Woody Allen: I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying.

Of course none of us can do that but we can live on in the memory of those we leave behind. Dad did his best in that he lived to the ripe old age of 91 which for a Crisp is a pretty long sell by date. The world has changed dramatically during his lifetime. Back in 1925 TV was born, Ben Hur was on the big screen, Hitler had just published Mein Kampf and Paavo Nurmi (a famous Finn) set a new record for the indoor mile (4 min 13.6). I guess his generation thought they were safe having missed the 14-18 WW they enjoyed a period of peace but were rudely awoken in their early teens when it all started again. Old enough for service before it was to end, Dad joined the RAF on the ground. He spent time in Egypt and Belgium and at some point met John Rose who became my godfather.
Back in civvy street he worked briefly for a tailor in Saville Row (Ronald Reagan was a customer) and later joined the Rank Organisation. In 1951 he married his first wife and they stayed together until the end. In 1957 I came along. Back then super 8 was state of the art and I remember him lugging a projector from central London to home in Ankerdine Crescent so we could watch cartoons at my birthday parties which were consequently a very popular event.
He never did any sport but he was a fast walker and used to stride off to Woolwich Arsenal every morning towing me in his wake as far as Herbert Road so that I could catch the 53 to go to school in Blackheath. He liked going to exhibitions and museums and took me to many. The Maritime was a frequent haunt together with the Iimperial War and Hornimans. If he went to work related events he often brought me back a souvenir which I would show off at school.
Unlike him I was always into doing sport. As a young cyclist it would have been difficult for me to get to events without his help. He bought a roofrack for my bike for our Toledo and took me to exotic places such as Bognor Regis. In fact my first racer was one he bought from Excel cycles in Woolwich and which he tried to ride home but gave up on the hill – the last time he got on a bike as far as I recall.
Although no sportsman he was not lazy and enjoyed DIY. He taught me many things that have been useful when renovating the flat and houses I have owned. His uncle, Will, was a skilled carpenter who doubtless contributed to his knowledge. He was good at tiling, building cages for my guinea pigs, decorating and doing repairs in general but he knew his limits – grandad did the plastering when he took out the chimney in the back room at Ankerdine. One of my first jobs after leaving university was with our neighbour Ron as a builder’s mate I do not think he would have kept me on had it not been for the practical things I know how to do thanks to Dad.
He was a true blue. He campaigned for and with Ted Heath in the Bromley elections . Heath took us into the EEC and Dad firmly believed we should stay in it!
During my university years Mum and dad made many trips to Cardiff where I sometime subjected him to intellectual ordeals such as Brecht’s Mother Courage – he fell asleep until one of the actors shined a torch in his face.
In 1985 he became a grandad, Aaron was born and three years later made it the double - Lauren. He took a keen interest in the girls but it was not easy to see them very often after Julia and I moved to Luxembourg in 1988. Of course we spent holidays together either in the UK or Luxembourg. Often Edna and John would come too and at Christmas John Rose. We did all the local sights, he enjoyed the military ones – the American Cemetery, Verdun the Maginot Line. Belgium brought back some war time memories.
In later life he was able to make the trip to Spain to visit Outi and I in the house I had bought on the Costa Brava. The stairs were a bit of an ordeal for him but he managed. He enjoyed sun-bathing by the pool and eating out in the local restaurants. Despite being essentially confined to base the last couple of years we have often been out to lunch together in the village and nearby pubs and he had a healthy appetite as well as a penchant for gin until the end.
Dad took a keen interest in genealogy and worked with Gordon to produce the family tree. At the time I was the last of the Crisps, the name would die with me in terms of the male line. But then in 2012 the tree had a new bud – Samuel William Crisp was born – a somewhat late onset grandson joined the family.
2016 it seems was the year for many of the good and great to die. One of Dad’s favourite comedians, Ronnie Corbett, David Bowie (Dad was not much of a fan but he came from our neck of the woods, went to Bromley tech) Terry Wogan and Jimmy Young who seem to have been on the radio for ever, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Fidel Castro and Mohammad Ali to mention just a few. He is thus in good or at least interesting company.
“As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spent brings happy death.” L de V