Person and personal life

For four reasons, it is important to examine the person, personal life and personal interests of Crow. First, the personal was very political with him. He made it this way so it was not entirely a product of media manufacture. That is to say, the way he lived his life often epitomized what he was about and what he stood for. Second, the media did use aspects of his personal life to attack him with in order to undermine him. As became well known, he was defiant and unapologetic in response. Third, it is important to have some idea of the private person behind the public figure given that his personality was such an important part of what made him up. Fourth and related to this, his ability to get on and work with people in order to exert influence in the RMT, the wider union movement and the radical left was very much helped by his personality. Consequently, this chapter examines his personal traits (self-confidence, humour, temperament, workaholic) as well as his interests and lifestyle (holidays, housing, hobbies).