Read it!

This is Gordon Wright, publisher, editor, writer, photographer, nationalist - one of the real cultural movers and shakers of Scotland in the last few decades of the 20th century.

He has just published as an iBook the first volume of his memoirs called "A great idea at the time" which I reviewed at the end of last year for the "Scots Independent". It is very much worth reading, particularly the latter sections which give a real insight into literary Edinburgh if the 60s and 70s - a time of amazing richness particularly in poetry.

Gordon and I had coffee this morning and he showed me some of his photographs for the second volume including several amazing ones of Hugh MacDairmid at Brownsbank. One sticks particularly in the mind - the cemetery at Crowdieknowe with MacDiarmid standing by the wall , placing him in one of his most famous poems.

Gordon also worked for my grandfather's printing company in Edinburgh at one time and there are an amazing range of links between us in the printing and publishing world as well as in the Scottish cultural one so it was , as ever, a pleasure to spend time with him today.

And he took my photograph before I took his......