Christopher Fitz-Simon was the first director of RTÉ News and pioneered soaps like Tolka Row and The Riordans, but far from resting on his laurels, he continues to write entertaining stories and novels in the modern home he shares with wife Anne Makower
Writer Christopher Fitz-Simon and his wife Ann Makower, former RTÉ producer/directors, outside their contemporary mews which they bought in 2011. It’s a complete contrast to their last home, a Victorian villa which they’d lived in for 50 years. Photo: Tony Gavin
Large expanses of glass are an integral part of today’s house design and when Christopher Fitz-Simon and Anne Makower found their very contemporary home in Dun Laoghaire in 2011, the amount of glass was one of the things they loved about it. However, there was one snag – where to put a catflap. “We have one and a half cats. We have Rosie and another cat who visits whom we call William because he’s orange,” says Christopher. “I was a cat in a previous existence or I’m going to be one in the next. I couldn’t live in a house without a cat. It’s a presence, a connection with something primeval. Tyrone Guthrie said there are star cats, leading cats, supporting cats. Rosie is a character cat and William is a leading cat.”
Fortunately they solved the catflap problem by finding a niche upstairs. It was inevitable they would solve it because both are very resourceful people. Christopher is an author/broadcaster and pioneer of RTÉ’s TV drama, while Anne spent her entire working life, apart from the first few years which she spent at the BBC, as a broadcaster in RTÉ until her retirement. Both are 91 and in fact both were born on the same day.