With all due respect, Charles, I think you owe Dr Bronner an apology.

He was a bit cracked, sure, but harmless and well-meaning. His parents and the rest of his family were all victims of the Holocaust. He came to America as a young man and begged his father to come over with his mother before it was too late. The last he heard from them was a postcard saying Son, you were right.

His dotty labels call for nothing more insidious than a world at peace, based on the teachings of Jesus, Hillel and others.

I may be biased - I use the peppermint soap every time I swim to get the chlorine stink out of my hair and skin - but I think mentioning him in the same sentence as a skulking hater like von Brunn is just not good form.