derful – those fromchildren, or fromprisonerswhowrite in about their dreams and aspirations,” she says. “Stephen’s like a wiz- ard to them, he’s expected to know the answer to everything.” Then there are those crazy, disturbing ones –about God and the universe, and how wrong he is... “I have no time for these,” says Judith, “I have to prioritise dealingwith the WhiteHouse ringing up about presenting Stephen with an award or work- ing on a lecture he’s got to give, and I also deal with his book publishers,UKand overseas trips and administrativematters.” Her boss can bedemanding. “He’s the master of his own ship
and everything must be agreed with him.” He can be picky, sometimes acerbic, too. “The stupidest thing you could dowould be to think you know enough about physics to suggest some- thing. That would be really dim,” Judith laughs. “Besides this, we get misunderstandings and screw-ups just like everybody else,” she continues.“With Stephen, things just take a little longer to resolve though.” Judith goes bird-watchinginher spare time(“I’mnotatwitcher,
Judith Croasdell is pictured with her boss, Stephen Hawking, on Easter Island
sI sat in front of him andwe talked about the MilkyWay, the
Comet, about Fiji andmy studies,” Judith recalls. “I left hisoffice thinking itwas one of those ‘see Romeand die’moments – I’ve just been interviewed by the great StephenHawking, I don’t care if I never work again!” Judith got the job... and a sea of yellowstickers on everything
after a week’s handover from a temp. “It was a daunting expe- rience, first coping as a PA to such a busy man and then cop- ingwith his disability. I didn’t knowit then but this jobwas going to use every skill I’d ever learnt, and teachmean awful lotmore.”
HURDLING THROUGH TIME Although the professor’s core office staff are just Judith and a technical assistantwho looks after thewheelchair, the computers and the communications, he also has a team of dedicated car- ers,withoutwhomhe simply couldn’t function. “Itwasmy first confrontation with motor neurone disease,” says Judith. “I’d workedwith peoplewho had severemental disabilities, but never with anyone who is so physically disabled but so mentally enabled.Over the years I’ve learnt he’s all about the intellect, the spirit and the mind and that’s how he overcomes hurdles that are pretty unbelievable.Hedoesn’t regard himself as a vul- nerable person and he isn’t. He’s the boss.” What about Judith’s own hurdles? “Physics wasn’t my
greatest subject at school,” Judith admits. “Iwas concerned I’d find black holes and the terminology difficult, but Professor Hawking can articulate very complex, theoretical physics in a very simple way, through his voice synthesizer. Still, I read A Brief History of Time three times and things made sense only after the third reading!” To date, Judith hasworkedwith the professor on two other
books,ABriefer History of Timeand The Grand Design, and on some of his lectures. “Other than this, Iwork on everything that involves him communicatingwith theworld andwith the mas- sive media interest he attracts.”
THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING She dealswith the masses of correspondence he receives, too. “I can’t respond to all the letters, although some are trulywon-
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NOT A 9 TO 5 Sounds intense, but has she got to do thismorning till evening? “Stephen’s not amorning person and neitheramI,” she replies. “Weworkwell into the evening instead –8 o’clock at night is not uncommon.” Judith considers the non-routine one of the best parts of her job, beside occasionalworld travel and interaction with all the different people. “I also like being able to get across Professor Hawking’s ideas.” Does she ever get frustratedwith her boss? “Oh, yes.Hedoes-
n’t always thank you and I don’t getmuch feedback, although I’m used to it now.” Other times, it’s not his fault. Because of his disease, things can get trickywhen it comes to organising high- profile events, like his 70th birthday celebrations earlier this year. “Therewas a conference, a banquet and a big birthday party at the university’s Trinity College –he missed all of it because he was too unwell.” And when there are no more parties and conferences to
organise, does Judith herself think about time and the universe? Does she think there’s life out there?“We get a lot of very strange mail frompeoplewho’ve seenUFOsand I’ve chattedwith some crazy people inmy time, but I’d like to state on record: I’m keep- ing an open mind!” E
mindyou!”): “I’ve learnt a lot of patiencewalkingin the fields and thathelpsmeworkwith Stephen.”Tocommunicate,heusesablink switch with an infrared beam. “He sort of winks it through and it scrolls uphis screen and he catches letters towritewordswith –it’s very, very slow. But we are all used to reading his face, too, so we know when he’s pleased and when he’s not,” she laughs.
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