List written on wall that helps Snowman author stave off dementia
HIS walls are plastered with fan mail, children’s drawings and posters of his muchloved works, from The Snowman to ethel and ernest.
but for novelist raymond briggs, 82, the most treasured stretch of wall at his home is a list of words written in felt tip pen around the kitchen door.
The selection of words, which range from ‘ nuthatch’ ( his favourite bird) to ‘narcissistic psychopath’ (a reference to an unnamed publisher), is his attempt to stave off dementia.
both his mother and partner died from the condition, and briggs hopes that his unique method might help in preserving his memory.
Talking of the list at his east Sussex home, he said: ‘It gets longer every day. I get a mental block about things. It is nothing to do with ignorance, sometimes I just can’t think of the word. even my favourite wine [merlot], I forget the name of.’
Other words on the wall include ‘ water chestnuts’,
‘We didn’t know about it’
‘orthopaedic’, ‘migraine’ and the surprise addition of ‘ Twitter trending’.
The latter is a reference to the impact of the animation ethel and ernest – shown at Christmas – which was adapted from his graphic novel of the same name about the lives of his parents.
One of the final scenes portrays his mother’s experience of dementia, although briggs said that at the time they did not know she had the condition.
He added: ‘We didn’t think it was dementia in those days, we didn’t know anything about it. That word wasn’t used 20 or 30 years ago.
‘We just thought she was getting a bit peculiar. I don’t like watching the thing, it upsets me too much.’
In 2015 he lost his partner of 42 years, liz, to a combination of dementia and Parkinson’s, and says he has had ‘too much’ experience of the condition. Fortunately, the list on his wall also serves as a prompt for amusing tales, including one about model katie Price, better known as Jordan.
asked why her name is on the wall, he explained: ‘She was outside the [village] shop [with a] huge black limo with darkened glass.
‘I went past it one day, as these three or four women with highheeled shoes were teetering around.
‘I thought, “What the hell is going on? This is a village shop!” but her parents were living there.’
briggs visits his elderly neighbours every day, writes regularly for The Oldie magazine, and has a book about old age in the works, but he is not optimistic about living many more years.
He said he cannot walk for longer than 45 minutes without losing his balance and takes blood pressure pills, and even suggested he might not live to see another Christmas.
but he has also found ways to keep himself amused – including an ever-increasing collection of high-heeled shoes.
He buys the shoes, which were initially intended as a joke present for liz’s daughter and never cost more than £6, from a nearby charity shop.
now 14 pairs have pride of place on his staircase.