There are some very interesting people in Lewes – drawn here, no doubt, by the powerful vortex described a few posts down.

John May is one of these. He was editor of ‘Tree News’ – a sumptuous magazine that has sadly folded despite generous support from the ex Oz magazine magnate Felix Dennis.

He keeps two great blogs – one ‘The Generalist’ which John describes as: where new journalism meets oral history. It contains fresh and archive long-form audio interviews with interesting people, largely uncut and free to the user for non-commercial use. Read his interview with Al Gore, described on the site: This a highly relevant two-part interview, recorded more than 15 years ago, on the eve of the Rio Earth Summit. It has an interesting resonance given what has happened since. Gore was in London on the occasion of the publication of his book ‘Earth in the Balance’ in which many of the issues that feed into ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ were first outlined. It confirms Gore’s long-term and deeply-held views on the environment. The first tape was recorded during a meal at a restaurant in Covent Garden; the second tape, in the back of a limo speeding towards Gatwick Airport.

The other is called ‘Lewes Light’ – with his photographs of the town.

He’s an interesting man who often breakfasts in Nero’s with tousled hair and his nose deep in some fascinating book.