GOING by the books he has written over 45 years, you would expect to see William McIlvanney in particular places and situations. Football grounds and dog tracks. High flats and low company. Certain pubs in which anecdote and incident come as chasers with each drawn pint. So persistently has he hymned the nobility, authenticity, laughter… Read more »
Boris Johnson
First published September, 2004 in The Sunday Herald
WHAT better occasion than a buck’s fizz breakfast for making up one’s mind about Boris Johnson? Genius or idiot, or both? Could he really be some kind of authentic political savant, or is the posh bumbler of the popular imagination entirely a self-creation? Some have called him a pretender to the Tory throne, and perhaps that word, pretender, is more… Read more »
Philip Pullman
First published July, 2002 in The Herald
PHILIP Pullman has agreed to meet on the condition that I don’t ask him questions he’s been asked a million times before. That’s fine by me; Oxford is seven hours from Glasgow by train, a long way to go to replicate someone else’s interview, but it’s a revealing caveat all the same. Pullman, who has… Read more »
Les McKeown
First published September, 2003 in The Sunday Herald
THERE’S something undeniably exciting, even after all these years, about meeting a Bay City Roller. And not just any old Bay City Roller, but Les McKeown – Les! – the “rebel Roller” as well known for bad behaviour and sexploits as for fronting the most successful Scottish band of all time. With his planet-sized libido and taste for scatological pranks,… Read more »
“Bon Scott? Ah kent his faither”
First published May, 2009 in Scotland On Sunday
“LOOK at this,” says Hynsey, turning to show the AC/DC logo inked into his right bicep. “My first tattoo, it was done on Wednesday. See the pain of getting that done? It was no problem. You know why? Because Bon Scott was there with me.” Hynsey’s pal Joe nods at the wisdom of this. “Bon Scott… Read more »