After a year fraught with drama Capital Radio's flying eye, Russ Kane and wife Sally decided to write about their experiences. ALEX KASRIEL meets the couple.

You may not instantly recognise his face, but when traffic reporter Russ Kane starts to talk you know that you know him from somewhere.

Russ is the voice that aims to get you out of traffic jams in the morning. From his small plane he helps Captial Radio listeners get to work more easily.

For more than 17 years Russ has effortlessly engaged in witty repartee with Chris Tarrant on the Breakfast show.

Now he and his wife Sally, who live in Totteridge, have decided to turn to writing and have recently had their book Shout at the Moon published.

The petite Sally, a fashion designer, looks effortlessly chic in a black polo neck and jeans with a studded belt. It is hard to believe the traumas she suffered only months before: a house fire, a car crash, a near fatal pregnancy, followed by breast cancer.

"I no longer regard life as a dress rehearsal," she says, drawing lessons from a quite horrific passage in her life. "I got a wake up call and I'm much more pro-active than I was."

Inside their large but modest house, talismans adorn the living room. Sally explains how the charms have helped her overcome her annus horibilis.

"I feng shui-ed the house," she explains. "You'll see crystals, wind charms and all kinds of symbols. I don't know if it's a religion or not but it did change our luck quite a bit."

All the Kane's travails are well documented in the book, which Russ boasts took them just nine-and-half-weeks to write all 97,500 words.

A visit to the Kane's toilet reveals yet more evidence of their showbiz status. The walls were plastered with posters of Russ with the likes of Melinda Messinger in his yearly pantomime and shots of Russ with the Breakfast Show team and other celebrity friends. He clearly revels in his fame but he hasn't let it get out of control.

"The advantage that I have is that, although I'm extremely well known to millions of people, I do the shopping in Tesco and no one knows who the hell I am. Obviously when you do things like panto, everyone knows your face as it's plastered on every railway station for miles around, but that's fine."

The couple enjoy a relaxed life with their three-year-old twins and Sally's daughter Pandora from her first marriage.

Russ has not moved very far since childhood: "I was born in Finchley and grew up in Southgate. For my radio show I've got to be near Elstree Aerodrome. This area here is unique because you can be in Piccadilly Circus in thirty-five minutes. And yet, you're in what is effectively the countryside. It's fabulous."

As for working in Elstree, Russ does have a small favour to ask of the residents. "If you could just shift Aldenham reservoir a couple of miles down the road so we don't get so much fog. That would be fantastic."

He would only hint at the risks of flying in a plane every morning.

"I've flown 1,100,000 miles in that plane minimum. You've probably driven a fraction of that in the car and think of all the little things that happen, sure things happen. I've been lucky twice, I'll leave it at that."

So what's next for the lucky Mr Kane who already has a book, countless pantos and thousands of breakfast shows under his belt? It seems he wants to harness a talent for healing.

"Last year in panto my dressing room was like a blooming doctor's waiting room. One guy came in who was playing the ugly sister. My hands automatically went to his ears. He said 'Oh my God I've been deaf in my left ear for five years, I can hear!'." Watch this space, it could be the start of a new career.

Shout at The Moon by Russ and Sally Kane is published by Blake.

December 21, 2001 15:57