Lorn Macintyre was born under the benign shadow of Ben Cruachan, Argyll, where the family maintain a home. Childhood was a delight in the idyll at Dunstaffnage House, Connel. Teenage and later years were spent in Tobermory, Mull, where his father, dedicated Gael and poet, was a revered bank manager. Lorn has a doctorate on Sir Walter Scott and the Highlands from Glasgow University, investigating how ‘The Wizard of the North’ supplanted Gaelic culture with his own romantic version, commercially conceived. Lorn has published poetry, short stories, novels, and biographies, mostly inspired by his Highland heritage and what William Faulkner called ‘spoken history.’ He worked as a senior researcher and scriptwriter in cultural and historical documentaries in Gaelic and English for BBC Scotland television. He lives at St Andrews with his wife Mary and is pictured here on the West Sands with their dear friend Breeze.