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It was a happy and smiling Anna Massey who greeted me in the foyer of her Glasgow Hotel on a bleak Autumn day in 2006. We had arranged to meet at the Theatre Royal at 12.15, but having been rescheduled twice this had now been brought forward to 10.45 such was the demand for her time.

Accompanied by her PA from Publishers Random House, we drifted towards the Restaurant and found a quiet table in the corner, overlooking George Square. This was a grand setting, totally appropriate for an interview with a lady who has lived the grand' life.

Deep friendships with Noel Coward, Michael Redgrave, Emlyn Williams, John Gielgud, and Ralph Richardson are just a fraction of the memories recalled in her autobiography Telling Some Tales.' Dancing with John F. Kennedy, playing hostess to Prince Philip, and being a guest at the wedding of Princess Margaret to Anthony Armstrong-Jones, are tales that sit comfortably beside those from a theatrical life that has encompassed Stage, Screen, Television and Radio.

In her book she describes one particular New York Theatre gathering with the wonderful sentence "The room was full of egos, many of whom wrote their own notices as they shook your hand." There is no ego here - one immediately warms to Anna, who makes you feel like an old friend.

Whereas many people are happy just to accept that they are in the company of celebrities, Anna has the ability to be actually interested in them as people.' She is able to remember their special characteristics, their conversations, and those fleeting individual moments which for many just get lost in time.

Writing the book was a joy for her. She has always been interested in words, and we started our conversation talking about a little passion in her life, crossword puzzles.

"I started doing crossword puzzles with my Mother, and I remember the moment vividly. We were on a long journey, and I sat in the back with my little suitcase to keep me company, and my Mother and Brother sat in the front. Suddenly she read out a clue and said Oh I wish I had the Morse code.' I was a girl guide, and I piped up from the back well I do.'"

"So I unpacked my little bag and gave her the book. Unfortunately it did not help her solve the problem, but ever since I have been an avid crossword fiend, and used to do them with her. I still do them to this very day."

"I love to go deeper into the meaning of words, and the play on words. It sharpens the mind to continue ones' knowledge of the love of words, and hopefully there is

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