Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
I’d seen the man on several occasions, seated in a corner of my local pub. I was clueless as to who he was. Then, in the aftermath of the Iraq war, I went to the Wells Tavern [in Hampstead] with a journalist, who knew the white-haired, conservatively dressed gentleman who never ate alone.
They engaged in a brief conversation, as I hovered awkwardly. “Who’s that?” I asked as we reached our table. “David Cornwell, otherwise known as John le Carré, with his wife Jane.” Later, as we left, introductions were made, with banter about the illegalities that followed the events of 11 September. Le Carré did not mince his words.
