James Herriot and the Desire for Home

Jonathon Van Maren, writing about James Herriot who wrote All Creatures Great and Small and his disposition to stay in the land he called home:

Herriot never left the Dales, even when it was in his financial interest to do so. His son James Wight—also a vet—told me that Herriot was one of the only famous British writers who stayed in the 1970s. “He was paying tax at 83 percent and 98 percent of investment income. His accountant said to him: You’ve written five books for the tax man, and one for yourself.” But he simply didn’t want to leave home. Herriot sold 60 million books—and stayed right where he was until his death in 1995.

Poignant, especially against a modern backdrop where evading the tax man is the name of the game.