John Quincy Adams

Skinny dipping became something of a tradition among American Presidents. Harry Truman was a fan, and so was Lyndon Johnson. In that list belongs John Quincy Adams, an enthusiastic swimmer, who used to go skinny dipping in the Potomac before starting work.

Anne Royall, considered by many the first female journalist in the U.S., felt ignored by Adams. When she heard about his habit to go skinny dipping, she tracked the President down, hid herself out of view, and waited patiently for the President to enter the water. Once Adams was submerged, she quickly positioned herself on his clothes.

When Adams returned, he looked puzzled at the very determined young lady. She announced her intention to have an interview with the President.

Adams suggested that if she let him get dressed first, he’d be happy to oblige. But Anne, sensing the opportunity, coolly replied she had no intention to move until the President answered all her questions to a satisfactory level. She also added that if the President dared getting out of the water she would scream out loud for all to hear. Adams, aware that there were some fishermen round the next bend, was nervous about the embarrassment this could cause.

Anne Royall got the interview of her life, while the President stayed decently submerged in the water throughout.

Hilaire Belloc

“My advice to a young writer who is merely thinking of fame,” Belloc once wrote, “is to concentrate on one subject. Let him, when he is twenty, write about the earthworm. Let him continue for forty years to write about nothing but the earthworm. When he is sixty, pilgrims will make a hollow path with their feet to the door of the world’s greatest authority on the earthworm. They will knock on his door and humbly beg to be allowed to see the Master of the Earthworm.”

Note:

Belloc was so embarrassed about the substandard stuff he had to write to make a living, that one day, when he was traveling by train and saw a man reading his ‘History of England’ in front of him, he asked the man how much he had paid for the book. The man disclosed the sum, Belloc took the money from his wallet, handed it to the man, snatched the book from his grasp and threw it out of the window…