A welcome highlight to my convalescence from open-heart surgery was a visit from Martin Rowe. We’ve been friends and colleagues from the 1990s and have collaborated on various projects and with several organisations since then.

This includes most notably the Culture and Animals Foundation (CAF) founded by Nancy and Tom Regan in 1985 where we serve on the volunteer board of directors. Martin’s partner, Mia MacDonald, also a CAF director, is the executive director and founder of Brighter Green, the public policy action tank working to raise awareness of and encourage policy action on issues that span the environment, animals, and sustainability. Martin’s publishing company, Lantern Books, published my book, Growl, in 2014. I regard both Martin and Mia as social justice innovative thinkers and key visionaries.

Martin was recently in the UK visiting his Mother. He took time out from his busy schedule to make a 2-3 hour drive to Hastings. Fortunately, the weather was warm and sunny. We sat outside eating homemade vegan pizza, salad, and chocolate cake.

This was an opportunity for me to bring him up to date with my continuing recovery but, more importantly, we were able to talk in person about various projects that we are involved with, including CAF, the Martin Bicentenary in 2022, Lantern Books, Topsy, and the initiation of new projects bringing together animal ethics and climate change.

As is always the case with our conversations, it was a mixture of business, pleasure, and grumbling about the world today.