And what it evokes most powerfully is an unalloyed, ungovernable joy in the creative act itself, a fierce performer's delight that's always welcome and always appropriate, even when the character he's playing is an unhappy one.
He mentioned P. G. Cross, Oliver Wendell Holmes, A. J. Downing, Joseph S. Illick, Andre Michaux, and the late Ernest H. Wilson, all of whom held the tree in high esteem, but he said nothing at all about that fierce champion of elm delight...the Baltimore oriole.
Describing himself as an "old Scottish warrior," Dr. Campbell delighted in fierce ideological battles, whether with Stanford administrators whom he accused of wanting to take over Hoover or of spokesmen for liberal causes, not a few of whom he considered nonsensical.
At fifty-two, shashas a mild, earnest appearance (a rounded, friendly face, windblown blond hair), and yet in conversation she is absolutely fierce, focussed, picking apart the careless question, delighted by the unexpected one.
The West Ham United CEO, Scott Duxbury, said: "We are delighted to sign Savio, particularly with the fierce competition for his services across Europe.
But I like to think how many readers are going to admire the courage of this book, revel in its fierce colours, its boisterousness, humour and tremendous pizzazz, and take delight in its generosity of spirit.
Conditions have been nowhere near as fierce this week and, even with the closing bogey, he was delighted with his score after two weeks' holiday in the Bahamas.
