The Great Division

British writer Bernard Hare recalls how an act of supreme kindness changed his life one sad night.

In 1982, as a student living north of London, he was struggling in more than one way. The police called for him at his student apartment, but he wouldn’t answer the door, fearing that they had come to evict him for rent that was months overdue. But then he thought of his mother, who hadn’t been well lately. Could it be his father had sent word about her status through the police? Jumping to his feet, he rushed to the nearest phone booth. His father confirmed his darkest foreboding: his mother lay in the hospital, not expected to survive the night. “Get home, Son,” he urged.

Bernard recounts how he arrived at the railway station only to find that he had missed the last train going home to Leeds. Another train would