Beaulieu, 2013
No one is too far away to be cared for or to care.
Gum on My Shoe is a creative partnership between transatlantic best friends Martin Baker and Fran Houston. Our aim is to inspire and inform those who support a friend living with mental illness. Why Gum on My Shoe? It refers to a conversation that occurred not long after we met.
“You’re stuck with me now, Fran. I hope you realise that.”
“Like gum on my shoe ...”
There’s more about our backstory here.
Milestones
- 2011: Martin and Fran meet online.
- 2013: We meet in person for the first time in Southampton, England. Launch of the Gum on My Shoe website and blog.
- 2016: Publication of High Tide, Low Tide: The Caring Friend’s Guide to Bipolar Disorder by Nordland Publishing.
- 2018: Publication of No One is Too Far Away: Notes from a Transatlantic Friendship by Eliezer Tristan Publishing.
- 2021: Publication of High Tide, Low Tide: The Caring Friend’s Guide to Bipolar Disorder (Revised Edition) and No One is Too Far Away: Notes from a Transatlantic Friendship by Kingston Park Publishing.
- 2026: Major relaunch of Gum on My Shoe website and blog.
Fran Houston
After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 1991, Fran Houston worked as a highly successful electrical engineer in controls design until she was overtaken by illness. She was diagnosed with major depression in 1994 and with bipolar disorder in 2003. She also has chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS/ME) and fibromyalgia.
A resident of Portland, Maine, Fran is a former member of Maine Authors Publishing and the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance. Inspired by Peaks Island’s rich history, she interviewed and photographed long-time residents. Publication of For the Love of Peaks: Island Portraits and Stories, a Collection (Maine Authors Publishing, 2010) led to her appearing on Maine Watch with Jennifer Rooks (Maine Public Broadcasting Network and National Public Radio) to discuss her book and the challenges of living with illness.
Fran is passionate about making invisible illness visible. She has been a columnist in the Island Times and performed at book and poetry readings. Her Maine Voices Opinion Editorial appeared in the Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram for Mental Health Awareness Week (October 2015). An open letter to her psychiatrist was published in the winter 2015 edition of The Maine Review.
Written with her best friend and co-author Martin Baker, High Tide, Low Tide: The Caring Friend’s Guide to Bipolar Disorder inspires and informs others who support a friend with mental illness. In their second book, No One Is Too Far Away: Notes from a Transatlantic Friendship, Fran and Martin demonstrate that mental illness needn’t be a barrier to meaningful connection; indeed it can be the glue that holds people together.
Fran loves her home town of Portland, Maine, and her many friends who love her dearly.
Martin Baker
Born in Liverpool, Martin Baker earned his Bachelor of Pharmacy degree at the University of Bradford in 1983 and completed three years’ postgraduate research at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London. Despite this academic background, Martin had no practical experience and little relevant knowledge of mental illness until a chance encounter online in 2011 brought enlightenment — and a new friend. His transatlantic relationship with American writer and photographer Fran Houston has taught him what it means to live with illness, but more importantly what it means to be a good friend. Despite living three thousand miles away, Martin is Fran’s primary support and caregiver.
Inspired to expand his boundaries, knowledge, and experience, Martin is now engaged in the wider mental health community. Certified in Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) and the internationally recognized Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST), he is a member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Mind, and Bipolar UK. He is a member of Stigma Fighters and the NoStigmas Project. He is a contributing author at bp Magazine.
Martin’s Collected Poems: 1977-1984 was published in 2008.
Martin is married and lives in the north-east of England.