With Simon Hoggart
Our annual SPRING DINNER was held on Saturday, 29th March, at the Carlson Hall of Mount Ida College in Newton, Massachusetts, starting at 6:30pm.
Our guest of honor for the evening was the distinguished political journalist, author, and radio personality, Simon Hoggart (King’s College, Cambridge), who has covered British politics for the Guardian since 1993. His weekly column, “Hoggart’s Sketches,” is one of the glories of the paper. Mr. Hoggart has chosen to speak on the lively topic, “British Politics after Blair.”
After Cambridge, he joined The Guardian in 1968, later becoming the American correspondent for The Observer (and occasional guest commentator on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition Saturday). Simon then became the parliamentary sketch writer for The Guardian in 1993. He also writes a wine column for The Spectator.
Before his spell in North America in the early 1980s he chaired the radio comedy show The News Quiz, returning to the show in 1996. He was also a contributor to the Grumpy Old Men and in the past has written for Punch magazine and an occasional column for New Humanist magazine (last entry May 2005). Hoggart was also an occasional celebrity panelist on BBC2's antiques quiz show Going, Going, Gone.
A keen observer and analyst of politics on both sides of the Atlantic, Simon Hoggart’s books include a biography of Michael Foot, and The Pact: The Inside Story of the Lib/Lab Government 1977-1978, as well as collections of his political articles. As politics move to center stage this year, we are most fortunate to welcome as our guest someone celebrated both for his wit and for his political insight.
Sincerely
Ralph Gillis,
Jesus College, Cambridge
President of the Society
Reception: 6:30 PM
Dinner: 7:30 PM