Alex Wade Revealed
About Alex Wade
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What is your birthdate?:3/28
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Previous occupations:Libel lawyer
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Favorite job:Writing, whether books or journalism
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High school and/or college:University of East Anglia
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Name of your favorite composer or music artist?:Miles Davis
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Favorite movie:Apocalypse Now
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Favorite television show:Don't watch TV save for the footy
Revealing Questions
- Q. How would you describe your life in only 8 words?
- A. Chaotic with moments of lucidity
- Q. What is your motto or maxim?
- A. Don't be afraid of anything, except when strictly necessary
- Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?
- A. Surfing evening glass-off, peeling, perfect head high waves at a Cornish secret spot with my sons. There are dolphins in the water, basking sharks too. Afterwards I eat a nice rare steak, washed down with red wine, with my wife.
- Q. What’s your greatest fear?
- A. Getting badly injured and not being able to be active. I guess age will do this, too.
- Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
- A. Surfing Spot G
- Q. With whom in history do you most identify?
- A. Stan Bowles
- Q. Which living person do you most admire?
- A. An artist by the name of Karen (my wife)
- Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?
- A. 'I'm just nipping out to check the surf'
- Q. What do you regret most?
- A. Causing so much carnage during my Wrecking Machine years
- Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
- A. Being able to dance - I'm woeful
- Q. What is your greatest achievement?
- A. Saying 'No' to a drinking session in the Wrecking Machine years. I knew it was a session that would have lasted all my life.
- Q. What’s your greatest flaw?
- A. I can, ever so slightly and every now and then, be a bit too emotional about things.
- Q. What’s your best quality?
- A. I do my best to be kind and helpful, though not when I see people throwing litter out of cars. I get angry then.
- Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?
- A. Portugal
- Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?
- A. A loping gait, a bit like Watt
- Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?
- A. Murphy
- Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?
- A. Dr Evil
- Q. If you could meet any historical character, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?
- A. George Best - 'Is it true that you once said Stan Bowles was a better footballer than you?'
- Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
- A. Ignorant behaviour, e.g throwing litter out of cars
- Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
- A. Walking the dogs
- Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
- A. QPR striker
- Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
- A. Being a good Dad, being a good husband, and doing the things you say you're going to do
- Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
- A. Filet steak
- Q. What are your 5 favorite songs?
- A. All Blues (Miles Davis), Peace Piece (Bill Evans), Le Freak (Chic), The Illinois Enema Bandit (Frank Zappa), Voodoo Child (Hendrix)
On Books and Writing
- Q. Who are your favorite authors?
- A. Kafka, Conrad, Joyce, Proust, Saramago
- Q. What are your 5 favorite books of all time?
- A. Conrad - Lord Jim; Kafka - The Trial; Tabucchi - Requiem; Saramago - The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis; Nabokov - Despair.
- Q. Is there a book you love to reread?
- A. The Trial
- Q. Do you have one sentence of advice for new writers?
- A. Write the truth from a lived life.
- Q. What comment do you hear most often from your readers?
- A. 'Are you going to have a fight again?'
- Q. How did you come to write Surf Nation?
- A. A while ago I was surfing in Barbados, where a British surfer had just won an international event. I found myself looking due north-east, across the Atlantic, and thought of the richness and vitality of the UK surf scene. I wanted to write a book which celebrated it.
