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My father led by example. He wasn't much of a talker - he walked life.

Dad was a great advocate for social justice and a very quiet advocate of the essential Labor values.

Being articulate, my parents could make anything sound reasonable.

My great-grandfather was a man of great vision, drive, and native intelligence, with some human flaws amplified by limited education, limited social range, and questionable influence from some of his advisers.

My dad wasn't the best speaker like a Bill Clinton, or a Henry Kissinger, but he had character.

My mother was an artist and highly strung, whereas my father was much calmer.

My dad was quite a forbidding figure. I realise now that that was mainly because he worked so hard. He wasn't unkind, but he was a presence.

I am a big one for subtlety and empathy. My dad was softly spoken and didn't carry his honours and accomplishments for everyone to see.

Dad was an outstanding leader. He'd bring in top thinkers from a wide array of fields - how to fix the Detroit schools, for example. I watched him in these meetings. He listened and probed.

My father was a pedant and a bully who cared about nobody, and I was not to see him until I was eighteen.