This story is part of the August 18 edition of Sunday Life. See all 15 stories . Marc Fennell is a presenter and journalist best known for hosting Stuff the British Stole.
Here, the 39-year-old discusses stealing his mum’s engagement ring, his childhood hero Star Trek: Voyager’s Kathryn Janeway and why his world has been painted Barbie pink. I met my wife, Madeleine Genner, when I finished high school..
. We started dating when I was around 19. My maternal grandmother, Latchmi, lived in Singapore – we’d visit every school holidays.
She had a mango tree in the backyard of her freestanding house; it’s where she’d squat with a mortar and pestle, grinding spices. She didn’t speak much English and I didn’t speak Indian, so we didn’t communicate much. Latchmi was a big personality, married to a cop and raised six kids.
She survived the Japanese occupation of Singapore during the Second World War. We know now that she saw some horrific things and that some horrific things were done to her, none of which I knew as a teenager. My paternal grandmother, Mary Catherine, was fun to be around.
She was Irish but inherited the British take on class and spoke with a plum voice. She was a large woman who loved food, and I might have inherited all of her dimensions. We called her “Pat”.
This is the most Irish thing ever – my grandfather’s real name is Patrick, but for reasons no one can explain, Nan was called Pat and grandpa was known as Ginger. I have warm memories of.