Word: holroyd
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Barnes, famous for his inscrutability, consented to let me interview him. The official photographs of Barnes show a darkly brooding, almost Mephistophelean presence. He is in real life, taller and blonder than one would ever dare imagine, inhabiting a room effortlessly and completely. He is neither tweedy like Michael Holroyd nor dandiacal like Tom Wolfe and sits coiled in a too-small armchair. His presence is gently mocking. We tacitly acknowledge the irony which is inherent in the enterprise of claiming privacy, even while performing the ancillary activities which accompany literary success...
Some of the royal genes crop out now and then. Author Michael Holroyd, clearly a partisan, portrays Antonia entering a crowded room: "There's a stateliness about her. It's almost like a member of the royal family; people feel they should make a little bow. Some people are dazzled, some feel overawed. She can intimidate some and charm others. It's chemistry -- and possibly height. But as soon as she laughs, the formality is completely dissolved." Adds playwright Arthur Miller, a frequent guest of the Pinters: "She has great elegance as a writer and as a person." Marigold Johnson...
Activist Antonia is deeply committed to writers imprisoned for their written words. "I feel passionately about this," she declares, and she leads the cause for English PEN. Holroyd, former PEN president, sings her praises: "She knows when to press and when not to; she can let loose the dogs on them, or she can charm them. Pinter tends to blow his top; she's got a great deal of common sense." Arthur Miller, longtime advocate for imprisoned writers, concurs: "She is very effective...