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BEGINNINGS
Blast! Seven years’ weight training burnt off in the three-week adrenalin flow of the job.
The former NSW premier curses in his diary as, now foreign minister, he buys protein powder to bulk up. Earlier, he had been stung by Nancy Kissinger’s aside: “My God, you’re skinny.”
DRUGS
Popped two Normison to smother the excitement.
The civil war enthusiast on dropping sleeping tablets to pull himself together after Henry Kissinger invited him to the exclusive Bohemian Grove encampment. Carr was so buzzed he thought they were talking about a remounted operetta.
DESIRE
My ambition: to have a concave abdomen defined by deep-cut obliques.
The senator celebrates a breakfast of carrot juice, omelette, lentils, salad and salmon – “no bread, no croissant”.
MODESTY
I have more energy than sixteen gladiators.
The amateur historian employs the standard metric for diplomatic stamina.
JEALOUSY
The South Korean minister wins my award for best tie: a lime-green Hermès for which I would ransack any airport store.
The noted dandy lets his mind drift at the ASEAN Regional Forum in Phnom Penh.
CONCLUSIONS
Yes, I had stepped into this narrative, though only briefly … Yes, it was history.
The suddenly former foreign minister muses on his contribution, his government now fallen, a spray of Russian pines out the window beyond him.
Take a stand
while sitting down.
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