Clive James denied last look at home
London – Clive James is unlikely to be able to return to his native Australia before his death. The broadcaster, who described himself as being nearer the ‘‘departure lounge’’ after being diagnosed with leukaemia, kidney failure and lung disease, said that the lack of oxygen in aircraft cabins meant that a trip home was not feasible.
Ahead of what could be his last public appearance on Saturday at the Australia & New Zealand Festival of Literature & Arts in London, James said that despite his illnesses, he still considered himself lucky.
‘‘It is important not to be morbid and the secret there is to keep a sense of proportion,’’ he told the BBC yesterday.
James, who was born in Sydney and went to London in 1961 to work as a journalist, said that while he might never be able to return to his homeland, his memories of growing up ‘‘become clearer all the time’’. ‘‘There is not enough oxygen in the cabin of an airplane and I would have to take a big oxygen bottle . . . I do not see myself organising that. A big ship takes too long, I could be three weeks from Addenbrooke’s Hospital [in Cambridge] where I have transfusions, so I am kind of stuck,’’ he said.’’
The ‘‘wonderful mind’’ was allowing him glimpses of his homeland. ‘‘The mind can translate past experience into immediate experience. I practically hallucinate the beauty of Sydney Harbour. It could not be more vivid in actuality than it is from my recollection. I do miss it.’’
James, who is due to perform poetry at the festival as well as discuss various cultural phenomena, including Game of Thrones, said that in his poems he was ‘‘starting to say goodbye’’.
He said that there was a ‘‘Last Post recessional tone’’ to his work adding: ‘‘The trick is not to overdo it. As my friend P J O’Rourke once told me, he said ‘you’re going to have to soft-pedal this death’s door stuff, Clive, because people are going to get impatient’.’’
James, who had a successful broadcasting career where his wry commentary on TV programmes made him a household name, said he had always written poetry. His later works were ‘‘a lot more penetrating and sensitive because they need to be’’.
He is working on two books, one of which he said was finished. ‘‘If I should by any chance, before publication, drop from a twig as we say in Australia, I will immediately have a posthumous book, which is good for the family finances.’’
James, 74, said that he had had a lucky life. ‘‘If you hang around a hospital long enough you will see things that remind you I have had a lucky life.’’
‘‘I am getting nearer the departure lounge but I have got a version of it that does not hurt so I may as well enjoy it for as long as I can. It’s terrific subject matter [for poems], by the way.’’