Uncle Francis Postscript: Fatespotting

"Shelter Drawing: Three Fates" by Henry Moore (source)

 

 Following on from what I hope was a tribute to my late uncle Francis yesterday: looking for pictures of him to accompany the post, I was surprised to find the video below, from 2014. I never expected to see Francis in a video. Possibly because the first extraordinary fact I ever learnt about him was that Uncle Francis didn't own a television! He composed epic dramas in blank verse, and themes for organ. He didn't pop up on youtube. But here he suddenly is, less spry than I remember, I hope it's okay to say, which is why I suspect the last time I saw him was before this. But maybe we're just witnessing the toll upon Francis of talking about the Blitz. These aren't happy memories, which is one of the reasons I think they're so worth sharing. I remember, in the class he gave in 1999, Francis talking about growing up in "Bomb Alley",watching "men murder each other in the sky above us." I forgot – if I ever knew – that he was also friends with Henry Moore and Francis Bacon.

"It's not spooky. It's just a city waiting to be crucified."

 

 You can see Francis talk at far greater length about this moonlit childhood beneath the bombing in his other youtube appearance here: "Armageddon and faith - a survivor's meditation on the Blitz".

 And his funeral service will be held on the 20th. Here.