I think Christopher’s stepfather must have been clearing out his attic recently, as he has just kindly sent me a bundle of letters which Christopher wrote home to his mother when he was up at Oxford. That was in the early ’80s – years before I knew him, and in fact while I was still at school. It’s been absolutely fascinating reading them, though I couldn’t help feeling somewhat voyeuristic reading about his dates with his then girlfriends – mind you, there was nothing written that wasn’t suitable for his mother to read…… It was uncanny too seeing his handwriting again, which hadn’t changed in twenty five or more years.
I’m astonished he ever had time to do any studying, as his letters are full of his social life, in particular his archery, parties, college balls, punting on the river and pub trips. However, I strongly suspect that if my sister were to re-read my letters home to her from a few years later she would gain much the same impression, albeit with the college boat club replacing archery…….
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Since you mention it…….
Your letters were mostly about parties, punting, cricket watching and coxing – is that not what your degree is in?!
Strange to think of Chris as the party animal at uni
I would have thought he was the ‘nerd’ in the corner …:)
As a friend of Chris from university days (last year), I can report that he did work very hard! but as he was also extremely bright and sociable, with many interests, he was able to do a lot. I always admired the way he managed to balance everything so calmly. He was definitely not the ‘nerd’ in the corner!