As part of this twentieth anniversary special issue I was asked to write a few words about Richard Palmer, the one permanent fixture on the journal over its twenty year history.

Richard and I go back a (very) long way! He began his career at IOP Publishing in Bristol in 1971 while my publishing career with the American Physical Society began a little earlier, located at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island NY. Since then, and for nearly forty years we have met often, if irregularly, at many locations throughout the world.

As members of two very strong physics organizations we were clearly in competition with each other to seek out and publish the best physics research. At the same time we frequently exchanged experiences and policy ideas for dealing with serious violations of scientific ethical standards and how academic society-run journals can best serve the general scientific community. Overall my relationship with Richard has been a most rewarding one and I shall miss his opinions and sage advice.

Richard: Compatriot; competitor; collaborator; I salute you!