John Gardner at Home

Memories from James Edwards

Dear John,

What I really want to say is a long overdue thank you. I want to thank you for helping teach me how to think philosophically, and for knocking my early attempts at legal philosophy into halfway decent shape. I want to thank you for vouching for me, when I desperately needed it, both in Cambridge and in Oxford. And I want to thank you for giving up your time, when you had largely given up working on the topic, to teach philosophy of criminal law with me the last few years. Each time I learnt so much, and had great fun to boot. Most of all, though, I want to thank you for your example. I always found Oxford a weirdly alien place to spend one's years. Too stuffy, too pretentious, too conservative for my taste. You've shown me that academic life here need be none of those things. It can be an exciting journey for the mind, accessible to anyone who is up to it. I know you've helped people similar to me to see this too. You've helped us find a home that we might otherwise never have found. For that--and everything else--I'll always be so grateful.

See you soon I hope.

Best,

James