Dear Mary | 28 June 2018

Q. A close friend is an elderly writer who has contributed, as a monthly columnist, to the same publication for many years. His powers are undimmed. However, he has not moved with the times and will not self-edit. I have had it from a mole that the much younger sub-editors on the magazine, one of whom wants to write the column herself, are claiming to resent the time they must spend ‘correcting’ his offensive copy. I’ve told him this but he is stubborn and says he refuses to be gagged. We all know the power of presenteeism — these people are in the office, he is not and I worry they will get him sacked. I’m convinced the work keeps my beloved genius friend alive, so how can I protect him from himself and force him to see, as in the Leopard, ‘for things to remain the same, everything must change’?
— Name and address withheld

A.