Clive Crook

Clive's self-indulgence at the Aspen Festival of ideas, draws ire. "… How loathsome … How do you spell hypocrite? Limousine liberal! …

CLIVE: "At 6.30am we glided out of Aspen in a fleet of silent shining limos (furnished by Lexus, one of the meeting's sponsors: I could get used to it). Our destination was the Maroon Bells Amphitheatre; our purpose, breakfast at one of the most stunning viewpoints in the United States, and a talk on landscape photography given by...well, given by me, … "

Strictly speaking, I haven't lectured on any subject before, though I suppose it depends on what you mean by "lecture". Elizabeth Baker Keffer, a colleague of mine at Atlantic Media, and one of the guiding forces behind the Ideas Festival, ambushed me with a "suggestion" that I do this several months ago (the dear woman has some of my pictures on her wall), and before I had stopped saying "er", the venue was secured. Elizabeth achieves a great deal through means such as this. She is an inspiration to me.

So I gave my students the benefit of my wisdom on the subject. It was wonderful to talk against that magnificent backdrop. It was novel and lovely to have an audience that was avid to hear my views--and had no thought of questioning them, or my motives for advancing them."

Clive's bio, the usual rap sheet: … a senior editor of The Atlantic Monthly … writes a column for National Journal … chief editorial adviser to David Bradley, the chairman of Atlantic Media Group … formerly on the staff of The Economist … graduate of Oxford and the London School of Economics … served as consultant to the World Bank … worked as an official in the British Treasury ... lives in Washington, DC.

… can the Crook grovel and suck-up or what? Was this his first time at rubbing elbows (or assholes) in a Lexus limo? Your tax free foundations and institutes, working hard to stimulate ideas.