Extraordinary Lives Collection

My mother, ninety-three,
blames me and my kind
for mollycoddling the feckless.

Alistair Findlay has written the first ever memoir of a career in Scottish social work. He reflects on the changing landscape of the profession since he entered it in 1970 in a memoir that is thoughtful, progressive, humane – and funny. He conveys how he and his fellow workers shared friendship and banter in work that can be hard and thankless but also hugely rewarding and worthwhile.

Everyone knows what a teacher or a doctor does because everyone has met one. Very few people meet social workers. Your chances of meeting a social worker increase the poorer you are; the more jobless; the more deprived the area you reside in… Frontline social workers can flit in the blink of an eye from the ordered calm of a courtroom to absurdist Beckett-like dialogues with psychotic individuals to struggles with distraught mothers – one wielding a claw-hammer on a tenement landing, as happened to me.

Reviews:

Alistair Findlay’s inability to be mealy-mouthed is both admirable and shocking. JEN HADFIELD 

Findlay gives the feel of social work. He conveys it sweat, its smell, its reality… BOB HOLDEN 

About the Author:

ALISTAIR FINDLAY has had a diverse career, from clay miner to social worker. He has published four previous collections of poetry, including Sex, Death and Football (2003), The Love Songs of John Knox (2006), Dancing with Big Eunice (2010) and Never Mind the Captions (2011).

Read Alistair’s profile by Angus Reid in the Morning Star.

About Gaelic Guerrilla:

Many individuals have contributed to this linguistic and cultural renaissance. One man, however, stands out. Without his heroic efforts, a whole range of key Gaelic development initiatives could never have achieved the success they have… his courage, intelligence, humanity, political nous, people skills, wit and steely resolve were such that, what lesser beings regarded as impossible, he made possible.

This is the astonishing story of John Angus Mackay, an islander from a humble background who achieved what others regarded as impossible. Through his tireless efforts, the Scottish Gaelic language and culture has turned a corner, and the number of young Gaelic speakers is increasing. Perhaps his most evident achievement came after a long, dogged and forensically focused campaign for the Gaelic television service against huge establishment resistance. At times, the channel now attracts viewership figures well in excess of the total number of Gaelic speakers in Scotland.

But that is only part of John Angus’ story: his courage to overcome disability, his contributions as a gifted teacher and his pivotal role in advancing community co-operatives in his native Lewis are all part of what he has achieved.

About the Author:

ROY PEDERSEN was born in Ayrshire and brought up in Aberdeen where he graduated from the University of Aberdeen with an ma in Geography and Economic History. After a brief spell in London, where he created and published the first and bestselling Gaelic map of Scotland, he has spent most of his working life based in Inver-ness. There he pursued a successful career in the economic, social and cultural development with the Highlands and Islands Development Board and its successor, Highlands and Islands Enterprise. In the course of this career, he was the original architect of the ferry charging system, Road Equivalent Tariff (ret). He was also intimately involved with the community co- operative scheme and revival of Gaelic includ-ing acting as Development Director of Comunn na Gàidhlig. More recently he has been proprietor of a consultancy business covering the diverse fields of transport and cultural development and has served as a Highland councillor. He writes, publishes, speaks and broadcasts on a variety of issues connected with world affairs and with the history, present and future development of the ‘New Scotland’ and its wider international setting.
He is Chair of Ainmean- Àite na h- Alba (Gaelic Place Names of Scot-land) and he specialises, among other things, in maritime issues, serv-ing on the Scottish Government’s Ferry Industry Advisory Group.

JOHN ANGUS MACKAY was born in Shader, Barvas on the west side of the Isle of Lewis in 1948. He was educated ‘painfully’ at Airidhantuim Primary School and the Nicolson Institute in Stornoway. He gradu-ated with an MA degree from Aberdeen University and then gained his teaching qualification at Jordanhill College of Education in Glasgow. He also subsequently gained a Masters in Media Management at Stir-ling University. His varied professional career evolved from Sales Rep for DC Thomson, secondary teacher in Glasgow where he rose to assis-tant principal teacher of English, after which he returned to his native Lewis as community co-operative field officer with the Highlands and Islands Development Board and subsequently Senior Administrative Offices responsible for that organisations Western Isles activities. He was then appointed founding CEO of Comunn na Gàidhlig, CEO of Gaelic Television Service, serving also as Chair of Acair Publishing, the Gaelic college Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, An Lanntair multi-media arts venue and Western Isles Heath Board. If that was not enough, he was until recently an active crofter and now spends part of each year in his beloved Italy.

About I Ran With The Gang:

The Bay City Rollers were one of the brightest things to happen in the tumultuous 1970s, illuminating a dark decade marred by falling stock markets, a plummeting economy and industrial unrest. Alan Longmuir, an apprentice plumber from Edinburgh, was inspired by The Beatles to form a band. After enlisting his brother and throwing a dart at a map, they became the Bay City Rollers.

In I Ran with the Gang, Alan recounts his incredible journey from the Dalry backstreets to the Hollywood hills and back again. Along the way, he punctures some of the myths and untruths that have swirled around the group, and unflinchingly tells of the acrimony and exploitation that led to the disintegration of the band. Most of all, though, Alan captures the great adventure of five young boys from Edinburgh who for a few heady years threatened to turn the whole world tartan.

Reviews:

Almost impossible to put down, this is a highly refreshing music business memoir, devoid of dirt-dishing, upbeat in the face of negativity, and inspiring in its positivity. PETER MASON, Morning Star

A riveting inside track on life in the Rollers. BRIAN FERGUSON, The Scotsman

It’s a fascinating read for anyone who’s ever sung along to Shangalang and wondered just who this group of young men were, from boom to bust. KENNY SMITH, Scottish Field

How can I resist a combo of Martin Knight and the iconic Bay City Rollers? IRVINE WELSH

It’s really good writing, it’s a really good story. It is very much Alan’s story… you can hear Alan on every page. It’s exceptionally well-written and entertaining; there’s bits that are really funny, there’s bits that are really poignant in it. KARIN INGRAM

About the Author:

ALAN LONGMUIR was born in Edinburgh in 1948. In his teens, he formed the band that became the Bay City Rollers. The Rollers became one of the most commercially successful musical acts of the 1970s, selling more than 120 million records and igniting Rollermania - a phenomenon that spread across the globe. Alan died in 2018 while completing his autobiography, I Ran With The Gang: My Life In and Out of the Bay City Rollers.

MARTIN KNIGHT was born in 1957. He has written autobiographies with footballers George Best, Dave Mackay, Charlie Cooke and Peter Osgood. His book Gypsy Joe, about a Romany gypsy and fighter who became a professional golfer, was named as The Observer Sports Book of the Year. Martin has also authored novels and true crime titles.