A. A. Gill: Difference between revisions
rv per WP:BLP - do not add this information back until there is consensus on the talk page |
Please do not delete this until there is consensus on the talk page. |
||
| Line 41: | Line 41: | ||
Gill identified himself in the Sunday Times as being of partly Indian descent. |
Gill identified himself in the Sunday Times as being of partly Indian descent. |
||
==Quotations== |
|||
Gill is comments on other races and nationalities. His 1997 comments about the [[Welsh people|Welsh]] were described as racist by the Welsh Assembly,<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/628747.stm 'Anti-Welsh racism' protest ]</ref> though the Crown Prosecution Service determined that the comments did not justify prosecution. In the article in question he described the Welsh as: |
|||
:"loquacious, dissemblers, immoral liars, stunted, bigoted, dark, ugly, pugnacious little trolls." <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/3067697.stm BBC NEWS | Wales | South West Wales | Critic toasts Welsh at festival<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> |
|||
Two years later he angered [[German people|German]]s with an article called "Hunforgiven",<ref>[http://www.travelintelligence.net/php/articles/art.php?id=1001185 Hunforgiven | Travel Writing and Germany Information from Travel Intelligence<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> making numerous references to their [[Nazism|Nazi]] past. |
|||
In 2004, when writing about the [[ITV]] drama ''Island at War'', based on [[Occupation of the Channel Islands|the German occupation]] of [[Jersey]] and [[Guernsey]], he remarked that the islanders "lay on their backs and made moaning noises" when the Germans arrived.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/jersey/3916109.stm BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Jersey | Historian adds voice to criticism<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> He then asked: |
|||
:"What have the [[Channel Islands]] ever done for us? A couple of really expensive potatoes, a few flowers and fatty milk."<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/jersey/3916109.stm BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Jersey | Historian adds voice to criticism<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> |
|||
His comments were widely condemned in the islands as offensive and inaccurate.<ref>http://www.thisisguernsey.com/code/showarchive.pl</ref> |
|||
His article on [[Albania]] in [[July 2006]], which described [[Albanian people|Albanians]] as "short and ferret-faced, with the unisex stumpy, slightly bowed legs of [[Shetland pony|shetland ponies]]" drew an angry response from Albanians<ref>[http://www.london.mjaft.org/mjaft_letter_sunday_times.htm MJAFT! Demands The Sunday Times For Public Apology<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and is now subject to a legal complaint. <ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article688085.ece The land that time forgot - Times Online<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> |
|||
:"[[Albanian language|Albanian]] is one of those languages that have no known relative, just an extra half a dozen letters. They say it’s impossible to learn after the age of two. They say it with very thick accents. The fact that nobody else can speak it makes it a ready-made code for criminals, but in a typically unintentional way it’s also pathetically, phonetically funny. The word for 'for sale', for instance, is shitet; carp, the national fish, is krap." |
|||
On being mistaken for an Englishman he stated: |
|||
:"I don't like [[English people|the English]]. One at a time, I don't mind them. I've loved some of them. It's their collective persona I can't warm to: the lumpen and louty, coarse, unsubtle, beady-eyed, beefy-bummed herd of England. The truth is—and perhaps this is a little unworthy, a bit shameful—I find England and the English embarrassing. Fundamentally toe-curlingly embarrassing. And even though I look like one, sound like one, can imitate the social/mating behaviour of one, I'm not one. I always bridle with irritation when taken for an Englishman, and fill in those disembarkation cards by pedantically writing "[[Scottish people|Scots]]" in the appropriate box." |
|||
: -- from ''The Angry Island'' |
|||
He founded a hotel review website in 2000; some of his articles are still there.<ref>[http://www.travelintelligence.net/php/writers/writ.php?id=22 Boutique Hotels, Chic & Luxury Hotels: The Travel Intelligence Collection<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> |
|||
==Notes== |
==Notes== |
||
Revision as of 22:48, 28 February 2008
 | The neutrality of this article is disputed. |
Adrian Anthony Gill | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 28, 1954 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Occupation | Columnist, Author |
| Nationality |  British |
Adrian Anthony Gill (born June 28, 1954) is a British newspaper columnist and writer, using the byline A. A. Gill. He is currently employed by the Sunday Times as their restaurant reviewer and television critic. His essays are known for their humour and satirical content.
Biography
A.A. Gill was born in Edinburgh, the son of television producer Michael Gill and his wife, Yvonne, and brother to Nick[1]. He moved to London to study at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and the Slade School of Art. He is a recovered alcoholic who drank until age 30.[2]
Gill suffers from severe dyslexia. All his works are written by him dictating to copytakers.[1]
He was once ejected from one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants, along with his dining partner Joan Collins. Ramsay's reason was that Gill had written a review of his restaurant that covered his personal life more than the food, including calling him a wonderful chef, but a "second-rate human being."
Personal life
Gill married, as his first wife, the author Cressida Connolly, a daughter of the writer Cyril Connolly. They later divorced.
His second wife was Amber Rudd, a financial journalist and former Conservative parliamentary candidate.[2] They have two children, Flora and Alasdair.[3]
He has a long-term relationship with Nicola Formby, editor at large of the Tatler, who appears in his column as "The Blonde"[3]. They have twins, Edith and Isaac, born in March 2007.[4]
Gill identified himself in the Sunday Times as being of partly Indian descent.
Quotations
Gill is comments on other races and nationalities. His 1997 comments about the Welsh were described as racist by the Welsh Assembly,[4] though the Crown Prosecution Service determined that the comments did not justify prosecution. In the article in question he described the Welsh as:
- "loquacious, dissemblers, immoral liars, stunted, bigoted, dark, ugly, pugnacious little trolls." [5]
Two years later he angered Germans with an article called "Hunforgiven",[6] making numerous references to their Nazi past.
In 2004, when writing about the ITV drama Island at War, based on the German occupation of Jersey and Guernsey, he remarked that the islanders "lay on their backs and made moaning noises" when the Germans arrived.[7] He then asked:
- "What have the Channel Islands ever done for us? A couple of really expensive potatoes, a few flowers and fatty milk."[8]
His comments were widely condemned in the islands as offensive and inaccurate.[9]
His article on Albania in July 2006, which described Albanians as "short and ferret-faced, with the unisex stumpy, slightly bowed legs of shetland ponies" drew an angry response from Albanians[10] and is now subject to a legal complaint. [11]
- "Albanian is one of those languages that have no known relative, just an extra half a dozen letters. They say it’s impossible to learn after the age of two. They say it with very thick accents. The fact that nobody else can speak it makes it a ready-made code for criminals, but in a typically unintentional way it’s also pathetically, phonetically funny. The word for 'for sale', for instance, is shitet; carp, the national fish, is krap."
On being mistaken for an Englishman he stated:
- "I don't like the English. One at a time, I don't mind them. I've loved some of them. It's their collective persona I can't warm to: the lumpen and louty, coarse, unsubtle, beady-eyed, beefy-bummed herd of England. The truth is—and perhaps this is a little unworthy, a bit shameful—I find England and the English embarrassing. Fundamentally toe-curlingly embarrassing. And even though I look like one, sound like one, can imitate the social/mating behaviour of one, I'm not one. I always bridle with irritation when taken for an Englishman, and fill in those disembarkation cards by pedantically writing "Scots" in the appropriate box."
- -- from The Angry Island
He founded a hotel review website in 2000; some of his articles are still there.[12]
Notes
- ^ Michael Gill - Comment - Times Online
- ^ A is for Adrian | Media | The Guardian
- ^ http://women.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,18030-1730930,00.html
- ^ 'Anti-Welsh racism' protest
- ^ BBC NEWS | Wales | South West Wales | Critic toasts Welsh at festival
- ^ Hunforgiven | Travel Writing and Germany Information from Travel Intelligence
- ^ BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Jersey | Historian adds voice to criticism
- ^ BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Jersey | Historian adds voice to criticism
- ^ http://www.thisisguernsey.com/code/showarchive.pl
- ^ MJAFT! Demands The Sunday Times For Public Apology
- ^ The land that time forgot - Times Online
- ^ Boutique Hotels, Chic & Luxury Hotels: The Travel Intelligence Collection
Bibliography
- Sap Rising (1997)
- Ivy Cookbook (1999) co-author
- Starcrossed (1999)
- AA Gill is Away (2003) collection of travel writing. ISBN 0-7538-1681-4
- The Angry Island (2005) a book about England and the English. ISBN 0-297-84318-4
- "Previous Convictions" (2006) assignments from here and there. ISBN 0-297-85162-4
Further reading
- John Crace, The Guardian, January 2 2006, AA puts the English on the couch but merely exposes himself
Talking table with AA Gill - interview from Australian Gourmet Traveller, Jan 2008