Barry Cryer and John Julius Norwich at his last Oldie lunch, 2018
The Old Un praises and remembers the last of 50 crackers by John Julius Norwich
For 49 years, John Julius Norwich, writer and great friend to The Oldie, sent out his favourite quotes in a little booklet, his Christmas Cracker.
When he died in 2018, aged 88, he’d just finished his 50th Cracker. His posthumous new book, The Ultimate Christmas Cracker, includes that last Cracker and the best of the previous 49.
The Old Un’s favourite entry comes courtesy of child star Shirley Temple:
‘I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph.’
