Jean Charity

Lucy’s column for December 9
Jeanlo…1
Derby daughter Jean Charity fell in love with Palma, Mallorca, from the top deck of a cruise ship docked in its magnificent harbour.
After the break-down of her marriage to a Derby businessman, and the death of her two precious Maltese terriers, Jean had long felt the need to pick herself up, dust herself down, and start all over again. After all, as she claims, she couldn’t live her life on the edge of her many friends, however supportive and kind they were in her hour of need.
Spurred on by her disillusion with life in the UK, her love of the sun, and itchy feet, the independent and feisty Jean made the decision, there and then, to relocate to this island paradise. For just a couple of years, maybe…. That was eight years ago. And she’s still there. And what’s kept her there? Well, actually, a touch of cancer.
And "A Touch of Cancer" is the title of a book she has written during the past gruelling six years since she was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphona, at a very advanced stage. Jean, former secretary to Geoff Lambert at Frank Innes, self-confessed party girl, well known in Derbyshire for her charity work, put down one of the initial symptoms – severe fatigue – to her penchant for partying most of the night at her "somewhat advanced age". She was, in fact, only in her early 60s. There was neither rhyme nor reason for the hair loss, but the diarrhoea she blamed on climatic and dietary changes. And the itching was nothing to do with vagabond shoes feet, but the invasion of weird and wonderful insects which her apartment harboured.
This is no maudlin amble through the trials and tribulations of diagnosis, treatments, prognosis. In the true, up-beat Jean Charity style which her many Derby friends and acquaintances are more aware of than I am, she shows a fearless spirit and acceptance of all that life has thrown at her and her fellow-sufferers. And her humour knows no bounds. She leaves not a stone – good or bad – unturned. But there is a chuckle or a belly-laugh on every page.
Let’s face it, there’s nothing light-hearted about such unsociable conditions as diarrhoea, wind, bladder weakness, but Jean takes them by the throat and squeezes amusement out of them all. Her section on sexual activity is positively side-splitting. But there’s an overwhelming sense of fight, peace, acceptance, throughout.
A lot of it’s down to attitude, apparently, a fact borne out by her Spanish oncologist – and here, we have to bear in mind that Jean was being treated in a foreign land, relying on translators most of the time – who assured her at the time of diagnosis : "You will get through – you have the right attitude". Jean admits a positive attitude is hard to maintain when you’re sick and in pain. But by comparison it serves to make the better days even more precious.
Jean may be far from her Derby roots, but her many friends here have proved a supportive influence on her problem. Indeed, we learned about the book from her old pals Gill Maynard (senior stylist at Keith Hall’s hairdressers, and I’m not saying for how many years!), and that gastronomic host-with-the-most Joe Waldron, when we met them, quite by chance, when they were staying at the smart and expensive La Residencia Hotel, in Deya, Mallorca, where we’d popped in for a drink. They were over there to see Jean, and waxed lyrical about their brave and inspirational friend. I’ve since spoken to her. They didn’t underestimate her courage, compassion and comedy.
Jean will be in Derby in the New Year to launch, and sign, her book. She can be contacted by e-mail at jean@ginales.com. A percentage of the royalties will go to a cancer charity.
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