Ron Howard

Connoisseurs of Ron’s near unique sense of humour will appreciate this: he was driving through Utah’s Monument Valley with Carol and friends a few years ago when we came upon a giant rock column with a great boulder perched, precariously and menacingly it seemed, several hundred feet above. We passengers were slightly reassured by Carol’s report from the guide book that the rock had been up there for about 50 million years, but this was not good enough for Ron: “It would be just our luck,” he said. ■