Libby Purves meets actor Pam St Clement; academic and journalist Professor John Sutherland and his son Jack; swimmer Adam Walker and concert pianist Sam Haywood.
Adam Walker is the only British swimmer to have completed the Ocean's 7 Challenge - seven open water swims including the English Channel, the Strait of Gibraltar and the Molokai Channel in Hawaii. He started the swims in 2008 and faced sharks, whales, treacherous sea conditions and dozens of bouts of sickness during the challenge. Adam Walker: The Ocean's 7 Challenge Lecture is at the Royal Geographical Society, London.
Professor John Sutherland is an academic and author. His book, Last Drink to LA, first published in 2001, has been reissued with a new introduction. The book is a meditation on alcoholism and an account of his own decline and recovery. It also details his son's problems with addiction. Father and son are working on Jack's forthcoming book about his own experiences. Last Drink to LA: Confessions of an AA Survivor is published by Short Books.
Pam St Clement is an actor best known for her role as Pat Evans in the BBC soap series, EastEnders. Her memoir, The End of an Earring, recounts the death of her mother, her difficult relationship with her father and her itinerant childhood. She attended drama school before working in television and theatre throughout the Sixties and Seventies. She appeared in EastEnders from 1986 to 2012 becoming one of its longest running characters known for her trademark large earrings. The End of an Earring is published by Headline.
Sam Haywood is a concert pianist who has performed in many of the world's major concert halls including Carnegie Hall in New York, the Konzerthaus in Vienna and Wigmore Hall in London. As a chamber musician he is a regular duo partner of Joshua Bell and Steven Isserlis and performs with many leading chamber ensembles. His latest CD, Composers in Love, brings together both well-loved and lesser known music inspired by composers' muses. Composers in Love, is released by Blackbird Records.
Producer: Paula McGinley. Show less