President Palin plots his course
I'm sitting in the Kensington headquarters of the Royal Geographical Society pouring myself a cup of tea when a sound erupts from the next room that I’ve never heard before in the building: raucous laughter. And not just a single burst from one person, but a collective, sustained, snorting explosion of childish laughter.
Michael Palin, the ex-Monty Python star and new president of the RGS-IBG, is in the building. And you can’t half tell. The whole place seems somehow buoyed up. Excitable. Ready for a new adventure. The man himself is just finishing off a TV interview with Frank Skinner – hence the laughter – before heading down the corridor to chat to me about his new role.
When his face appears around the door, dozens of TV personas flash through my brain – the shifty pet shop owner refusing to give John Cleese a refund on his dead parrot, the cross-dressing lumberjack, the blank-faced simpleton in everything from Alan Bennet’s A Private Function to A Fish Called Wanda. But, although it was his comedy career that initially brought him fame, it’s his more recent career in travel pre- senting eight documentaries over the past 20 years – that has led him to the top role at the Society.
Born in Sheffield in 1943, he has actually been a Fellow of the Society since 1978. He came to get travel tips from then director John Hemming during the planning stages of his first series, Around the World in 80 Days, but when the presidency was offered to him, it still came as a surprise. ‘It was completely out of the blue,’ he says. ‘It wasn’t anything that I ever expected.’ To begin with, he was a little intimidated. ‘Presidents to me were those legendary figures in oil paintings that look down on you when you visit the Society. I felt, perhaps, that I was a little inadequate for the job.
‘And yet,’ he continues, ‘at the same time, something made me think that it was a challenge I shouldn’t just avoid. And I was reassured by Rita [Gardner, the Society’s director], who said that they had asked me because I was considered to be a serious candidate who had a love of geography and had popularised geography, so I drew up a list of pros and cons and the pros were longer than the cons, so I said, “Yeah, all right. Yeah, I’ll have a go.”
‘I don’t see myself as an institutional president who loves chairing meetings – I admit it’s part of the job, I quite accept that – but what drew me to the role was being able to excite people about geography. And if you’re going to start anywhere doing that, the Royal Geographical Society is probably the best place to start. It’s where everything is concentrated. It’s the heart of geography. And from here, you’re going to be able to make a difference.’
Living subject
Palin’s own love of geography started long before he tried to make it around the world in 80 days. He studied geography to A-level and credits ‘excellent geography teachers’ for encouraging his enthusiasm for the subject as a young boy growing up on the edge of Sheffield.
‘Mr Hall at my prep school realised geography didn’t mean sitting and looking at books, it meant getting out and saying: “Why is that river there? Why is there a mill there? Why is the river flowing down into Sheffield?” He used to take us out on long walks. I thought that was brilliant. Getting out and about and seeing what geography meant on the ground. It was a living subject for me.’
And now he wants to bring the subject alive for others. ‘It’s a subject that still seems to be neglected,’ he says. ‘It’s seen as a slightly nerdy subject and I can’t really begin to think why when you look at what’s happening in the world. Whether it’s endemics, or terrorism, or global warming, knowing the geography is so vitally important. I want to overcome the feeling that geography isn’t really a serious subject, or a subject you should choose to study, and say that it’s the subject you ought to choose.’
Other than that, he doesn’t have any grand plans to change the Society. ‘I think it’s being very well run already,’ he says. And he believes that the institution is still very relevant. ‘There’s a tremendous amount of knowledge stored in this building, acquired over 180 years… and, at the same time, we’re involved in lots of different fieldwork studies – hundreds each year – in which RGS money is helping people look at the problems of today.’
One of the ways in which he hopes to contribute to this dissemination of knowledge is through Michael Meets..., a series of talks in which he’ll sit and chat with some of the people he has met during his travels. ‘The first person I’m going to talk to is a guy called Musa Ibrahim, who I met when I was doing some work for Refugee Week. He’s a Somali who was here for about five years trying to get refugee status. It’s fascinating how he talks about the country from the point of view of someone trying to get asylum.’
The idea behind the talks is not only to help Britain see itself as others see it, but also to celebrate London’s multicultural personality, and to provide a bridge between cultures at a time when fear and fundamentalism threaten to polarise different countries and cultures. ‘I want this [the Society headquarters] to be a place where an international community gathers, to talk to each other and feel comfortable about talking to each other.’
The necessity of inter-cultural communication was recently brought home to Palin following the filming of his latest documentary (screened last Christmas), in which he tracked down the crew of a dhow on which he had travelled during the making of Around the World in 80 Days.
During the production, he was filmed in a hotel and bar in Mumbai. Just three weeks later, both locations became scenes of carnage in terrorist attacks that saw more than 150 people killed. Palin believes both venues were targeted because they were places where people of all nationalities came together. ‘For those with closed minds, places like these represent an intolerable threat to their own malign sense of certainty,’ he writes on his website. ‘The attacks in Mumbai, and anywhere else in the world where people are prepared to kill rather than listen, are as clear a reason as there ever need be to keep meeting, talking, travelling and connecting.’
Positive thinking
But given his personality, it’s no surprise that Palin doesn’t want to dwell on the negative. He believes this gives us a skewed impression of other countries. ‘And most of life isn’t like that,’ he says. ‘Twenty-four-hour news thrives on breaking news. This means a crisis, trouble, noise, war, disaster. And that’s not the way the world is. I remember meeting an Ethiopian guy in London who said, “We loved your programme about Ethiopia. And the good thing was that you just went through our country. There wasn’t a famine, there were no floods, we weren’t treated as victims. You just wanted to know about our country. We loved that.” And I think that’s really worth remembering.’
Palin also believes that it might be time for Britain to stop fixating on the crimes of its colonial past. ‘If we say that all of our past involvement with the world was bad and wicked and wrong, I think we’re doing ourselves a great disservice. It has set up lines of communication between people that are still very strong. We still have links with other countries – culturally, politically and socially – that, perhaps, we shouldn’t forget.’
But it isn’t just people from around the world to whom Palin wants to listen. First and foremost, it’s the members of the RGS-IBG, wherever they may be. ‘I think it’s very important in a society to connect with the members of that society. I want to be available to talk to people not just here in London, but in the regions. And abroad if necessary. We’re all part of the RGS family.’
He wants to ensure that all of the members – including those who campaigned for more large-scale expeditions of the type historically coordinated by the Society – feel that they’re being listened to and catered for, particularly because ‘they are among some of the best and most experienced travellers – Ranulph Fiennes, Joanna Lumley and so on. I want to make sure those people remain part of the Society. And I’m sure they will.’
Listening, he believes, is the key. And he hopes that his ‘celebrity’ status won’t get in the way. ‘I like to feel that I’m normal enough for anyone to be able to talk to me about anything,’ he says. And he doesn’t think he’s alone. ‘Rita and her team are really open. Anyone who thinks they are imposing some diktat from above have really got it wrong. But I do want to make sure that if there is disaffection, we can talk about it rather than letting it fester.’
And, together, he hopes that the Society can reach out to new members. ‘I think the Royal Geographical Society should be somewhere that anybody feels they can come to. I know that’s a difficult concept because it’s “Royal” and people imagine that it’s full of old buffers, but of course it isn’t at all. It’s really for anyone who wants to travel, and anyone who wants to learn about the world. This is the place for you. You’re welcome here.
‘In fact,’ he says, ‘tell people that if they want to pop around, I’ll show them around the building and make them a cup of tea. Well, maybe I shouldn’t say that. But tell them if they come to the RGS, they’ll have a lovely time.’
And then he’s off, laughing as he goes. I can’t help feeling that there’s going to be some fun to be had at the Society over the next three years.
October 2009
Michael Palin, the ex-Monty Python star and new president of the RGS-IBG, is in the building. And you can’t half tell. The whole place seems somehow buoyed up. Excitable. Ready for a new adventure. The man himself is just finishing off a TV interview with Frank Skinner – hence the laughter – before heading down the corridor to chat to me about his new role.
When his face appears around the door, dozens of TV personas flash through my brain – the shifty pet shop owner refusing to give John Cleese a refund on his dead parrot, the cross-dressing lumberjack, the blank-faced simpleton in everything from Alan Bennet’s A Private Function to A Fish Called Wanda. But, although it was his comedy career that initially brought him fame, it’s his more recent career in travel pre- senting eight documentaries over the past 20 years – that has led him to the top role at the Society.
Born in Sheffield in 1943, he has actually been a Fellow of the Society since 1978. He came to get travel tips from then director John Hemming during the planning stages of his first series, Around the World in 80 Days, but when the presidency was offered to him, it still came as a surprise. ‘It was completely out of the blue,’ he says. ‘It wasn’t anything that I ever expected.’ To begin with, he was a little intimidated. ‘Presidents to me were those legendary figures in oil paintings that look down on you when you visit the Society. I felt, perhaps, that I was a little inadequate for the job.
‘And yet,’ he continues, ‘at the same time, something made me think that it was a challenge I shouldn’t just avoid. And I was reassured by Rita [Gardner, the Society’s director], who said that they had asked me because I was considered to be a serious candidate who had a love of geography and had popularised geography, so I drew up a list of pros and cons and the pros were longer than the cons, so I said, “Yeah, all right. Yeah, I’ll have a go.”
‘I don’t see myself as an institutional president who loves chairing meetings – I admit it’s part of the job, I quite accept that – but what drew me to the role was being able to excite people about geography. And if you’re going to start anywhere doing that, the Royal Geographical Society is probably the best place to start. It’s where everything is concentrated. It’s the heart of geography. And from here, you’re going to be able to make a difference.’
Living subject
Palin’s own love of geography started long before he tried to make it around the world in 80 days. He studied geography to A-level and credits ‘excellent geography teachers’ for encouraging his enthusiasm for the subject as a young boy growing up on the edge of Sheffield.
‘Mr Hall at my prep school realised geography didn’t mean sitting and looking at books, it meant getting out and saying: “Why is that river there? Why is there a mill there? Why is the river flowing down into Sheffield?” He used to take us out on long walks. I thought that was brilliant. Getting out and about and seeing what geography meant on the ground. It was a living subject for me.’
And now he wants to bring the subject alive for others. ‘It’s a subject that still seems to be neglected,’ he says. ‘It’s seen as a slightly nerdy subject and I can’t really begin to think why when you look at what’s happening in the world. Whether it’s endemics, or terrorism, or global warming, knowing the geography is so vitally important. I want to overcome the feeling that geography isn’t really a serious subject, or a subject you should choose to study, and say that it’s the subject you ought to choose.’
Other than that, he doesn’t have any grand plans to change the Society. ‘I think it’s being very well run already,’ he says. And he believes that the institution is still very relevant. ‘There’s a tremendous amount of knowledge stored in this building, acquired over 180 years… and, at the same time, we’re involved in lots of different fieldwork studies – hundreds each year – in which RGS money is helping people look at the problems of today.’
One of the ways in which he hopes to contribute to this dissemination of knowledge is through Michael Meets..., a series of talks in which he’ll sit and chat with some of the people he has met during his travels. ‘The first person I’m going to talk to is a guy called Musa Ibrahim, who I met when I was doing some work for Refugee Week. He’s a Somali who was here for about five years trying to get refugee status. It’s fascinating how he talks about the country from the point of view of someone trying to get asylum.’
The idea behind the talks is not only to help Britain see itself as others see it, but also to celebrate London’s multicultural personality, and to provide a bridge between cultures at a time when fear and fundamentalism threaten to polarise different countries and cultures. ‘I want this [the Society headquarters] to be a place where an international community gathers, to talk to each other and feel comfortable about talking to each other.’
The necessity of inter-cultural communication was recently brought home to Palin following the filming of his latest documentary (screened last Christmas), in which he tracked down the crew of a dhow on which he had travelled during the making of Around the World in 80 Days.
During the production, he was filmed in a hotel and bar in Mumbai. Just three weeks later, both locations became scenes of carnage in terrorist attacks that saw more than 150 people killed. Palin believes both venues were targeted because they were places where people of all nationalities came together. ‘For those with closed minds, places like these represent an intolerable threat to their own malign sense of certainty,’ he writes on his website. ‘The attacks in Mumbai, and anywhere else in the world where people are prepared to kill rather than listen, are as clear a reason as there ever need be to keep meeting, talking, travelling and connecting.’
Positive thinking
But given his personality, it’s no surprise that Palin doesn’t want to dwell on the negative. He believes this gives us a skewed impression of other countries. ‘And most of life isn’t like that,’ he says. ‘Twenty-four-hour news thrives on breaking news. This means a crisis, trouble, noise, war, disaster. And that’s not the way the world is. I remember meeting an Ethiopian guy in London who said, “We loved your programme about Ethiopia. And the good thing was that you just went through our country. There wasn’t a famine, there were no floods, we weren’t treated as victims. You just wanted to know about our country. We loved that.” And I think that’s really worth remembering.’
Palin also believes that it might be time for Britain to stop fixating on the crimes of its colonial past. ‘If we say that all of our past involvement with the world was bad and wicked and wrong, I think we’re doing ourselves a great disservice. It has set up lines of communication between people that are still very strong. We still have links with other countries – culturally, politically and socially – that, perhaps, we shouldn’t forget.’
But it isn’t just people from around the world to whom Palin wants to listen. First and foremost, it’s the members of the RGS-IBG, wherever they may be. ‘I think it’s very important in a society to connect with the members of that society. I want to be available to talk to people not just here in London, but in the regions. And abroad if necessary. We’re all part of the RGS family.’
He wants to ensure that all of the members – including those who campaigned for more large-scale expeditions of the type historically coordinated by the Society – feel that they’re being listened to and catered for, particularly because ‘they are among some of the best and most experienced travellers – Ranulph Fiennes, Joanna Lumley and so on. I want to make sure those people remain part of the Society. And I’m sure they will.’
Listening, he believes, is the key. And he hopes that his ‘celebrity’ status won’t get in the way. ‘I like to feel that I’m normal enough for anyone to be able to talk to me about anything,’ he says. And he doesn’t think he’s alone. ‘Rita and her team are really open. Anyone who thinks they are imposing some diktat from above have really got it wrong. But I do want to make sure that if there is disaffection, we can talk about it rather than letting it fester.’
And, together, he hopes that the Society can reach out to new members. ‘I think the Royal Geographical Society should be somewhere that anybody feels they can come to. I know that’s a difficult concept because it’s “Royal” and people imagine that it’s full of old buffers, but of course it isn’t at all. It’s really for anyone who wants to travel, and anyone who wants to learn about the world. This is the place for you. You’re welcome here.
‘In fact,’ he says, ‘tell people that if they want to pop around, I’ll show them around the building and make them a cup of tea. Well, maybe I shouldn’t say that. But tell them if they come to the RGS, they’ll have a lovely time.’
And then he’s off, laughing as he goes. I can’t help feeling that there’s going to be some fun to be had at the Society over the next three years.
October 2009
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