I’m not convinced by the old adage that we should never meet our idols because they are bound to disappoint us. I’ve never wanted to approach human exceptionalism quite so cynically.

Yes, I’m acutely, painfully conscious that the world is replete with terrible events and bad people. But I’m counting myself fortunate that purely by dint of birth I live somewhere (and I don’t just mean my neighbourhood) where human capacity for kindness, generosity and, yes, civility, are not the exception.

Journalism gives otherwise pretty regular people unique access to fame and celebrity. And across four decades in journalism I’ve had the privilege, one not afforded to so many others, to meet some of the people I’ve most admired. And I’ve got to say that probably eight out of 10 times I haven’t been disappointed. Maybe I’m lucky to have struck such odds!

Actors and musicians. Former and serving prime ministers and senior government members. Sports people. Visual artists. Australia’s most celebrated novelists, playwrights, and film and theatre directors. Other people who are simply famous for being famous. For the most part they have lived up to my expectations.

There have been let downs of course.

But the biggest, most disappointing, and the most striking personal experience of where an entertainer’s carefully cultivated public image was so evidently at odds with their actual persona, came........

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