He fell apart in his mid-40s and stayed that way for about 10 years. Most days he just stayed home and drank. But a decade is a long time, so every now and then he wound up on a talk show. When this happened he managed to be very funny, or that’s what I’ve read.

For instance, a tv interviewer asked him what he’d been doing. Cook said he had taken up a form of yoga so subtle and arcane that to the uninitiated it would look exactly like a middle-aged Englishman staying in bed until 1 o’clock every single afternoon.

I have to admit that’s one of my favorite lines. He was such a wreck by then but he could strike a glimmer, which is good to know.