Martin Bax, Chair of the Editorial Advisory Board of Medicine, Conflict and Survival from 1991 to 2005, has died aged 90. During his time as Chair, he oversaw a change in the Journal’s title, from Medicine and War to Medicine, Conflict and Survival, managed two changes of distributor, from Wiley to Cass and from Cass to Taylor and Francis, rebutted an accusation of antisemitism by Cass, responded to a proposal that MCS should amalgamate with the IPPNW-affiliated online journal Medicine and Global Survival, and grappled with the Journal’s constant shortage of income. And, with Douglas Holdstock and later Jack Piachaud, he ensured that MCS maintained the scholarly approach to its subject that had been its hallmark from its start in 1985.
Martin’s life was very full. He practiced as a consultant paediatrician in the NHS, specializing in cerebral palsy for which he had an international reputation. At Mac Keith Press, where I worked with him for several years, he was, from 1978 to 2004, senior editor of, and contributor to, the journal Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology and the book series, Clinics in Development Medicine.
It was never clear to me what Martin’s priorities were. Besides his peace work and his work as a paediatrician, he had a very active literary life: he wrote several novels and short stories and, perhaps most important, set up and edited Ambit. Ambit was an arts magazine which he founded in 1959 and edited until 2013. It was an eclectic mix of poetry, prose, graphic art and – at its regular parties – jazz. It was a provocative, lively and always beautifully produced magazine.
Martin was a man of many gifts who inspired much respect and affection.