A life less ordinary (From Stroud News and Journal)

A life less ordinary

The glass is half full is a philosophy that led Marie Jennings MBE to lead a truly fulfilling and inspirational life. Now in her 70s she has looked back at her life to write her autobiography - Diamonds and Pearls, which is published this week. Reporter Sian Davies visited Marie at her Bisley home to find out about her extraordinary life.

GROWINING up in India during the last days of the British Raj, close scraps with the KGB and a brush with the Chinese Legation in London all crop up in Marie Jennings' extraordinary tale as though everyday experiences.

Having already written a number of books, mainly about business and how to succeed in life, the 74-year-old grandmother has finally recorded her own life story.

"People said to me - 'you've had an extraordinary life Marie' - but I'd never thought of it like that I had always just lived it.

"I have never failed to go through any open door - maybe falling flat on my face on the other side - but always giving everything a go nevertheless," she said.

Marie was born in Quetta in India on Christmas Day 1930 and went to school in Kashmir.

In 1947 - when the country was being torn apart by war - her parents took her to live in Britain.

"I loved India and lived there for the first 18 years of my life but was taken back to the UK during the partition riots - that was a frightening time.

"Growing up in India was a magical experience though in retrospect but at the time I didn't know anything else."

After moving to England, Marie trained in shorthand and typing and was soon offered a job as a secretary at a theatre agents in London - which looked after the likes of the up-and-coming Peter Sellers.

From there Marie was headhunted to work for an American public relations firm before being asked to look after publicity at the British division of an American oil firm - the Roy Bernard Company.

She said: "I've never applied for a job in my life. I always think you create your own job - you create what you want to do and then you do it."

Marie ended up running the British side of the Roy Bernard Company at a time when not many women were in business, let alone running companies.

But Marie, who boasts a long and impressive CV working in PR, journalism, marketing and personal finance, said part of her success was due to her lack of formal training.

"My husband said 'you've got a totally untrained mind - that is why you flit around like a grasshopper and attack tasks that other people think are impossible," she said.

When Marie was married for the second time she gave up work for a quieter pace of life and to look after her son Michael, but soon found that she didn't like the quiet life.

"I thought I'd give up work to sit and eat strawberries because that's what married women did - but I found eating strawberries very dull," she said.

Over the years Marie has been involved in two television series - Moneyspinner and Money Go Round as well as writing personal finance articles for various publications including the Women's Journal.

Throughout her career, Marie campaigned for ethical business and political practices and in 2000 was awarded an MBE for her work in personal finance.

Marie moved to Bisley 30 years ago with her third husband Brian, who asked her to marry him within 24 hours of their first meeting - it was when Brian died last year that Marie began writing her story.

Marie added: "I believe there are two sorts of people in this world - the people who want to be and the people who want to do. I'm not interested in being, I want to do and achieve things."

Marie's book - Diamonds and Pearls - was launched today, Wednesday. Copies can be ordered by sending a cheque for £12 including postage and packaging to Marie Jennings, Cadogan Grange, Bisley, GL6 7AT.