Kevin Penny – “Janner” – RIP
From the moment Kev joined the Shantymen we were taken with his great sense of humour and larger than life personality.
Originally from Plymouth he was known as “Janner” on stage, Kev made the song “South Australia” his own, singing it with great gusto and pace. His animated version of “You can’t be a pirate” was hilarious and the audiences loved it! On tour his welcome ability to keep the Shantymen supplied with wine spirited away in his rucksack was legendary!
Kev also became Vice President for the Shantymen and contributed many suggestions for new songs. We always thought of Kev as being one of the youngest and fittest of the Shantymen so we were shaken when he developed colon cancer but, after a full course of treatment, he was declared fully fit again.
More recently Kev and his wife Pat moved back to Dartmoor where, apart from enjoying the outdoor life with their adopted dog Zak (as in that Zak adopted them), Kev also found time to start a local shanty group.
We were devastated to receive the news of Kev’s untimely death at the end of April from an undiagnosed genetic heart condition. We have truly lost a great and valuable friend, who is already sadly missed by all of us who knew him, and our thoughts and sincere sympathies are with Pat.
