Feeling Sick and Feeling Sad: Saying Goodbye to Terry Jones

  I was going to post last night,but I was too sick. Ken got sick and now I have whatever it is that he has. It feels a lot like what I had early least year. Some of you may remember me being sick for MONTHS last year. I have a fever,which was up past 103 last night.but is now down to 101.5. I feel like throwing up when I get up,so I've been in bed all day. In fact,this attempt at sitting up for a while isn't going well. Hopefully I'll be well enough to drive Ivy back to college on Sunday.
  From previous posts you'll know that I'm a huge Monty Python fan. I was very sad to learn yesterday that one of the Pythons,Terry Jones, has died.

  Terry was born in February,1942,in Colwyn Bay, Wales. He attended Oxford University,where he met fellow future Python and life long friend Michael Palin. The two worked together regularly before and after Monty Python. Before, they worked as writers on "The Frost Report", and as writers and performers on "Do Not Adjust Your Set", a children's show that had as many, or more,adult fans,including fellow Pythons John Cleese and Graham Chapman. The two asked Palin, Jones,Eric Idle, and Terry Gilliam,who all worked on the show,to do a show with them, and Monty Python was  born.

   Terry Jones became known for his portrayals of screeching women, like the waitress in the Spam sketch...
 

Terry as the waitress in the Spam sketch.

...and the game show contestant who chooses 'the blow on the head' as her prize. He also co-directed the film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" with Terry Gilliam,and directed the other two Python films,"The Life of Brain" and "The Meaning of Life" on his own. During the 1970's he wrote the TV series "Ripping Yarns" with Palin. He was a medieval scholar,writing two books on Chaucer, and writing and hosting multiple TV shows on the subject. He authored several children's books,and wrote,directed, and starred in "The Wind in the Willows",(retitled "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" when released in the U.S. by Disney).
   In 2014 the Pythons reunited for a series of live stage shows. At the time Terry was having trouble remembering his lines. This was clear in the film made from the shows when John Cleese takes Terry's cheat sheet from him. The following year Terry was diagnosed with Primary Progressive Aphasia, a rare form of frontotemporal dementia. The symptoms include memory problems that worsen over time, along with "slowly losing the ability to speak, write, read, and generally comprehend language". This was tragic for someone whose life had been all about language,as a writer and scholar. Most suffering from PPA also eventually lose their motor skills,but at least close to the end Terry was still able to enjoy walks. Michael Palin visited Terry regularly.
 

Terry and Michael last  May.

In September of  2019 he said of Terry,“The last time I saw him I don’t think he recognized me. We knew each other well. It feels like a part of yourself isn’t there any more.”
  Terry passed away on January 21,surrounded by family and friends.