Michael Palin: “I Value Each Day Now”
The life of an amazing man
He is a man who has criss-crossed the world in search of touching stories to enthral, amuse and warm us.
There can be few countries Michael Palin hasn’t visited, which may explain why he chose North Korea for his most recent adventure.
The trip made a big impression. “The capital, Pyongyang, was very ordered,” he recalls. “But there was this air of slightly menacing unreality. There were roads but few cars. There were streets with some cafés, but we were not free to go there unless accompanied by minders.
“From very early in the morning, broadcast music reverberated across the city. You wake up and hear these chords of patriotic music coming from somewhere – I was baffled by it at first.”
North Korea Journal, the book recounting the visit, came out last September but a promotional tour had to be cancelled after Michael was admitted to St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London for open heart surgery.
Michael says he now feels much better, but everything had to go on hold.
“I was in hospital for one week and told to take three months off and do nothing. The trouble is, in order to do nothing, you have to spend half the day telling people who contact you that you’re meant to be doing nothing. After that, you’ve not much time left to actually do nothing.”
Today Michael says the experience has changed him. “I now feel aware that ageing isn’t just about getting older. olde It’s also about the body bec coming prone to more diffi ficulties. This episode has left t me brutally aware that, say y, 40 years ago not many pe eople would have survived thi is sort of thing.
“I value each day now.” In another reality check,
Michael’s long-term friend and main writing partner in the surreal comedy show MontyPython, Terry Jones, died recently of dementia.
“Terry was my dear friend of 60 years,” says Michael. “He taught me more about television than anyone else.” Michael dedicated the Special Recognition Award he received at January’s National Television Awards to Terry.
Michael Palin is frequently referred to as Britain’s nicest man. Indeed, asked what he is most proud of, he does not mention his travel books or
“To do nothing, you have to tell people you’re meant to be doing nothing…”
his comedy career but his work supporting therapy for stammering children.
Michael’s own father suffered from a bad stammer. Following his role in the film A Fish Called Wanda, in which he played a man with a stammer, Michael agreed to give his name to The Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children, a specialist centre for speech and language therapy in London.
“The centre is very successful and it’s incredibly moving to hear parents talk of how their child went to the centre and how it ended up changing all their lives.”
Last June Michael was presented with a knighthood
– for his services to travel,, culture and geography, rather than comedy. Perhaps that softened the blow for the other Pythons?
Michael laughs. “Actually they were all very supportive and wrote nice messages.
I thought I’d get more stick.”
Michael has lived for 52 years in a north London town house that abuts the pavement and is overlooked by a tower block. He met his wife, Helen, on a seaside holiday aged 16; he is now 76. They have three children, Tom, Will and Rachel.
Now fully recovered from surgery, Michael is busy editing material for the fourth volume of his well received personal diaries, taking the story up to 2010. It is due out next year. Another travelogue e may be on the cards.
But where to? After
North Korea, we can expect the unexpected!