Bob Dylan [playing charades]. He couldn't get the hang of the 'how many syllables?' thing at all

Simon and Garfunkel had dinner one night, then played charades. At least they tried to play charades. They were terrible at it. The best thing I can say about them is that they were better than Bob Dylan. He couldn't get the hang of the 'how many syllables?' thing at all. He couldn't do 'sounds like' either come to think of it. One of the best lyricists in the world, the greatest man of letters on the history of rock music, and he can't seem to tell you whether a word's got one syllable or two syllables or what it rhymes with! He was so hopeless, I started throwing oranges at him.

E.H. John, Me (2019), 129

Character, young man

One summer Saturday afternoon, John and I were sitting outside the bungalow having a snack, when we noticed a sixty-something lady who looked a little like Katharine Hepburn cycling up our drive. It was Katharine Hepburn: 'I'm staying with Bryan Forbes - he said it would be OK if I used your pool.' John and I just nodded, dumbstruck. Five minutes later, she reappeared in a swimsuit, complaining there was a dead frog in the pool. When I dithered about how to get it out. I'm a bit squeamish about things like that - she just jumped in and grabbed it with her hand. I asked her how she could bear to touch it.

'Character, young man,' she nodded sternly.

E.H. John, Me (2019), 96-7