"The boss of Walker Books saw me do it and said, 'That would make a very good book.'" At first Rosen declined, but was eventually persuaded – something that has clearly not been forgotten.
He was persuaded something needed to be done about England's local government structure, a historic system that appeared increasingly archaic in the white heat of the technological age.
Cameron and Clegg (and their predecessors) see the briefing notes and have the bone-chilling chats with the spooks who persuade them something must be done sharpish.
And finally, the Chicago Transport Authority launched a $5m campaign earlier this year, designed to persuade 20-somethings to use public transport, and which, over the photo of parking space, ran the tagline, 'I love paying $30 for parking!' said no one ever".
Recording their conversations was, said Featherstone, also about "trying to keep hold of something; persuading yourself that something is not transient".
They require persuading that something is worthwhile and entertaining.' The need, he says, is for a Wow Factor.
Accidents do happen, and people make mistakes, but in the countryside we are in danger of being persuaded that something called "biosecurity" can change the laws of nature.
It might even help regenerate the audience if people could be persuaded that something important was going on in our concert halls.
We are also being persuaded that something of the power and the musculature of the horse itself seeps into the very veins of the man, apportioning him some of its animal strength and vigour.
Now, he observed, the Waldorf ballroom was packed with besuited bankers and his slides appeared on a high-tech screen.If you still need persuading that something big and exciting is happening in renewable energy, head back to the frothy waters of the North Sea off Scotland.
