Crikey

Casting around yesterday for people to write on the demise of Conrad Black, we immediately thought of Rodney Adler:

Dear Rodney,

Don’t take this the wrong way, but I did wonder with the news today of Conrad Black’s jail term if there wasn’t a little thing you could write for us on staying sane in prison? What are the shocks, what are the techniques?
What do you think?

Yours,
Jonathan Green

To which the response cam quickly:

Dear Mr. Green

I had the displeasure of meeting Conrad Black when he first made his bid for Fairfax via the Tourang Syndicate. Although I do not wish anyone to go to jail, he was and is the most pompous person I have ever met in my life.

Thank you for your offer to write on the Black jail sentence but I respectfully decline the honour.

Yours sincerely
Rodney Adler

Which put it in a nutshell.