This is Olivia, the adorable daughter of Janet McCabe and Mike Allen, treasured colleagues and one-time neighbors in London, 2006-2008.
Janet, of course, is (with writing partner and BFF and fellow feminist Kim Akass) a powerful force in television studies, editor of numerous books and of Critical Studies in Television. I like to think (and Janet agrees) that I had a hand in her involvement with television, publishing an exceptional essay by J and K in my first Sopranos book.
So when, during my time at Brunel, I was asked to babysit darling Olivia while Janet gave a public lecture on television at Birkbeck College, it was Janet who remarked on the synchronicity: the man (me) who inspired her interest in the study of the small screen now sat in her living room watching Shrek with her daughter while mom gave a talk about TV.
It was a lovely, memorable evening. I can't believe she's five!
