On American Independence Day 1987, I found myself sitting opposite former president Jimmy Carter, by then six years out of office, in a beautifully tended garden in the rural Tyne valley, home of a chartered accountant called Tony Coates. Coates’ two daughters – Amy, nine, and Charlotte, six – sat on his knees.
We were to discuss Carter’s vision for his post-presidential years and the ethos of his visit: the 10th anniversary of Friendship Force, which he introduced in 1977 soon after becoming president, to connect people across the world with home exchanges between Americans and others – including citizens of communist China and the USSR. They had begun between 381 Americans and 381 Geordies, including Coates.
