The BBC program Desert Island Discs has some of the best interviews I’ve heard. Here, Michael Parkinson interviews Maya Angelou (August 2, 1987). I can’t imagine that this exchange was rehearsed:
I want to ask you a question that might sound silly, but it’s serious actually. Have you ever wished you were six foot, white, and male?Two other Angelou-related posts
No, God no. [Laughs.] I wouldn’t want all that, oh my God, all those unfortunate, unachievable expectations. My expectations are just beyond my reach, and they have to do with me, not with the world. I hope to become a better human being, a kinder, wiser, funnier, more courageous human being, for me. I think a number of white males have the expectation of making other people conform for them. My fantasy is to be six foot tall, Black, female, American, a writer, successful, who laughs a lot and drinks just enough Dewar’s White Label Scotch and a little white wine [laughs] and goes to church on Sunday and really means it.
And loves her mother.
Yes, and who loves her mother.
Our state rep refers to “Mayor Angelo” : A tribute in dubious taste
[Context: Maya Angelou was six feet tall.]
comments: 2
Funny, I’ve always regarded height measurements to be exempt from feet pluralization. So, to me, Maya Angelou being 6-foot tall makes more sense. I always quote my height as “at least 6-foot two”.
It also allows for lyric rhymes as: Five-foot two....
I wondered about foot and feet before realizing that all I had to do was transcribe.
You’ll like knowing that Garner’s Modern English Usage says something about it: “When you use a number greater than one to denote a distance, use the plural feet [a fence ten feet high], unless the distance is part of a phrasal adjective [a ten-foot fence].” I’ve used square brackets to get around the HTML hassles with < >.
I find it difficult to think of human height as distance. But in blues there’s this line: “Well now, the woman that I’m lovin’, she’s five feet, four inches from the ground.”
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