The poet was able to to get money out of anyone, but was outmatched one Christmas by Mavis Cheek
The talented Michael Horovitz was indeed “ever the impoverished poet” (Obituary, 11 July), and ever clever at getting money out of anyone, anywhere – it was like a smiling crusade, the cheery phrase being “Can I touch you for a tip?” I once earned his goodwill when, seeing him from afar in the queue of guests waiting to get into the Daily Mail Christmas party (those were the days), I spotted that determined chin and beady eye fixed on me. “Ah, Michael,” I said, before he could begin, “I was hoping to see you to ask if I could touch you for a tip?” “Well,” he said, amused, “I was going to ask you the same.” His eyes lit up with admiration. “But you got in first.”
Mavis Cheek
London
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