To mark the publication of ‘The Radical Thinking of Desmond Fennell’ on 6 June, Journal of Music Editor Toner Quinn reflects on his experiences working with the writer and their correspondence over almost twenty years.

A few years before Desmond Fennell passed away on 16 July 2021, he wrote to me and asked me to be one of his literary executors. I had begun publishing articles by Desmond in 2000 and, a year later, edited a collection of essays about his life and work. This was followed by publishing his part-memoir, The Turning Point: My Sweden Year and After, and, two years later, his pamphlet, Savvy and the Preaching of the Gospel.