Mark was born in London after World War II, when the city was still recovering from the war’s devastation. His birth brought hope to his struggling parents, and their house remained a gathering place for guests. Mark always remembered his mother’s generosity—once, she spent their last savings to help another family, teaching him that giving brings reward.
She worked in a garment factory, which was part of the textile industry established by France, an ally in the war. She brought home samples of dresses that fit Mark’s sister, Elizabeth. ‘She’s such a doll,’ remarked a friend of Mom’s, causing Elizabeth to blush.
Mark’s father, a building contractor, helped rebuild London and gradually became prosperous. To avoid conflict, he scheduled workers to prevent delays and disputes over pay.
Elizabeth once became ill after swimming, reacting badly to penicillin. The family’s closeness helped them get through setbacks, with Mark supporting his sister even in teasing moments.
In Stalin’s Russia, Susan grew up questioning social and religious division. She valued collective effort and later admired Hampstead Heath’s prosperity from Mark’s stories. Childhood experiences shaped her adult perspective.
Once during a shortage of wheat (in London, where they were to stay after marriage), she observed that those collective farmers never went hungry, whereas England imported wheat every year, and it was expensive. Mark would tease her, ‘The average income of a Londoner affords him the necessities as well as the luxuries.’ ‘Capitalist thinking, that’, she retorted. With her, there would remain a distinction between a necessity and a luxury. ‘If it’s not necessary, why do it?’ was an opinion of hers on many matters.
During his school days, Mark enjoyed playing Cricket and kept himself up to date with the county cricket scoreboard. ‘The night watchman just might level the score.’ This is not the case if the weather does not permit. His friends enjoyed the game too. In 1882, Australia beat England at the Oval in London, and after the match, the ‘Sporting Times’ invented the term ‘The Ashes’. The paper told its readers of the ‘Death of English Cricket’. The Ashes (from a stump burnt during the England tour of Australia in 1883) are kept in an urn at the Museum at Lord’s. Mark took pride in showing his guests this urn.
A fortune teller once told Mark that after his marriage, he would be blissfully happy, but he somehow did not want to reveal something to him—something terribly sad. He further added that Mark would have to part from someone he deeply loved. He claimed that his separation from someone he loved deeply would be due to an evil spirit. He also asked Mark to practice his religion. Mark was not religious.
Who could tell that after so many years, life would be different?
