Of the thousands of quotes about fear, perhaps the most famous is US President Franklin Roosevelt’s immortal line that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself".
There was a heightened security and police presence at the sold-out Aspiring Conversation Festival in Wanaka as writers and communicators shared insights about "disinformation" in a 60-minute session titled "Truth and Lies".
The credits on the dust jacket said "Ted Morgan" but that plain name belonged to one of the more unlikely stars of American journalism, Sanche de Gramont.