Keeping busy

Philosopher John Gray presented an interesting A Point of View this week on Radio 4. He argued that many people crave busy lives where not a second is wasted because they can't bear the consequences of stopping and being forced to think about things - about the inevitability of death for instance. 

Well, it's a point of view. I can waste any more time thinking about it though, so here's a post about Sir Michael Lyons instead:

Whatever happened to Sir Michael Lyons, the former head of the BBC Trust?

Sir Michael, as you may recall, began his public life as an academic, then became a Labour councillor in Birmingham, before going on to become Chief Executive of Wolverhampton Council, Nottinghamshire County Council and Birmingham City Council. He was also a director of Central Independent Television. He worked on two government projects in the Blair years, served as deputy chairman of the Audit Commission, went back into academia as head of Inlogov, became a governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company as well as a non-executive director of Mouchel, Wragge & Co solicitors and SQW Group Ltd. He was also chairman of  the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and a board member of City Pride, Birmingham Marketing Partnership and Millennium Point Property Trust Company. Then he became chairman of the BBC Trust. 

What's be doing now then? Resting? Having to think about the inevitability of death?

No, he's now back working for the Labour Party again, heading the party's commission on house building. 

Busy, busy, busy. 

Maybe John Gray is onto something.