Cari Lynn, a young writer who spent two years as a clerk at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, finds a world populated by larger-than-life characters, high-stakes risk-taking, and excess in all its forms.

ECONOMIST: Chicago's trading pits

The two women showed up at the New York City Clerk's Office, plopped down their money for a marriage license and were politely turned down.

NPR: New York Court Hears Gay Marriage Arguments

And the two high priests of Parliament, Sir Robert Rogers, the Clerk of the Commons, and his Lords opposite number, David Beamish, Clerk of the Parliaments, stage a joint appearance before the Joint Committee on Parliamentary Privilege.

BBC: Week ahead in committees

His qualifications: He had been a clerk for outdoor retailer REI in Berkeley and had written two books about California bike trails.

FORBES: Easy Rider

Mr Morgan joined the former Rhondda District Council as a clerk at the age of 16, and spent his entire working life there apart from two years' national service with the Royal Navy.

BBC: Islwyn Morgan (left) and Norman Martin