johnny's eulogy

Christopher Baily: Eulogy from his brother Johnny at Chris's funeral, Oxford Crematorium 17 June 2004

I welcome you all on this sad occasion. Thank you so much for coming, to say good-bye to one who meant so much to us.

Chris Baily had many talents but above all he was a gifted artist, as a painter and potter, as a poet, and as a musician. His visual and poetic gifts perhaps came from our mother, while in the field of music he was, like our father, a pianist, and played everything from Debussy to boogie-woogie and the blues. Ray Charles' "Lonely Avenue" was one of the first pieces that he learned to play, and he played it a lot, it almost became his signature tune. Most of you probably heard him do it at one time or another:

Now my room has got two windows,
But the sunshine never comes through...
I live on a-Lonely Avenue...
Well, I feel so sad and blue,
And it's a-all because of you.

This is Chris, expressing his feelings, or one side of them, for he was also an intensely sociable person. He had a gift for human understanding and friendship, and showed great loyalty to his friends, through thick and thin.

We'll hear a piece of his own poetry later. He left us many good things by way of poetry and works of visual art. Here's one I brought along, a copy of a scraper board work entitled "The Musician". It has an admirable simplicity of line. You probably can't see it very well in here and I'll put it out later with the flowers. We'll read one of his poems later.Chris had a deep affinity with the surrealist movement, and Duchamp, Dali and Magritte were his heroes. He had a keen interest in French intellectual thought. He was at home in the arcane world of Sartre and Camus, and he was not intimidated by the likes of Derrida, Bordieu and Foucault. He could put them all in their place with a few witty comments, for another of his gifts was a great sense of humour. He had a number of favourite jokes. One was about somebody suffering deep melancholy and depression going to see a Harley Street specialist. At the end of the consultation the specialist says, "There's nothing wrong with you that some good laughter won't cure. I hear the famous clown Grimaldi is playing tonight in one of the London theatres. Go and see Grimaldi!" "But I am Grimaldi."

In this city of Oxford, where he lived for more than 25 years, he had many good friends, some of whom are here today. And he had his own special team of medical specialists, a bit like the famous A Team, but this was the B Team, The Baily Team. I mention here especially Annette Grimaldi, the Care Co-ordinator who looked after Chris for many years, Dr Thurston, Stephen Merauld, Debbie Walton, Elaine Gamage, Clair Bowthorpe, Dr Millar, Reuben Ogwa, Georgina Wood and many others who over the years supported Chris. These were the helpers who kept him going on a day-to-day basis over the years, and who nurtured not just him but the creative works which were so central to his existence. So, from Chris's family and friends, many many
thanks to all of you in the Baily Team.

Finally, I have to mention another of Chris's talents, communication by postcard. Especially in the last few years, family members would receive a steady stream of carefully chosen cards depicting famous, and
not-so-famous, works of art. On the back the messages were long and convoluted, the writing snaking round and round. Reading them was a bit like negotiating the maze at Hampton Court. The name and address of the
recipient was buried in there somewhere, and a number of postmen around the country must have got very used to deciphering these messages. Alas, no more cards from Chris, but we shall treasure them, just as we cherish his memory, with love.