A book of poems for people under 4 feet 2″ by Spike Milligan, his father’s creation, would have made his father smile.
His son has been inspired by SPIKE Milligan’s lifelong commitment to creating his own crazy characters.
A book of poems for people under 4 feet 2″ by James Milligan would make his old man smile. The quirky cast of ‘ Hubert Humperbump’, ‘ Matilda the Python ‘ and ‘ Clever Emma ‘ would not be out of place in the irreverent work of the legendary comedian.
When Robert, his only child, was a toddler, was the subject of James’ creation, 49. Over the years, the collection has expanded, and it recently received publication.
Like his dad, the guiding principle has been to bring laughter and fun to his readers ‘ lives, with some ‘ hidden ‘ jokes for grown ups, too.
When someone smiled at me today, I started smiling too, his father’s famous work “Smiling Is Infectious,” which opens with the words “Smiling is infectious, you catch it like the flu, is where I come from.”
Spike’s mother Margaret Maughan, an artist still employed at the age of 82, and James were the children of their union. Their romance first emerged in 1967 when Spike was in his 50s, more than 20 years older than Margaret, and James was born in 1976.
He did not meet his dad until Spike was in his 70s, and James was just 15 years old. James’ education was provided by the Goons Show legend. They both enjoyed Prince Charles’ support and shared a passion for sports, laughter, and the absurdities of life.
James, a marketing expert of Hexham, Northumberland, said:” I got the inspiration from his smiling poem and his standing still race and the first Irish rocket to the moon.
“I always find that it’s fantastic that he’s still making a lot of people laugh, that’s really nice. And that is what I set out to do with the poems, to make people smile”.
Photos of James’ father are displayed on a wall in his home office when he and his parents meet. One of him is depicted as Hitler in a Nazi uniform (James jokes that this is prohibited today).
But he also has a poignant photo from the man he called ‘ Spike’, it says simply ‘ Love Dad’. Because they had so little time to get to know each other, he says their relationship is more like a friendship than a typical father-son bond.
He said: “He always said that he would be more famous after he died. He was causing laughter on his gravestone as well.
How many gravestones make you laugh when I said, “I told you I was ill,” became well-known? I think it was laughing in the face of death. When he requested that on his headstone, perhaps that is what he was thinking.
He discusses it in his war memoir, “They laughed in the face of death during World War II.” “There is a mischievous twinkle in the eye of James as he recalls his first meeting with his dad in the most unconventional of circumstances.
In 1991, the Sunday People discovered details of his mum’s affair with Spike and of his until then secret lovechild. It took several months to go to print but after the story broke, James met Spike at a hotel near the star’s home in Rye, Sussex.
He soon learned the secret of his genius, his unwavering integrity, and his inability to “suffer fools gladly.”
He said, “Hi, nice to meet you, shall we go inside,” because it was very formal. ‘, “James said of that first, memorable encounter.
My parents spoke up, but we talked about rugby and school, but inside I was tongue-tied.
“It was all a very anxious affair.”
Father and son’s initial meeting lasted for no more than 45 minutes. However, they had dinner the following day, which was even more intriguing. James told how a stranger walked into the restaurant, and he was staring directly at Spike.
He continued, “He would have dropped it if he had been carrying it.” He said, “Spike, I’m you, and his mouth was open like a goldfish.” I love you. Are you gay?, my dad asked in front of the entire restaurant. ” ” .
” And that was my introduction to him, his fame and how he handled it. To be honest, it was completely surreal. His fans, like so many of them, did not inspire me to have that god-like admiration for him. A friendship would be a good way to describe it.
“We never really had the opportunity to form a traditional father-son bond. People around him worried that I was pursuing him for money, but I didn’t realize it at the time. I just wanted to meet my dad”.
The comedian later asked him to refer to him as “father,” rather than Spike.
Now, James says, “It’s ironic because we didn’t have a good relationship because so many people think we were so similar when we were younger, how tall he was, how he sprinted, and how much he loved rugby, and how I played for Northumberland when I was younger.
” So there are a lot of similarities there, and I really look like him when he was in the army. You can’t get too het up about what people say, he continued, “I will let other people be the judge of that and the book, and his wry eye for life, seen in his poetry.
“I believe Spike was the same,” he said. I used to call him Spike and he asked me to call him dad one day. Therefore, it was dad present.
Spike Milligan was raised in the arts from a young age because he was born in India to entertainers.
Though he was an old man by the time they met, James said he was no longer haunted by the demons of depression, partly caused by his war experiences. He would confide in him about his relationship with Prince Charles and would tell tales of his time serving in the army.
After Spike Milligan passed away in 2002 at the age of 83, Charles wrote to James regularly and kept in touch.
He left four children from his first two marriages, as well as James, he had a second love child, Romany, by another lover.
James admits the early days of having a famous father revealed to the world were not easy.
He now claims that returning to Hexham after the Sunday People story was a nightmare. “I was a normal lad and suddenly I was posh and famous, and the local lads would give the posh lad a smack, it changed things.
I moved to London and began studying in a small town because it all became a little too much.
They both adored rugby and discovered they shared “a lot in common,” James said. “He talked to me a lot about his love of rugby. In WWII, he sailed from Liverpool, to North Africa, to Italy, and then Europe, but then he suffered shellshock, so he entertained the troops and came back to London.
Yes, his life was indeed quite long. I was prepared for someone who had endured many depressive years and depression because he was very funny, very thoughtful, and always had very deep thoughts.
“But by the time I met him in his old age, he had come to terms, when I knew him, he was cracking jokes all the time. But he never lost any fans in his openness.
He acknowledges that he would have preferred that his father have read his poems for one last laugh.
His book promises to bring ‘ a smile to your face and warmth to your soul’.
That is a fact that James and I truly shared.
“I love to make people laugh”.
Source: Mirror
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