'Life is there for the taking. We can choose to take it, or leave it to float by as it will. If we have the confidence, we can reach out and grab it.'
The Importance of Being is an earnest portrayal of universal themes. John Cairney utilises his extraordinary life experiences to explore the four stages that each human lives through during their life: Birth, infancy, maturity and, finally, old age and death. It touches on themes such as love, courage, finding your own path, and, most importantly, on the importance of living in the moment and appreciating the life that you have.
Dr John Cairney lives in Auckland with his wife Alannah O'Sullivan, and together they form the Pennyfarthing Partnership. John returns to Scotland on a regular basis. He made his stage debut at the tender age of 17 and has been acting ever since. He has adapted Burns for theatrical productions for decades, and performed for radio, television, in film, on stage, in musicals, as well as producing video and audio recordings of the Bard. He has toured his one-man show and was awarded a PhD for his work on Stevenson. Previous titles include On The Trail of Robert Burns, Immortal Memories and The Luath Burns Companion.
Binding | EAN | ISBN-10 | Pub Date | PAGES | Language | Size | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Paperback | 9781910021088 | 1910021083 | 2016-06-17 | 192 | English | 0.00 x 6.34 x 9.25 in | $19.95 |
Where do I truly belong? This is the question Anne Pia continually asked of herself growing up in the Italian-Scots community of post-World War Two Edinburgh. This candid, vibrant memoir shares her struggle to bridge the gap between a traditional immigrant way of life and attaining her goal of becoming an independent-minded professional woman...
read moreTwo extraordinary women come back to full-bodied life. Flora McIvor has been rescued from the pages of Sir Walter Scott, who sent her to a nunnery. Her close friend, the real life Clementina Walkinshaw, was the love of Bonnie Prince Charlie, and mother of his only child. Both are caught up in a tangle of espionage and treachery following the defeat of the 1745 Jacobite Rising in Scotland.
read moreThere is a myth: that travel and exploration are the privileged pastimes of youth. Adventure has an age restriction, and the extraordinary an expiry date. Vicky Jack’s inspiring tale of courage, perseverance and strong-headedness reveals the falsity behind this myth as she becomes the oldest British woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest...
read moreWas it simply a victory for fear over hope?
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What can the people of Scotland – and other aspirant nations – learn from this seismic democratic event? Scotland’s independence referendum on 18 September 2014 was the most significant ballot in...
Doing my Bit for Ireland is Margaret Skinnider’s autobiography, focusing mostly on the time period shortly before and after the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland. In it, she details her activities and motivations, along with her observations of the quality and nature of Irish life under English rule...
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read moreThe Making of John Lennon focusses on the question of what might have caused the downfall of one of the most confident and brilliant musicians of the past century. Kenny emphasises three main influences which helped shape Lennon's creative process and stayed with him throughout his life...
read moreMary J. Macleod travelled from the South of England to the Hebrides in search of escape from the life of a hectic Norwich health visitor and to find an idyllic setting in which to raise her young family.The Island Nurse returns with a second volume, exploring memories of life on the Hebridean island of 'Papavray'...
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read moreWalter Stephen and a bevy of Modern Geddesians investigate the women who had an influence on, or were influenced by, the Scottish thinker, Patrick Geddes. Ranging from his mother to an Indian nun, his wife to a suffragette, this volume crosses the globe, highlighting the far-reaching influence of Geddes and the range of very different women who were linked to him in one way or another...
read more'Life is there for the taking. We can choose to take it, or leave it to float by as it will. If we have the confidence, we can reach out and grab it.'The Importance of Being is an earnest portrayal of universal themes...
read moreDuncan Williamson came from a large Scottish Traveller family. Born in a tent by Loch Fyne in 1928, with his Grandmother as the midwife, Williamson grew up surrounded by storytellers, ballad singers and musicians. He attended Furnace Public School, although the Travellers were often subject to prejudice in the local area...
read moreDuncan Williamson came from a large Scottish Traveller family. Born in a tent by Loch Fyne in 1928, with his Grandmother as the midwife, Williamson grew up surrounded by storytellers, ballad singers and musicians. He attended Furnace Public School, although the Travellers were often subject to prejudice in the local area. He left home at 13 working at everything from farm work to coaching boxing...
read moreJules Verne is the author of many classic, world-famous novels such as Around the World in 80 Days and Journey to the Centre of the Earth. In this brand-new translation of The Blockade Runners, Verne moves seamlessly between Scotland and the southern states of the US during the American Civil War...
read moreThis work looks at the everyday life of John Barrington, a shepherd to over 750 Blackface ewes who graze near some of Britain's most beautiful hills overlooking Loch Katrine.
read moreAcclaimed hillwalking writers Ian R Mitchell and George Rodway tell the fascinating story of Aberdeen-born Alexander Kellas, and his contribution to mountaineering from the 20th century to the present day. Now a largely neglected figure, Kellas is the pioneer of high altitude physiology, his climbing routes still in evidence today...
read more"I'm not Nebuchadnezzar, and I'm not MacBeth." So who am I? Chicago, Nairobi, Jerusalem, Cambridge, Edinburgh: the geography of Jenni Calder's life is as diverse as the ethnic, intellectual and emotional components. Jenni Calder has spent a lifetime in search of her identity, first as a daughter and sister, then as a writer, wife and mother...
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read moreSir James the Good, one of the finest soldiers Scotland ever produced, is sometimes better known by the name given to him by the English - the 'Black Douglas'. He terrified the northern shires of England throughout the reign of King Robert the Bruce and the Wars of Independence. When Robert the Bruce died Sir James, as his champion, was entrusted with his heart which he carried on the Crusades...
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read moreBeatrix Potter's Scotland gives insight into the life of one of the best-loved writers in Britain. Based around Potter's own journal, the book goes into detail about her upbringing and influences...
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read moreCharles Rennie Mackintosh can be described as the greatest-ever Scottish architect, a water colourist of genius or a capricious interior designer with a flair for unstable furniture. He is all of these things, but he is also an enigma - an almost impenetrable figure in the history of Scottish art and architecture...
read moreJohn Wesley (1703-91) founded the Methodist movement, initially an offshoot of the Church of England, which grew into a major church in its own right. In doing so Wesley brought about the greatest religious revival of the 18th century. The name Methodism derives from the methodical approach Wesley adopted from the Bible for developing personal devotion...
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