"One of Michael's favourite pastimes was hauling books down from his shelves and reading to me, or pointing out comments he had made on the flyleaves. The astringent Brigid Brophy never failed to amuse him. Her invective, he claimed, "would put anybody in a good temper. It's my favourite cure for any kind of depression." Michael read out a newspaper clipping reporting an apology concerning something Brophy had written that the press council deemed pornographic. A reader had complained about her article on Lucretius, the newspaper report noted: "Referring to the Latin language Ms. Brophy wrote, 'yet, though non-colloquial Latin is rhetorical and declamatory because its sounds ooze forth, though its meaning has to be teased out, tension and internal contradiction are inherent in the language. I can't believe it didn't create in its users a psychological predisposition to tension like masturbating with one hand while playing chess with the other." We roared. "It's hard to beat. It makes me laugh like anything," Michael said. He spoke of Brigid Brophy constantly. "It's wonderful," he chortled."