There is a press story telling how Sir Rannulph Fiennes seems to have disappeared. The facts seem to suggest that he is being held in a care home and his friends are discouraged from visiting him. If any friends manage to find him they have to sign an NDA. This seems very odd.
Obviously I have no idea where he is. I remember him as a fascinating, engaging and memorable interviewee.
In 2019 Sir Rannulph was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease.
A few years ago as part of the Cheltenham Literary festival I interviewed Sir Rannulph on stage at the Everyman Theatre about his family history book 'Mad Dogs and Englishmen'.
I remember shaking hands - a non standard formality for him. He told me how he had to adopt a DIY approach to dealing with frost bite in his fingers. He no longer has the standard issue 10.
In this episode there's a conversation I had with Sir Rannulph later in a London studio, a chat with the legendary travel writer Eric Newby, and the life of the unforgettable adventurer Lucy Irvine.
Lucy had replied to an advertisement in 1980 seeking a woman to spend a year on a desert island with a man she didn't know. This adventure became a film starring Oliver Reid. She tells me how she went on to write the story of another island dwelling family in her book Faraway.
Podden och tillhörande omslagsbild på den här sidan tillhör
David Freeman. Innehållet i podden är skapat av David Freeman och inte av,
eller tillsammans med, Poddtoppen.
