I have known Ray Hudson since 1980 and we have kept regular academic contact, going to conferences together, undertaking joint research and publishing, plus family visits and vacations in Athens, Thessaloniki, Copenhagen, Naxos, Syros, Mytilene and Durham. A fruitful friendship and scientific collaboration started at this period and extended in different directions based on our common belief that Marxist political economy is the best entry point to study economic and political geography and to analyze the complicated relationships between policies, institutions and local societies.
