Above: Keith on the left with rescued friends
‘A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance’ (Henry David Thoreau)
A great light has gone out on this planet. Keith Mann has passed.
Below are just a few of the many comments sent to Keith’s beloved wife Alice on Facebook:
‘May his heroic soul rest in peace and may more and more animals be saved in his name’
‘What an absolute legend. May his legacy forever live on in every bright eye and bushy tail’
‘I’m heart and soul sorry for the world and all that loved this incredible man. Earth angel’
This is the kind of feeling Keith inspired. He was truly unique. And those of us lucky enough to have been in his presence know that we were given a privilege very few experience: the chance to bask in a life-force infused with what I can only describe as a dynamic loving power. It was palpable. Far more than mere charisma, which Keith had in abundance, it was an energy so rare that when you were touched by it, it changed you forever.
It was as if Keith arrived on earth with all of the most admirable traits we strive to evolve towards fully formed. He came here complete and ready for action. He knew right from wrong from the off, rescuing as a kid a rabbit he’d seen on his way to school languishing alone, day after day, in a small wooden prison. After a note through the door of the house was ignored, Keith waited until the dead of night, climbed out of his bedroom window, and freed that little rabbit who then lived with him for six years. See Keith tell this story here.
‘It’s animal abuse that fuels my drive,’ he stated in an interview. ‘I believe that the human being will only be truly evolved once it shows unreserved compassion for the weakest and most vulnerable in its care’
Even at that young age, Keith knew what most never learn, that moral right is not related in any way to the law. If the two ever do align, it is mere coincidence. Keith had an inner guidance system which always steered him clear and true meaning he paid no heed to legalities put in place to protect abusers and their profits. He paid no heed to judges, to jailers, to critics, or to anyone who would distract him from his mission to save animals. The vulnerable never had such a champion.
Keith embodied compassion in action, like all the great activists of the past, and like them he was a thorn in the side of the corrupt state. Keith went to prison for a total of seven years for refusing to allow the appalling cruelties going on in vivisection labs to continue without his intervention. His brave actions saved so many precious beings from torture and suffering. Because of Keith, these little souls knew kindness, gentleness, and love.
Above: Behind The Mask documentary featuring Keith
They say that if slaughterhouses had glass walls everyone would be vegetarian; I believe that if vivisection laboratories had glass walls there would be a revolution, so sickened and horrified would the public be. The animals inside laboratories endure a level of suffering incomprehensible to the average person who can’t conceive of the scale of the cruelty of which scientists and lab workers are capable. But thanks to the bravery and commitment of people like Keith who were prepared to break the law, we know. We know what they try to hide within their walls and with their propaganda.
It’s difficult for most of us to comprehend the strength of principle it takes to risk your own liberty for those with no voice or protection. But this is what Keith did. And he never wavered. ‘It’s what I’m here to do. Knowing what I know I couldn’t do anything else.’ he said.
Henry Thoreau wrote in his great essay Civil Disobedience that most men serve the state as machines…’the militia, jailers, constables’; while others serve the state with their heads…’the legislators, politicians, office holders’, and that in these cases, ‘there is no free exercise whatever of the judgement or of the moral sense’. But ‘a very few’ – ‘heroes…reformers in the great sense’ serve the state with their conscience, ‘and so necessarily resist it, and are commonly treated as an enemy by it’. Keith was an enemy of the state that is sure, and that is also his badge of honour.
When Keith was taken into custody the first time, the press vilifying him as the ‘leader of the Animal Liberation Front’, (there is no leader), he escaped, living as a fugitive for ten months, time he spent working in an animal sanctuary. Later came prison, which Keith was asked about it in an inspiring interview:’
‘Prison is nothing to fear. If we fear the consequences of our actions then we do a disservice to the animals. Like with most things in life the fear is worse than the reality and if we were all able to overcome that fear of prison, of sacrificing our liberty for the greater cause, they would be unable to stop us achieving animal liberation. Sadly we have to put ourselves through some discomfort in order to make a difference, its how it is.’
Again, I can’t help thinking of Keith when I recall Thoreau’s essay:
‘It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right.. under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison… It is there, on that separate, but more free and honorable ground, where the State places those who are not with her, but against her – the only house in a slave State in which a free man can abide with honor. If any think that their influence would be lost there, and their voice no longer afflict the ear of the State, that they would not be as an enemy within its walls, they do not know by how much truth is stronger than error, nor how much more eloquently and effectively he can combat injustice who has experienced a little in his own person.’
Keith said something else during that interview which chimes very poignantly at this time, and sums up his all-encompassing empathy:
‘I hate cruelty and bullying. I love food. I am therefore vegan. Addressing all that matters greatly to me and takes up the majority of my time. I have a deep-rooted desire to see the Palestinian people liberated. I do as much as I possibly can to lessen my impact on Earth.’
I have few heroes but Keith was one for me long before I met him. His book on the animal rights movement and his life in it, From Dusk ‘Til Dawn, still has pride of place on my bookshelf along with his groundbreaking ‘I Am Keith Mann, I Cured Cancer’ which, two years before Covid, exposed the entire vaccine industry. Keith had painstakingly ploughed through mountains of Big Pharma’s own records to reveal undeniable evidence of evil and corruption whilst curing himself of stage four lymphoma and leaving his awed doctor asking him how he’d done it.
Keith was interviewed on the BBC”s Hard Talk news programme where his calm, unapologetic and steadfast position confounded notoriously antagonistic host Stephen Sakur.
I wrote a review of ‘I Am Keith Mann’ and attended the book launch after a long, intermittent email friendship. Mike Raddie and I also spent a day with Keith and his beautiful (inside and out) wife Alice at the London Vegan Festival where Keith had a stall for his book.
Alice and Keith were – and are – true soul mates. Their love was beautiful and inspiring to behold, so rare is it to encounter a connection that profound. I don’t think I had a single communication with Keith in which he didn’t mention Alice.
The last time I spoke to Keith he called me early one morning at 7am. That unmistakable voice, the kindness in it, the humour, all wrapped in that no-nonsense Rochdale accent. I could not have possibly answered the phone to anyone who would have lifted my spirits more.
And if I’d known it was the last time I’d speak to him what would I have said? That being around his powerful presence was like bathing in the most beautiful light one can imagine? That I’d never met anyone who so completely embodied strength and love? Love for animals; love for people, love for the beauty of existence.
If anyone thinks energy like this could ever be extinguished they are wrong. Keith is still here. Not only in every precious life he touched, but still present, still so vitally present.
Keith used his time on this planet as we all should but seldom do. He confronted injustice, stood toe to toe with it, never gave in to it. He made his life a masterclass in how to live. With passion, with goodness, with strength, with fearlessness. And with that great Love.
At Keith’s funeral service Alice gave such a beautiful reading about Keith that the chaplain, clearly deeply moved, suggested she ‘publish it somewhere, because I’m sure everyone would like to read or hear it again.’ So I’m deeply thankful that Alice has agreed to let me publish it here. Incidentally, I don’t think that chaplain had ever seen an entire congregation raise their fists in a power salute.
Over to you Alice:
Above: Keith and Alice on their wedding day
In all honesty, today brings me face to face with my greatest fear – far sooner than we ever anticipated. And yet, the journey that brought us here became something greater than the dream we had written for ourselves.
For me, it all began in the 1990s, aged 10 years old and immediately captivated by Keith’s incredible presence. You felt it as soon as he walked into a room. His infectious laugh and charisma, a mischievous sense of fun and a distinctive directness. I couldn’t have expressed back then what it was but the energy was immediately electric for me. Years later Keith described it as a “spark… the kind that ignites when soulmates meet”. Back then, at 10 years old, this excitement simply translated into mud throwing parties, water fights and replacing the contents of his southern comfort bottles with apple juice…. repeatedly. This is the origin of his Ali The Brat. Over the years this connection only deepened, despite many assuring me I would simply “grow out of it”…but I knew otherwise. I had decided I would marry him one day. The sole obstacle: he had veto power – Luckily, it remained untouched.
Keith was fearless, compassionate, and naturally patient. He was selfless by nature and always put others first. He had a deep sense of justice, and once he set his mind on something, his conviction, courage, and can-do attitude allowed him to achieve what often seemed insurmountable.
Upon unexpectedly stumbling upon the epidemic of human-on-animal violence at a young age, Keith was unable and unwilling to walk by and instantly diverted all of his energy away from any personal aspirations and towards exposing and alleviating the suffering of the most vulnerable in our society, even at the cost of his own liberty. Admirably, Keith did not stop there, he continued on this quest to uncover hidden corruption in our society, applying a remarkable ability to see the interconnectedness of seemingly unrelated issues and how the same forces that sustained systemic animal abuse were woven into the very fabric of our society. Keith understood that real and sustained change would come not from addressing a single strand, but from seeing and challenging the whole web.
Keith was immune to outside noise and societal expectations. He always acted in alignment with what he knew to be right and in doing so, his strength and integrity radiated from him, captivating and inspiring many who crossed his path. Keith never chose the easy path, in fact, often he took the path of considerable resistance. I deeply admired Keith’s ability to remain unmoved by the judgements and expectations of others; he stayed true to himself and had no interest in self-promotion or self-preservation. He truly embodied the rare and wise quality of not caring about what others thought, a trait at the heart of anyone who truly changes the world.
Keith gave himself so completely to the people he loved. He changed his entire life’s plans to stand beside me, and years later he walked that same path again to protect his mum’s independence and dignity.
If he had a flaw, it was that he did not adequately consider his own needs. He carried, viscerally, the responsibility of tending to those around him, breaking the societal norm of passing that responsibility on to others. I have never known anyone who held the emotions of others so deeply. If his mum or I cried, he cried too, not from sympathy but from a true empathy that experienced our emotions as his own. That same quality is exactly why he could never walk past animal suffering. And yet, this depth of care never made him a walkover, quite the opposite. It was perfectly balanced with a feisty, outspoken intolerance of illogic and injustice. He had the courage to voice the truths that mattered, comfort be damned—ensuring that anyone lucky enough to be under his wing had the strongest advocate and protector imaginable.
Keith’s bond with his mum was remarkable, not just because of its closeness, but because of the way it shaped who he became. What they shared went far beyond the roles of mother and son, it was a meeting of minds, values, and spirit.
Keith could never turn a blind eye to wrongdoing. Even if it was just simply a coach driver refusing a toilet stop for young children during a painfully delayed twelve-hour journey…. on a coach with a broken toilet. Never a dull moment with Keith. In an attempt to stop Keith from lodging a complaint at the station, the coach driver occupied him with what can only be described as a baggage hostage situation. Whilst concerned about Keith’s predicament, my mind leapt ahead to our next problem: being unexpectedly stranded in Amsterdam in the middle of the night.
This is when a seemingly normal lady befriended me and offered her “sounds too good to be true” spare room equipped with an ensuite and hot water. Well….. you hear about these places you are not meant to stay in Amsterdam and that night we had certainly found one! Our luggage became a very necessary line of defence before our strategic 4am escape in stitches of laughter. The coach company compensation meant we were able to attempt the trip again, but from that day on, Keith never left me anywhere without reminding me: “don’t talk to strangers!”
Keith had a way of turning the most ordinary moments into something unforgettable. Take my pre-outing hairbrush searches, which thanks to Keith will never be dull again. During one of these ‘Have you seen my hairbrush?’ moments, without a moment’s pause, Keith replied, “Ohhh, this one takes forever.” In classic Keith style, he identified the truth hidden in plain sight and served it back with his trademark wit.
With Keith, I always felt truly seen and held. He was fully present and invested in every step of my journey. His love was never about grand gestures; it was something I felt continuously and authentically. He understood me so well that he always knew the right words, even if that meant pointing out that I wasn’t in my most grounded state, and assuring me that I’d feel differently in the morning or after a coffee! It didn’t take long before it became our go-to line: “Let’s speak after your coffee.”
Keith kept no walls up, allowing me to see every part of him, and in turn he welcomed every part of me. From that openness grew a depth of connection and love that I could never have anticipated when I first set my heart on him so early in life. I would have been content with so much less, and when I think about that, I am still in awe.
Some people go their entire lives without ever experiencing anything like this. Even in the depths of this unbearable grief, I feel a gratitude so deep it gives me a glimmer of hope that it may ultimately carry me through this pain.
Keith supported me beautifully and purposefully in finding all the resources I would ever need for this lifetime. Over the years, he created an environment that allowed me to discover and draw out my strengths, my talents and my purpose. With humour, love, and guidance, he always told it like it was, always with the purest intention, and guiding me to grow into myself. He believed in me so deeply—and only ever praised what he truly meant. In that, he gave me a confidence and inner strength that I will forever carry. Even now, while my heart is shattered, I can still hear his anchoring voice guiding me. You are never ready to lose your person. But I can sit here today and say that I truly found myself during my journey with Keith in the physical realm. Because of him, I am left deeply centred as I continue this journey forward—now with him transitioning to be my guide and support from the other side.
In Keith’s words, we are blessed to have blended into one. And in that sense, it does not feel like he has gone. When I am still, I am certain I can feel his presence and hear his words. I continue to speak to him and often experience a profound sense of having received his guidance and wisdom. Our journey may have been painfully reshaped by this sudden physical separation, but yes, Keith, my love — I agree. We have blended into one.
