When I picked up the mail and my packages this afternoon, my heart skipped a beat when I saw that I had received a parcel from my dear friend, Joan Ishibashi, about whom I’ve written several posts on this blog. Joan was my son’s Confirmation teacher back in the day, and served as the Executive Assistant at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, in addition to singing in our performances of the St. Matthew Passion. Since then, she and I have met up together in England to attend the Three Choirs Festivals and since her mom lives in Oxnard, California, I’ve often seen her when I visit my family.
I was excited because I knew what was in the package, an autographed copy of Martin Clunes book, Meetings with Remarkable Animals, Real-life Tales of Heroism, Loyalty and Companionship. Joan was fortunate to meet Martin Clunes in person at a book-signing event in London in mid-November.
You see, Joan and I had made two separate trips to Port Isaac in Cornwall, where they filmed the television series, and although we didn’t see Martin Clunes at that time, we were still able to watch some of the filming. Here’s what I wrote in April, 2019:
About two years ago, I discovered Doc Martin on Netflix (and now available on Acorn TV) After only one episode, I fell utterly and hopelessly in love with the entire cast, but especially the grumpy, rude but brilliant London surgeon, Martin Ellingham, who was banished to the fictional town of Portwenn to be the village GP because of a blood phobia.
So you can imagine how excited I was to hold this in my hands!
Here are some of the comments on Joan’s Facebook post about meeting Martin Clunes and his book:
Joan wrote: It is about animals that have helped people and worked with people. He is such a down to earth, lovely man. Took time to speak to everyone who wanted to engage with him, and gave an emotional, heartfelt talk about various animals. One thing I did not expect was how handsome and charismatic he is in person. He was literally radiant.
Inside the card that accompanied the book, Joan added: I told Martin C. about how Doc Martin helped you after Carl’s death, and he was quite moved by that and wished you the best.
Do you remember that when there was a call from the BBC to submit a video from Doc Martin fans, my video was one of three chosen?! This is what I wrote to the producer: (2017)
Dear Glen Bartlett: I am a huge Doc Martin fan living in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. I only discovered the show about three years ago, sometime after my husband died from pancreatic cancer. I’m so sorry we didn’t find the show before he died. We were married for thirty-seven years and did everything together—we were both musicians and presented many concerts and church services together. When he died, I was left with a huge void , and Doc Martin filled my lonely heart with a fullness. In many ways, Martin reminded me of my husband: crusty and gruff on the outside, but a softy on the inside. I was determined to visit Port Isaac, and did so this past April.
It truly was a dream come true: to see the Doc’s surgery, Mrs Tishell’s pharmacy, the lifeboat station, Louisa’s school, and many other familiar landmarks. Before I visited Port Isaac, I had already seen all 63 episodes complete a total of four times. After my visit, I watched the series another five times through new eyes, knowing how the village was laid out. “Oh, I know what’s around that corner!”
…Hawaii is a very long long way from Port Isaac, but for this rabid Doc Martin fan, no distance is too far to see my hero. -Katherine Crosier
Thank you sooooo very very much, Joan! I’m in love!