“It’s your mother on the phone” shouted TPR from the far side of our US hotel bedroom.

I took the call. My mother had rung to discover the real reason why I was spending so much time at the ‘other’ side of the Atlantic. I explained that I was here to deliver some presentations, advise PhD students, and run a major international conference – and nothing more. I could tell from the tone of her voice that she feared a hidden agenda that might result in my leaving the UK forever.

In the background I could hear my father having a similar conversation with my sister J, currently in Canada.