but how about a novelist/artist/sculptor/composer/filmmaker laureate? Who would you nominate in these categories?
Since the PL
is my cousin, I get to go first. For Composer Laureate, who else but Cecil (pronounced Cee-cil after the English fashion, naturally)?
(Just wanted to say that that’s pretty damn cool that your cousin’s the Poet Laureate.)
Gee, thanks, not a fake Internet claim either. The veracity of my claim may be judged by the fact that I’ve never met him and know almost nothing about him. I DID though read a novel by him about 19th century doctors, which was passing fair. Poetry-wise, I’m no judge, but I sometimes feel he’s merely going through the motions.
What inspired the thread was that I heard what I think was the Poet Laureate being interviewed today on NPR. Do you know if that was your cousin?
Um - “Cee-cil” is an exclusively American pronounciation. 
The English pronounciation is “Sessil”.
Whatever. So what? I wasn’t making a serious claim. Get a life! What are you trying to say, son? My brain hurts, newbie.
Anyway, I can’t get the image of Daniel Day-Lewis (whose forebear, another Poet Laureate, I think, was a Cecil - honestly, what a precious name!) playing Cecil in Room With a View out of my mind when I visualise the board’s very own swot. Someone who’d prefer poking around in the library with clammy fingers rather than playing a set of badminton with Helena Bonham-Carter is just the sort of fellow who’d get turned on by fish that fly into penises. A real man, of course, is only concerned with the fish flying out of his penis.
Wow. Pretty uncalled for.
Moderator does a loud HARUMMPHF:
roger, I agree with lissener entirely on this. Your remark was uncalled for. We were all new once, and we want to greet newcomers warmly and friendly-like. You’re being rude.
lissener, please refrain from playing junior mod. You got a complaint, use the REPORT BAD POST button. OK?
I was joking, as I hoped a) the repetition of the “hazing” style insults and b) the second paragrpah showed. Anyway, I apologise.
Yeah, but we Americans want to emphasize how active and motile he is! 
In his defense, I thought it was obvious.
But not so mobil on a badminton court. And with a rather fragil disposition.
PS I have elsewhere attacked the practice I coined “newbism”, i.e. trying to put new posters in their place. So the whole insult thing was intended as an ironic intertextual reference. Next time I’ll link.