My mother, Shirley Wright, who has died aged 85, lived life to the full, travelling widely and completing a Shakespeare master’s as a mature student, despite a difficult start in life.
Born in Chatham, Kent, to Kathleen (nee Hardie) and Alfonso Martinez Revasse (anglicised from Rivas), Shirley spent her early years accompanying her mother, who worked as a housekeeper, to various locations in Kent, London and Bath. From the ages of five until 10 her father was absent as a wartime Desert Rat in Egypt. Shirley described her confusion when on his return she enquired of this unrecognisable person: “Are you my daddy?” Recently she talked about how proud she felt walking through Rochester with her father, so handsome in his army uniform.
She somehow succeeded in surviving and overcoming the ill-effects of a difficult relationship with her mother and a lonely childhood. After Wimbledon county grammar school for girls, she went on to grab life with both hands, and to keep holding on and embracing every moment with enthusiasm and passion.
Shirley had several jobs, her longest-standing being senior secretary in the office of the department of education at Sussex University. The role we most enjoyed talking about was when she worked at a jewellery shop in the West End and used to transport precious gems by train in secret around the country by sewing them into her bra.
In 1959, she married Alan Wright, whom she met at a youth club at Merton Park, south London, when she was 15 and he was 17. They lived in London, then moved to Cambridge where Alan taught at the Leys school; Shirley had a secretarial job and was also involved in Leys school life. In 1964, they went to the US on an exchange programme organised by the English-Speaking Union; my dad swapping roles with an American teacher in Princeton, where they spent about 18 months, travelling extensively. Back in the UK, they moved briefly to Hove in East Sussex before buying a house in nearby Kingston in 1968. Their final move was to Lewes in 1982.
Shirley had a sharp intelligence and astonishing recall, both of which seemed to improve as she got older. She had many interests, and devoured books, plays, music and films. After graduating with an BA in cultural studies from Sussex in 1998, she went on to complete an MA in Shakespeare studies at Birmingham University’s Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon. These endeavours gave her huge pleasure and enabled her to finally accept how insightful she was.
As age reduced my parents’ sphere of activity, the Depot cinema in Lewes became their favourite cultural location, a cherished home from home. They accumulated an amazing number of friends at every phase of their life. We met people they knew wherever we went. We still do.
Shirley is survived by Alan, their children, Judith, Richard and me, and grandchildren, Millie, Niamh, Emily and Oliver.