Valerie left this memory on 16.05.08:

Having just come back from spending a few days with Ginny, I am thrilled to let you know I now have an everlasting memory of you - one of your amazing etchings - once it's framed and in place, it will bring back all the wonderful times we spent together. Thank you Gin and Mont for being you.

Dickie left this memory on 13.05.08:

I ran out of space on my first memory so hopefully this will complete the picture.
In 2004 we asked our new neighbours round for a drink and Monty and I talked about our army days.Iwas amazed that he had been at Markeaton and when he mentioned Sergeant Roper my world fell apart!Even then we didn't recognise each other, but 50 years is a long time.
But the bond of friendship we had has not changed.He was a dear friend and a man of many parts.
Cheers Monty, from Dickie and Jean with our love.

Dickie left this memory on 13.05.08:

I first met Monty when we were both 19.We were in the army in an infantry training camp at Markeaton near Derby.Monty and I were in the same platoon under the command of a Sergeant Roper.His job was to see if any of his raw recruits was officer material.This he did by putting us through a living hell of assault courses,30 mile marches and so on.
In the army you had a mate, who looked after your back while you looked after his.Monty and I were mates.

Phil Alexander left this memory on 07.05.08:

Chicago at 3am - the beggar with the Shakespearean delivery .

Forna in April - "Ay miii corazo-o-n" ringing from El Molino.

Records, brandy and cigarettes at the Grove (just one more tune before bed).

Chitcombe as a toddler ("there were eggs, eggs, walking round on legs...") and San Francisco on my 21st - "barely" old enough to order a drink at Vesuvios.

Ireland when I was six and camping in the yellow Ford Capri not long after. Hampstead Heath on the weekends...

Glenlivet, Edradour, Kingussie and beyond last year.

And then those precious precious final weeks.

Mont, my dad and my friend, the times I have spent with you have been the happiest of my life. And the three of us together...who said we couldn't take on the world??

Your love and your life make me strong. Ever yours, Frisbee Dyke xxx

Ian McIntosh left this memory on 02.05.08:

Monty the gentle giant
I remember Monty mostly from my teens and early twenties. When we met he would always caress both my checks between his hands and smile warmly at me. His greeting was like a cocktail; a kind of infusion which spread a warmth inside me and I suspect to all who imbibed it; it had an uplifting effect and gave out the reassuring signal of a gentle giant with a zest for life and a twinkle in his eyes. The greeting set the tone for the occasion and luckily for me there were several. With George and Val, my dad and step mum, I went to parties at Chitcombe, in Forna, and in St John’s Wood. Ginny, I found you and Monty to be a wonderfully hospitable couple who appreciated people and who knew how to have fun with a wide circle of friends in enthralling surroundings . On other occasions you both made time for me taking a real interest in what I was doing, eager to discuss and debate, to laugh and to share, and to guide with candour and without assumption. You seemed to me a perfect couple.

I am so pleased that I met Monty again last year at Sarah’s wedding. After all those years everything was the same the greeting, the twinkle, the warmth and the infectious enthusiasm and interest in life, its people and their stories.

My thoughts are with you all today, Ginny Phillip, Kathy family and friends

Ian McIntosh
2nd May 2008

Jess left this memory on 30.04.08:

Monty was an amazing grandad he will be extremly missed my apologies for not being able to be there over the weekend if i could be i would be belive me we all loved him dearly and will be sadly missed my condolenses to gin, mum, phil, nicky, paul and family xxxx

Valerie McIntosh left this memory on 28.04.08:

Oh Ginberg,

Where to start ? Rochford Street when you told me you were moving out to go and live with the man of your dreams ; St. John’s Wood, when poor Mont gave up his side of the bed to me when I appeared in the middle of the night on one of George’s « outs « ; Chitcombe – so many memories there – Rye Fawkes, the culling of the rhodedendrons (spelled wrongly I’m sure), the numerous parties with the best mein host ever, winning the art (or was it sculpture) prize at the Brede fete ; Forna, and how he endeared himself to all the locals without any command of the language ; his 60th birthday party which lasted a week or was it two ?

I spent many hours last night and this morning remembering that chunk of our past that we spent with you two ; most of them happy memories. It is very sad for all those left behind to lose such a larger than life friend, father, husband, boss, brother etc. but a relief for him to be out of that ghastly pain and to have gone in total peace with his loved ones around him – lucky guy.

He really did have the most wonderfully fulfilled life (thanks in no small way to you) so could not have left with any regrets. He will be remembered with love by so many – his charisma, his beauty, his everything !

seema khanwalkar left this memory on 28.04.08:

What I can say about someone who gave me direction in my life! It was monty's encouragement, his trust in my abilities, his affection, and his support that made me an semiotician..I always told him that he was an Indian in his previous birth..his love for India, its people, and his grin at the sight of those restaurants that served the best seafood are unforgettable. He and Ginny changed the face of semiotics in India. Monty lives on..in all of us who have met him and have been touched by his personality..Love you Monty!

Debbie Kalodner left this memory on 28.04.08:

I think back almost 40 years to dinner in a London restaurant where I spotted a smashing-looking couple at the next table. Being a forward, nosy American, I started talking. Monty and Ginny drove us back to the hotel -- and we've been friends ever since. I will always remember Monty as one of the warmest, brightest, most loving of men. We've had good times together: Chitcomb, London, Philadelphia, New York. My children always loved him -- and so did I!

Nicky left this memory on 28.04.08:

At the age of 73, Monty could still drink me (at the age of 23) under the table. We went to Chicago where, at 4 in the morning, we headed back to the hotel. I thought, hoped, prayed that we were going to sleep, but instead stopped off, at Monty's insistence, in the hotel bar for a pernod nightcap. Funnily enough, it's a similar story for his 80th birthday.