To America, my new found land. Whoever hates you hates life" This is what Brendan Behan wrote in reaction to the euphoria of America, to it's heart-stopping wonder, it's limitless ambition and zest for living. The passion of it. The possibility of adventure greater than on offer anywhere else. These words are inscribed on a plaque fixed to the front of the Chelsea Hotel in New York commemorating this wonderful engineer of words and his stay there. They're my thoughts too; to fail to respond to America is to fail to respond to life. It is as plain as that. I adore the place