Michael Palin - live webchat Tues 8 Oct at 11am

Pamaga

Hi Michael
We have some of your autobiographical diaries on audiobooks. I wondered if you still keep a diary and whether you religiously make a daily entry. When do you write it up? Did you have to prune your diaries extensively when you converted them to autobiographies or do you generally exclude the minutiae of daily life?

Yes, I started to keep a diary back in 1969 when I gave up smoking and wanted to use my newly-fortified will power to do something else I'd always tried but given up on. So the diary came into being and I have kept it most days for 44 years. It's not always how you write, or what you say that matters so much as the fact that you record a particular day at a particular time. I try and write something every morning about the day before, and I'm always suprised how much it brings back when I read it, 20 or 30 years later. As most honest diary writers would probably say, "I can't believe I DID that!" - but you did, and that's part of the fascination of a diary!

I'm currently preparing a third volume of diaries from 1988 to 1998 which requires a lot of editing. By the time it gets into book form, there's only about 25% of what I originally wrote left. But I try very much to make sure the edit covers all the different things that I've done, and background on family, and personal things. In other words - to accurately represent what I've written all those mornings, all those years. It's also very good discipline for writing, it's sort of like a work out for your brain every morning.

roundyrose

It must be so nice to now be able to pick and choose the projects you are involved in. Is there anything you haven't done yet that you still want to go after?

There are still parts of the world that I'd still like to see and I still get a thrill from travelling even to places I've been to before. So, I suppose somewhere like the Middle East, where so many of the early civilizations began, is somewhere I should see.

I'd also like to write more - I have a project which is part fact, part fiction, following a member of my family who was killed on the Somme in 1916. I'd love to be able to evoke that time and that period.

And I'd still like to learn to dance.

AllieGB

Hello Michael! What is your favourite place to visit in the UK? And if you had to live in a different country, which one would you choose? THankyou, Allie.

I love the area close to where I grew up which is the Peak District, just outside Sheffield. This is where I first learned the wonders of travel, on my bike. There are lakes, hills, rivers - it's all quite dramatic. The west coast of Scotland, with its mixture of lochs, islands, mountains and fine malt whiskeys is another favourite part of the country.

I think I am very lucky to live in the British Isles. There are few places in the world where I have found more landscapes in a smaller area. We may not have the highest mountains, or the longest rivers, but we do have a little of everything.

redgreenblue

Hello. Can you speak any other languages? Or do you get by on English when you travel?

I'm ashamed to say that I don't speak any other languages apart from a bit of French. It's a real weakness for a traveller because to really understand the country, you have to understand the language. The trouble is that in the last 25 years I've been to nearly 80 countries, and there's no way I could learn 80 languages. So, in a sense, the scope of my travelling has played into the hands of my laziness. I wish I was one of those people who could pick up languages easily and confidently.

I think it's a bit like skiing - you have to start when you're young.

Bobbin

i have always loved Monty Python and my children were often encouraged to eat just a bit more of their dinner by saying (assume accent here) 'just a wafer thin bit' etc. Do you get tired of being quoted Monty Python, or is it nice? Do you still see the other Pythons much? Thnk you for doing this web chat-I think you're terrific

Hi Bobbin. Well that's the first I've heard of Monty Python being used to make people eat their dinner! The good thing about Python is that most of us who made the programme can't remember any of the lines whereas people like yourself I bet are really good at quoting Python back.

The other good thing is that Python covered so much ground that you rarely get the same quotes twice. Some people remember it for Ni! Some people for 'Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!', and others for something obscure like Arthur Putey and the Marriage Guidance Counsellor or even Flying Sheep. It's just nice to be remembered!

natasha43

A very big HELLO from Thailand, Mr Michael.

I enjoyed all of your travel programs and I have all of your books, films, and of course Monty Python things. I have two questions for you if that is OK.

The first is: Will you be acting in more television and films again? (I've recently saw The Wipers Times and I was in awe of how amazing you are in that role. I rewatched a lot of your old films many times like The Missionary, Jabberwocky, A Fish Called Wanda, and American Friends. I hope you will continue taking roles because we have been deprived of your amazing acting for so long.)

The second is: It seems to me that the elements in Monty Python, first on Flying Circus and later on films, tend to be philosophical in some way, and then on your travel programs, you are discovering and interacting with new people, culture, traditions, religion, and practices, which in the end can be summed up to something philosophical as well. So, if many, many hundred years from now, your work survives and the people of the future interpret you and the rest of the Pythons as philosophers, what would you say to them? Was working in all these projects (of course in addition to the fun and love you have with and for them) a part of a journey for you to seek a kind of Truth or shall we say 'The Meaning of Life'?

Thank you, Mr Michael for your time and kindness and your lovely silliness. We love you! (And please don't retire!)

Hi Natasha in Thailand! Great to hear from you. Thank you for all the nice things you've said. I've always enjoyed acting, but been tempted away by all the other opportunities to travel or to write books. But after Wipers Times went out, I have had a few enquiries and might get back to some acting - but no plans yet.

In answer to the second question, I don't see any sort of underlying philosophy that unites all the things I've done, except to always ask questions - to keep pushing the boundaries of what you think you know and what you think you can do. It's important never to believe that you've got the answer. Keep asking questions. I shall. Certainly no plans to retire!

Smithy

What a fascinating and really inspiring life you have led. Do you believe that age is a barrier to anyone looking for travelling adventures? (as opposed to just holidaying)

No, I think that provided you're careful and don't try and run up and down Everest, or try and swim the Channel every afternoon, travelling is good for you at any age. I think particularly as you get older and have time to yourself that this is when a well-planned journey can really lift your spirits.

I'm 70 now, and I don't think I shall ever stop travelling. It keeps me up to the mark both mentally and physically and the interaction with the rest of the world and the people I meet makes me feel that there is much more that unites us all, than divides us. This is a useful antidote to media stories which might give you the impression that the world is falling apart.

So, go for it at any age - and if possible, try and be a little adventurous. Choose a tour which gives you some time to yourself, or best of all if you have any friends abroad, let them take you around their country. Nothing better than personal experience!

muddyboots

Hello! <excited>

You've seen the world - why do you still live in rainy England? Have you ever thought about migrating elsewhere?

I love the seasons. I like the way the weather changes here day by day. You really appreciate the sunshine in England, whereas I'd probably just take it for granted if I was in Jamaica. But it's not really weather that keeps you at home - it's where your family is, and where your background is, and all the associations you have in your past.

I'm very English really, and travelling round the world makes me realise that I'm actually very lucky to live here. I'm always so pleased to come home - even if it's pissing down!

Ruby6918

hi michael hope you are well, i would like to ask you if you could have an intimate meal with a few guests who would like to spend your evening with and why? thank you cathy,

I think I'd always include David Attenborough - he's my ideal of a television presenter - he knows everything, and has a great sense of humour. Also, Catherine the Great, just to see how great she was. Johnny Cash, who I once met and stunned me by telling me he was a fan of my work. And Nigella Lawson to do the cooking. And Napoleon to do the washing up!

penguinpaperback

Hello Michael, not really a question but about 14 years ago I was working in a store where you were due to spend a couple of hours book signing. Approx 5 or 6 hours later you were still there signing books. We had never had so many people turn up for a book signing before. Other times we'd had so few people turning up to see an author we'd had to put our coats on and pretend to be the general public.
I watched The Wipers Times a few weeks ago and thought it was fabulous, incredibly moving.

Yes, it's not always been like that. I remember a signing of my Ripping Yarns book up in Stirling, in Scotland, where no one at all appeared for half an hour. At last, an elderly lady came across to where I was sitting, surrounded by piles of my books. I had my pen raised to sign when she said, "I'm bringing back this book about Second World War aeroplanes - four of the pages are stuck together. Can I have my money back?" She was very upset when she found out I was a visiting author.

It's great when there's a really good, busy signing, and for me as a author it's a valuable time to get a sense of who your audience is out there. I think a lot of us appear on television or write books, and you don't often actually know who is watching your programme or reading your work. So I like to have a quick chat with people when I do my book signing. Generally, they're friendly, but one man had a poster of me that he'd got from the window, and as he came to the table, he tore it in half and set fire to it!

The woman who organised the signing wasn't at all fazed - she just said, "he's always doing that."

Dropstitch

Hi Michael, welcome to Gransnet! My brother got me interested in Monty Python and have been a big fan ever since. In all of your travels, is there one (or possibly more) surreal, Pythoneque experience that sticks most in your mind? Good luck with the new book, show and please keep them coming!

Yes, the travels were full of Pythonesque experiences, from catching a piranha fish in a Brazilian river, to having to sing You Are My Sunshine in a kareoke bar in Tokyo, to a Russian dinner where every guest is supposed to raise at least two toasts, always accompanied by a glass of vodka. (I think it was about the 18th glass when I raised a glass to Sheffield Utd - and fell over backwards!)

sassy60

Hi Michael Palin, how lucky we are to have you answering questions.
If you could go back in time, what would you say to your 16 year old self? and how did you go from doing comedy (Monty Python, Fish called Wanda) to travel? Was it an easy thing to do?
You seem like such an amiable man and I have long been an admirer. May you keep on going for many years to come as I believe age is no barrier to many things we, or celebs, like to do.
Good luck to you.

I think I would probably say to my 16-year-old self not to worry about being drawn to comedy, about being unable to concentrate on serious things your teachers are telling you to concentrate on. I was always worried when I was young that I was not taking life seriously enough.

In the end, the most important thing was to keep your mind as open as possible. I never expected to be one of the Monty Pythons; I never expected to go to the North and South Poles. I think you'll if I had closed down my life early on, I would have been less open, had fewer choices, and may have missed out on all the happy accidents that happened to me.

Gagagran

Hello Michael

What has been the biggest factor in your wanderlust? Is it genetic or did it stem from being brought up in Sheffield and needing to seek wider horizons?

With enormous admiration and respect for your work.

I think curiosity pure and simple is what keeps me going. Ever since I can remember, I've wanted to know what was over the next hill or around the next corner. I was fascinated by how different the rest of the world was from my own and I read books set in foreign countries, and magazines like the National Geographic - but I never dreamed I would see the countries they were depicting.

I was born and brought up in Sheffield in the 1940s and 1950s, and the most exotic travelling we did was to Nottingham. So, life has been the most wonderful realisation of a dream for me.

dubdubdub

My son discovered the world through the eyes of Michael Palin from the age of 12, on seeing your book 'Full Circle' on a supermarket shelf.
From that day he dreamed of leaving our shores and exploring the world.
Now aged 30 with a family of his own, he is passing on his own memories from afar, having achieved his dream before settling down.
How does it feel, Michael, when a mother tells you what a profound effect your character and inspiration has had on generations to come?
Thank You 5 times over, from me, from him and his three children.

There's no better feeling than to receive a feedback like yours and to know that the work that I've done has had such an effect on people who I don't know and have never met. I just hope that the work I do does leave a mark, and doesn't just blow away like the dust but actually can be carried on in the enthusiasm and the energy of others like your son, and hopefully his family. Thanks for a very encouraging message!

seasider

hello Mr Palin I would just like to ask where you like to go on holiday? love the programmes by the way.

Holidays are usually spent somewhere nearer home. My wife is not a great one for climbing mountains and crossing deserts to get to the nearest deckchair! We have some family friends in the Lot Valley in France, and we also try somewhere like Majorca for an end-of-season holiday with the grandsons. So nothing exciting, but that's the pleasure of it!

Crocky

I don't mean to be unkind but why is it that ageing stars still want to be in the limelight? Why not retire gracefully and give a chance to younger people.
Crocky.

I don't know how old you are Crocky, but I always thought there'd be a time when I wanted to stop what I was doing and let others take over but I find as I get older, I've learned more about the world, and I want to share it with people rather than sit in a chair and shut up!

I'm not interested in celebrity as such, I'm interested in what I can bring to the rest of the world in terms of information, education and entertainment. And I think the wisdom of older people is really valuable.

glammanana

Well how lucky you are at GNHQ to have Michael Palin with you on that day,I have admired all his work since Monty Python of course and his exploits travelling abroad have been a delight on our screens he makes you feel as though you are actually there with him.
The one question I would love to ask him is:
Michael after your long and very engrossing search for a "Bath Plug" in that Hotel in I think Russia ? do you now make sure you always have a spare with you Thanks for many years of super viewing.glamma

Yes, I’ve learnt my lesson, and I have now not one but two bath plugs with me! Unfortunately, they’re not always the right size, so I have been to known to sick a pair of socks instead.