I’m 51 and grew up just north of London. My mum hosted Labour party meetings and read the Guardian and Spare Rib. On leaving home, the Guardian became my paper of choice because it seemed more objective than other papers. I’m not saying it’s without fault, but it presents a fairer picture, and journalism (like science) is about searching for the truth.
I moved to Bristol in the early 1980s and lived in a series of squats. I was the drummer in all-girl punk band Rita & The Piss Artists, alongside singer and songwriter Rita Lynch. I then travelled around the UK, living on a bus with my young son Jude, before returning to Bristol in 1990. I married Marc five years later. We celebrate our 20th anniversary this year.
I returned to education in the early 1990s, gaining a degree in biochemistry at the University of the West of England and a PhD in molecular biology at Bristol University, under the careful but never-dull supervision of Dr Colin Lazarus. I became the senior researcher and writer at the vegan campaigning charity Viva!. In 2013 I attended a Guardian Masterclass, An introduction to science journalism, which helped me write the substantial White Lies report on the detrimental health effects of dairy. I have contributed to national, regional and specialist newspapers as well as featuring on Comment is free.
I enjoy reading the Saturday Guardian. The Sports pages go straight into the recycling bin then I look at the main paper, then the magazine. I enjoy the deadpan chaos of Tim Dowling’s column and The Measure, which recently said cropped trousers and Birkenstocks (guilty) were going down but swimming pool blue nails (that’s me) were going up – do they cancel each other out? I like doing the cryptic crossword although I miss my favourite compiler, the late Araucaria. I chop recipes out of the Cook section for my scrapbook, which I “veganise” for my food blog. I don’t always agree with George Monbiot but he was spot on in a recent piece, “It’s time to wean ourselves off the fairytale version of farming”, in which he cautions against how the romanticised view of farming obscures the cruel harsh reality of modern factory farming. I would like to see more articles like this, provoking thought and debate.
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