“I simply had to get there.”

— Stephen Spender

Remark in 1980, after riding in a taxi for 287 miles, after his plane was grounded because of bad weather, to attend a dinner date with Jacqueline Onassis; as quoted in "Stephen Spender, Toady: Was there any substance to his politics and art?" by Stephen Metcalf at Slate.com (7 February 2005) http://www.slate.com/id/2113164/

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Stephen Spender 76

English poet and man of letters 1909–1995

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