It is no secret that happiness was spread a little thinly in Claire Rayner's far from easy childhood. Born in Stepney, East London, in the early 30s during the Depression, she was evacuated during the war. Choosing nursing as a career, she lied about her age in order to enrol as a cadet in the Epsom Cottage Hospital in Surrey, after which she studied at the Royal Northern, winning their gold medal for achievement. Thus began a lifetime's passion for proper medical care for all, a passion that has made Rayner one of Britain's most important and successful campaigners. She is a patron of more than 60 social and charitable organisations, but it is as advice columnist extraordionaire that she is most famous. columns in The Sun and later The Sunday Mirror. At one point Rayner was receiving 1000 letters a week. Working from home, with six secretaries, she read every single letter that came to her.