Hello, I'm Kirstie Young, and this is a download from the Desert Island Discs Archive.

This edition may be slightly different from what was actually broadcast, but it is the

only version we have.

It comes from the British Library's Radio Collection.

The recording didn't contain the guest's 8 music choices, so we rebuilt the original

show by using discs from the BBC Gramophone Library.

For rights reasons, we've had to shorten the music.

All details can be found on the Castaways page on the Desert Island Discs website.

The programme was originally broadcast in 1979, and the presenter was Roy Plumley.

On our Desert Island this week is the writer Patricia Heismith.

Miss Heismith, could you endure prolonged loneliness?

I think I could better than most people, probably.

You have lived on your own quite a lot.

Yes, and also at some distance from friends or neighbours too.

How much does music mean in your life?

Quite a bit.

I would not like to think of a day without listening to some kind of music, and in fact any kind.

I think the reason is when I become a lost or discouraged or something, any kind of music

has a beat to it, whether it's classical or pop, and it's like another kind of time

that you get back into a certain ability to move.

You play the piano yourself?

I used to.

...