Paul Neil Milne Johnstone (1952–2004) was a real poet who lived in Redbridge, Essex. Johnstone had attended Brentwood School with Douglas Adams and the two jointly received a prize for English. There Johnstone edited a broadsheet, "the Artsphere Magazine", that included mock reviews by Adams as well as Johnstone's own poetry. Johnstone won an exhibition to study at the University of Cambridge (as did Adams). Johnstone went on to achieve moderate prominence in the poetry world as an editor and festival organiser, including the 1977 Cambridge Poetry Festival.