Mark Mason

Bookends: wit and wisdom

Mark Mason has the Bookends column in this issue of the magazine. Here it is as an exclusive for the readers of this blog.

Nora Ephron has a clever solution to a particular social quandary. Whenever she pinches her husband’s arm at a party, it’s their agreed signal for ‘I’ve forgotten the name of this person I have to introduce you to, so give them your name directly and they’ll respond in kind’. Only one problem — his memory is now as bad as hers, so he keeps forgetting what the signal means.

I Remember Nothing and Other Reflections is a collection of short essays distilling the wisdom gained from a lifetime in journalism, screenwriting and three marriages.

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