tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post303125465005181267..comments2024-03-28T21:32:26.550+00:00Comments on Bruce Charlton's Notions: Dr Michael O'Donnell has died - the first man to publish something by meBruce Charltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-38473167582473336152019-04-20T17:05:16.388+01:002019-04-20T17:05:16.388+01:00@dearime - Well... That's a bi like ducking fo...@dearime - Well... That's a bi like ducking for witches. If nobody ever mentioned they had declined a gong, then we would not know that anybody ever had... <br /><br />Obviously somebody that boasted repeatedly about rejecting a gong would be a Bad Person, but there is no harm in being open about the fact. <br /><br />There is a list of known examples on Wikipedia somewhere; but most examples are no evidence of principled rejection eg people who reject one kind of gong, then accept another. <br /><br />There were some aristocrats - such as the Historian (etc) GM Trevelyan - who had a kind of snobbery that would never accept any award that went before their name (like a knighthood or life peerage) but would accept ones that went after (especially OM or CH). <br /><br />Sorry to disappoint, but I have no stories about having turned down any awards - whether ones tha twent before, or after, may name. On the other hand, I have never sought them! <br /><br />I know *a lot* of colleagues etc with gongs - and I would say that O'Donnell was correct in his belief that the system is corrupting - of academics as well as doctors. <br /><br />I have also noticed a highly significant statistical correlation between outspoken leftist political radicalism in youth, and the subsequent incidence of gongs (and the desire for gongs) in later life. Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-78055098176190695682019-04-20T15:41:45.801+01:002019-04-20T15:41:45.801+01:00Declining a gong is a Good Thing only if you don&#...Declining a gong is a Good Thing only if you don't mention it.<br /><br />I like to think I'd have declined any gong, though I admit I'd have been sorely tempted by O.M. or C.H.<br />But even then: Get thee behind me, Satan. deariemenoreply@blogger.com