant, to be a fabulous homemaker, to cook…That’s it really. She was incredibly stylish.

A lesson you learned from your father:

I lost him when I was quite young.  I lost him in my teens. So what would I remember my father taught me? I had quite a messed up childhood. I remember my father was incredibly social. Incredibly kind. He was very loving when he was there. He also taught me about human weakness. He used to say “I won’t do anything for a quiet life.” He believed you should always stand up to people. I think to ignore something is ignorant. He also said “Don’t do as I do. Do as I tell you to do.” I learned some negatives, but out of that came positives.

What’s the most beautiful thing you saw today?

An iguana walking up the beach. Just the nature here. I love animals – reptiles – just about anything. I want to pick everything up. You know, when I was in Africa I picked up a lizard and it bit me! It was hanging off my finger and it wouldn’t let go. I learned a lesson that day. 

What’s one thing you wouldn’t want anyone to take away from you?

I would hate anyone to take away my liberty because without that we have nothing.

What’s a thought you would like to never have again?

Shame

If you could become an inanimate object what would it be?

I’d like to be a candle. They are centuries old. That’s what we read by. What we worked by. The thing is once you’ve lit them they don’t last forever yet there’s always a little bit left at the very end.

When do you feel most loved?

When I have people around me. Lots of people around me and friends. You see, I don’t have family so it’s mostly about my friends. When I have good people around me, loving people, in a nice atmosphere is when I feel most loved.

If your life were to end tomorrow what would be left undone?

I think really truly knowing my family history. I think never finding out where I really came from. Also, I can’t reconcile my issues with my sibling and that will never happen, but I will still be sad. That’s something I’ll take with me. Only the closest people to you can hurt you.

What global issue would you take on if you didn’t have to worry about how?

I would like to tell people that there’s no such thing as “Global Warming” – the planet will be here billions of years after we’re gone. Life will still be here – even if we’re not here. The planet is a lot stronger than anything we can do to it. I believe in looking after our planet and I believe we should do what we can because it’s bad for us, but is it destroying our planet? No, it isn’t. It’s destroying us. I can’t believe leaders have won Nobel Prizes to harp on this.

What’s the scariest thing that ever happened to you?

Oh, I’ve had a few. Probably though the scariest thing is when I’m on an airplane and you hit turbulence. I’ve been on a couple flights where the plane has hit a few air pockets and suddenly dropped down. It’s really about control.