Twenty-five years ago while we were on sabbatical in London, my wife gave me a clarinet for my 50th birthday. An excellent teacher helped me to quickly fall in love with the instrument. She explained that my terrible timing offset a surprisingly good tone. Nevertheless, I enjoyed practising and made reasonably good progress. Over the past 13 years, however, as editor of this Journal, I have had less and less time to devote to my beloved “licorice stick”.

Thus, one of the many benefits of concluding my term as editor is that editing can no longer serve as a bad excuse for not practising more regularly. Another benefit is the time I’ll have to listen to more jazz and opera and to tackle the stack of books I intend to read, some for the second or third time. I’ve also begun writing a children’s book, which I don’t expect will quite match Harry Potter in sales. So, I’m counting on my fellow editors and all happy contributors to buy a copy. Above all, I’m looking forward to spending more time with my children and …