KIM
That poem written by an army buddy when Jerry was just 18 – but we’re not quite there yet! During the war the orphanage children were evacuated to America, to be cared for by English actors in Hollywood (a tale for another day) but Jerry refused to desert his mother so the orphanage sent him to board at Rishworth School in Yorkshire. Nancy followed him there, and famously, with no money for the train fare managed to achieve the whole journey for the price of a theepenny platform ticket. As the only Southern voice in a Northern stronghold Jerry had to literally fight for survival at first but, through the use of moves learned from a little judo book given to him by his sister Joan, he held his own. His longest standing friendship with Frank Schofield began there as did his life-long fascination with judo. With the encouragement of a teacher at Rishworth Jerry gained a place at the Slade Art School in London at the remarkably young age of 16 – his early thoughts of being an actor had been quoshed by his father’s response - ‘Don’t you do that my boy. It’s a mugs game!’ And so his creative eye turned to painting. As a student he never went anywhere without a sketch book and he won the School prize for perspective in his year but the Slade was responsible for much more thanJerry’s development as an painter. Friendships made there with other talented artists continued for the rest of his life and there too he came across his first real Judo Black Belt – the wonderful Jim Frost who died only last year. But MOST importantly, it was there that he met my mother Anne! They were clearly destined to ‘be’. Jerry had made the most of the Slade’s evacuation to Oxford but his Art education was interrupted by his call up for National Service. While he was away creating his own personal form of mayhem in the army and Passing-Out as an Officer at Sandhurst, Anne began her time at the Slade. As luck would have it, Anne failed an exam in her final year so that when Jerry retuned to complete his education, Anne was back for a repeat year! Her first view of Jerry was much as you see him on the back of your order of service. Jerry’s wild and unconventional side, while a magnet for Anne, completely terrified her parents – a young artist running barefoot round London, attending fancy dress parties with his athletic torso painted green and carrying a scimitar in the guise of a Gini, with no family in sight and no obvious prospects was (as my grandfather put it when Jerry gamely went to ask for Anne’s hand in marriage) ‘not what we would have wished.’ They clearly pictured Jerry treating Anne like Marlon Brando treated Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire. Typical of Jerry, he never held a grudge – he could understand their worries and simply sought to allay their fears by his actions in the long term. So marry they did, in 1952 and then they came to Bristol. Jerry had obtained the post of head of Art at Cotham Grammar School (as it was then). During his 30 year career, literally thousands of boys (and later girls – including me) passed through his Art Room. His ex-pupils are certainly well represented here. Jerry’s caring and nurturing side, combined with his quirky individuality and unbounded enthusiasm for his subject, made him an inspirational teacher. He took his pupils out of the classroom and showed them the beauties of Bristol. On one occasion he was disappointed when the mother of one pupil told him her son was going to give up art – ‘What a shame’ said Jerry ‘He’s beginning to show promise – I thought he enjoyed Art.’ – ‘Oh yes’ said the mother ‘ he likes the Art well enough, he just can’t cope with all the walking!’ But largely, students developed a rich appreciation of Art and Architecture with Jerry that stayed with many all their lives. Let me pass you to Danny for another perspective on Jerry.