I'm not sure if blogs are supposed to be used for obituaries but I want to record my sadness at the passing of an old friend and sparring partner so I will take a chance.
Anthony Rosen, who has just died, was a friend of mine for well over thirty years. In some ways he was a competitor, writing a column in a rival magazine (Farming News - now no longer published); organising and leading farm study tours around the world (he did far more trips than I did); pioneering corporate farming (he was the real pioneer, I followed on in a minor role years later).
We also met as devotees, sometime committee members and long standing attenders of the Oxford Farming Conference and at the Farmers Club of which we have both, at different times, also been committee members.
But Anthony really came to prominence when, following several very successful years in farm management in the south of England, he joined a London investment firm and set up Fountain Farming. In the 1970's the company took on farms all over the country and installed a dairy herd on each.
For a variety of reasons the company did not survive - probably because dairy farming required more hands-on management than he was able to provide from a central location. In any event the parent company closed it down and Anthony went on to become a consultant plus all the other activities already mentioned and more.
If there was ever any doubt about his sense of humour it was dispelled when he called his new consultancy company Feenix Farming - in other words a variation on Phoenix who rose from the ashes (of Fountain Farming).
I often disagreed with Anthony, especially over his belief that UK farming should ditch subsidys and adopt the New Zealand principle. We had many robust discussions on that and other subjects. But our friendship was always stronger than our arguments and we were able to pick up where we left off whenever we met.
I shall miss him.
Comments (3)
I never met Anthony in person, but had some fascinating talks with him on the phone and via email in the last year as he prepared his memoirs for publication. His good humour and enthusiasm was infectious. Anyone who is interested in reading more about Anthony's unusual and varied life would love his recently published memoirs, An UnOrdinary Life.Buying the book also helps one of his favourite charities, Naomi House Children's Hospice. The book can be ordered direct from the publisher or from any bookshop. ISBN 978-1-904499-14-5
Posted by Nancy Radford | March 29, 2007 7:06 PM
Posted on March 29, 2007 19:06
David - thank your for your kind and personal comments about my father, which my mother much appreciated.
I'd just like to add that the premature end of Fountain Farming came about because of strategy changes within the parent company, Matthews Wrightson (an insurance business) - not because it wasn't profitable, which it was.
Matthews Wrightson merged with another insurance business to become Stewart Wrightson. The Directors changed and specifically the original Chairman and big supporter of FF was removed. The new Board decided to deploy their capital in the insurance market, so Matthews Wrightson Land (Fountain Farming, Fountain Forestry and other rural businesses) was put up for sale.
The decision was taken (over my father's head) to sell each Fountain Farm separately - which was curious until one saw that an incoming Director of Stewart Wrightson acquired one of the choicest Hampshire farms personally at a favourable price.
Dirty water under the bridge...
Kind regards,
Howard
Posted by Howard Rosen | April 5, 2007 9:41 AM
Posted on April 5, 2007 09:41
I have just finished reading Anthony Rosen's memoirs.
I was a big fan of his column in Farming News and my opinions were influenced as a teenager by his views and those of Richard Body. I realise now, having spent time in Brussels, that his ideology was somewhat simplistic, an accusation that no one could level at his syntax or punctuation.
His memoirs are disappointingly short on reflection. He is quick to lay blame for every flop but happy to claim the glory for the successes along the way.
I put his book down convinced more than ever that corporate food production, while easily achievable, is neither appropriate nor desirable.
I enjoyed his views and miss them but, to my own suprise, I realise that my own opinions now follow yours much more closely than they do his. Perhaps I owe you lunch.
Posted by matthew naylor | August 16, 2008 9:01 PM
Posted on August 16, 2008 21:01