Born Dar-es-Salaam, brought up in Mombasa, educated in England at Glengorse, Bradfield, the University of Keele and Bristol University. Lived and worked in Southern Rhodesia, Rhodesia, Jamaica, Essex and Kilchoan, Scotland.

Novelist, short-story writer - winner of the Bridport Prize and the Royal Society of Literature's VS Pritchett Prize - have published booklets on the history and archaeology of Ardnamurchan.

Blogger - see kilchoan.blogspot.com/ - and amateur photographer.