INTRODUCTION

Over the course of my career, I have had the pleasure of interviewing some of the most fascinating people in film, television and the arts, both in front of and behind the camera. Many of those conversations can be traced back to my time with the American bookseller Borders, where I worked from 1998 to 2002.

In August 1998, the company opened its first British store at 203 Oxford Street, London. Borders Books & Music, as it was then known, occupied four floors and 39,000 square feet, offering an extraordinary range of books, CDs, tapes, videos, newspapers and magazines, alongside a café and a Paperchase stationery department. It was an impressive new arrival on the London retail scene.

During my time there, I often worked with the events team on author appearances, book signings and music launches. The store quickly established itself as a destination for high-profile visitors, and I had the opportunity to be involved in events featuring some remarkable names.

Stephen King appeared at the store in 1998, shortly after it opened, and in the years that followed I encountered many other well-known figures, including Alex Ferguson, Jackie Collins and F. W. de Klerk.

In 1999, Monica Lewinsky arrived at Borders Oxford Street as part of her UK signing tour for Monica's Story. The event attracted enormous media attention, with a sea of photographers in attendance. I even made a brief appearance on BBC One's evening news as part of the coverage. Contemporary reports confirm that Lewinsky's signing took place at Borders, 203 Oxford Street, on 9 March 1999.

When David Beckham visited the following year to promote his autobiography, Oxford Street was brought to a standstill, with crowds queuing along virtually the entire stretch of the road. It was another indication of just how much of a cultural destination the store had become.

Around this time, a group of us came up with the idea of producing an in-store magazine featuring interviews with the writers, musicians and other notable figures passing through for events, while also promoting their latest work.

Management liked the idea and agreed to let us approach representatives for interviews.

The response was encouraging. Borders was a powerful platform at the time, and I had the honour of interviewing the likes of Sir Christopher Lee, Gordon Ramsay, Rick Stein, John Glen, director of five James Bond films, Timothy West and Alf Weaver, Frank Sinatra's bodyguard during his London concerts in the 1980s and 1990s.

The magazine, which had the working title Download, gradually took shape as we assembled interviews, in-store news and event listings. We were excited about its prospects. Sadly, it never came to fruition, perhaps because funding could not be secured.

The Oxford Street flagship eventually closed in 2009, one of five Borders stores announced for closure that year. Borders UK subsequently entered administration in November, and its remaining stores closed the following month.

The American Borders Group followed in 2011, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February before its remaining stores were liquidated and closed later that year.

Recently, while revisiting my archive of Dictaphone recordings containing interviews with some of the most fascinating people to pass through the store, it struck me that it would be a shame not to give those conversations a new life.

Sadly, not all of the recordings have survived. However, those that remain are being transcribed from the original tapes and, in some cases, lightly edited for clarity and length.

I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed conducting them.