Hi A-G! Unfortunately, I don't recall many details about that conversation. Wish I could: It's a most interesting insight!
[Still reading the Penrose, just completed the chapter on complex numbers. How thrilling to learn that the value of the imaginary number ii, instead of being a total abstraction (as I'd earlier supposed), actually has a real-number value; i.e., 0.207879576.... And he shows you how to derive it!]
Sorry I couldn't be more helpful re: that earlier discussion of abiogenesis. I do agree with that correspondent's statement, FWIW.