Renée was born grumpy (Ngāti Kahungunu/Scot) and nothing has changed. She is an avid and faithful reader, who enjoys cooking and gardening. Everyone, she says, should grow leafy greens.
Renée always thought she'd die at forty-two but for some reason this didn't happen. Instead, at fifty she started to write plays and novels, and at eighty-eight considers herself lucky to still have most of her marbles.
She's written eight novels and over twenty plays, with Wednesday to Come perhaps her most loved work.
Iris: I remember when Dad died we stayed up all night. About one in the morning Mum made scones. Crazy the things you do.
Ted: Like singing round a coffin?
Iris: Hang around, Ted - that's just the start.
Renée lives in Ōtaki and teaches her Your Life, Your Story and Poem a Week workshops there.
This is her life, her story, told in patches, like a quilt. One for every year of the life she's lived so far.