At the Oldie Literary Lunch, sponsored by Kirker Holidays, Mary Beard spoke about Talking Classics: The Shock of the World. She fondly recalled her old tutor Professor Pat Easterling, former Cambridge Regius Professor of Greek, who has just died at 92.
'“What does Classics teach you?” Mary recalled being asked by an administrator at a conference. Worried about her potential answer, Mary was delighted when Professor Easterling stepped in and said, “It teaches you to read difficult things.”
Professor Easterling had taught Mary to really engage with classics - to get her 'hands dirty'.
She also recalled another Cambridge classics undergraduate, the actor Tom Hiddleston. He said about classics that it makes you realise 'It's all right to live in the doubt.'
Her new book, she said, was a 'practice run for St Peter' - a justification for a life spent reading and teaching classics. She was suffering from the 'Old Lady in a Hurry Syndrome'. People say the young are in a hurry but, at 71, she said the old are in a hurry to get as much done as possible.
Mary also fondly thanked the Oldie for making her our Pin-Up of the Year, shortly after the late AA Gill had insulted her looks.
