This text was re-written by Sir Phil for The Inari Papers and is based on an earlier version published by Ben Grosser at Inari on LinkedIn as an explorative article. It has been presented with an open-ended approach, allowing for future refinements as understanding of the topic evolves and the text is updated to reflect new insights.
Sir Philippe Le Grand, known to many simply as Sir Phil, is the long-established writer’s alias under which a European gentleman of letters has worked since February 2012. Though a nom de plume, he is as real as every volume on a well-loved shelf, shaped by the same quiet devotion to language, curiosity, and contemplative craft.
Sir Phil’s life is marked by wide travels and a steady companionship with books. His journeys have carried him from Stockholm to Kyoto, Tel Aviv to Sydney, Kuala Lumpur to Vancouver, Copenhagen to Tokyo, Berlin to Taipei, London to Hong Kong, Moscow to Seoul, Lisbon to New York, and Nairobi to Milan. Wherever he goes, literature remains both compass and confidant.
His interests range across travel, aviation, history, religion, philosophy, and psychology, each finding its way into his essays, commentaries, poems, and imaginative fiction. Guided by Toni Morrison’s reminder that if a book one longs to read does not yet exist, one must write it, Sir Phil continues to craft worlds both real and fantastical.
Under this enduring alias, he offers reflections to readers who appreciate quiet elegance, thoughtful observation, and the timeless dignity of the written word.
