Books
- I am a people person, so I always have a pile of biographies to read: Seb Coe, Steve Jobs and, just now, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. An unusual present last Christmas was Mrs Kennedy and Me, by secret service agent Clint Hill, who was assigned to guard the wife of President John F. Kennedy, one of my all-time heroes.
TV
- I enjoyed the second season of Homeland (pictured) I prefer The West Wing to Borgen because it’s faster, packed with complex characters, and not unlike the mini-dramas of college. As principal, I deal with many serious issues, so if I’m looking for some light relief I’ll watch Mrs Brown’s Boys or a Billy Connolly DVD. If there’s rugby on the TV, especially the Six Nations, I’ll watch all of it.
Film
- As a retired coastguard, after 30 years’ service I am now more of an armchair action man. I enjoyed Ben Affleck in Argo and Daniel Craig was superb in the latest Bond film, Skyfall. The classics are great too, such as Mel Gibson in Braveheart, Anthony Hopkins in Shadowlands and Dame Judi Dench in Mrs Brown.
Stage and Arts
- I saw Les Miserables at the cinema last month but I preferred the stage version. With my first degree as a painter, I like visiting art galleries. Glasgow has some great ones, in the Kelvingrove and the Burrell.
Online
- I am a late convert to LinkedIn and I now follow multiple groups. I like face-to-face communication, so I prefer Skype to Twitter or Facebook. Paradise is sailing with my brother on the Lady J, named after my late mum - out there, the iPhone loses its signal.
