ABSTRACT
My love affair with talk began, I am reliably informed, at the age of nine months and throughout my life talk has taught me almost everything I know. Without talk I would not hold political views, question nature and science, hold a sense of empathy with my family's history, understand the history of Britain and the world and express my opinions on an inexhaustible fund of subjects from fashion to educational theory. I would, without talk, be lost in my classroom and most importantly, lose my sense of humour.
