Steve Savage Publishers

NEWS AND COMMENT 2006

DEC 06	Sunday Herald	The First Wash of Spring
		The First Wash of Spring, by George Mackay Brown, was reviewed in the Sunday Herald. 'The power of Mackay Brown lies in a cumulative effect, where the total of his work is greater than individual segments and is not diminished in impact because of this ... these miniature essays, varying in quality and subject matter, generally shimmer with a vitality and energy, start in apparent simplicity, but end with musings that are rarely simplistic'

DEC 06	The Scots Magazine	Weir's World
		Tom Weir's book, Weir's World, was briefly reviewed in The Scots Magazine.

13 OCT 06	Press and Journal	The Weem Witch
		Leonard Low's book The Weem Witch was featured in the Aberdeen Press and Journal on Friday 13th.

OCT 06	The Scots Magazine	The Weem Witch
		Leonard Low's new book, The Weem Witch, was reviewed in The Scots Magazine.

23 SEP 06	Greenock Telegraph	The Weem Witch
		Leonard Low's book The Weem Witch was reviewed in the Greenock Telegraph.

SEP 06	The Scots Magazine	Gaelic Verbs
		The second revised edition of Colin Mark's book, Gaelic Verbs - Systemised and Simplified, was briefly reviewed in The Scots Magazine.

17 AUG 06	Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh	Island of the Dragon's Blood
		Soqotra: A Cinematic Introduction. Douglas Botting, author of Island of the Dragon's Blood, introduced a film about the Socotra expedition of the 1950s that is described in the book.

27 JUL 06	East Fife Mail	The Weem Witch
		Leonard Low's new book, The Weem Witch, has stimulated discussion of a memorial plaque for the victims of the witch hunts, as reported in the East Fife Mail today.

19 JUL 06	Glenrothes Gazette	The Weem Witch
		There was a feature on Leonard Low's new book, The Weem Witch, in the Glenrothes Gazette.

JUN 06	Cothrom	Gaelic Verbs
		The new revised edition of Colin Mark's book, Gaelic Verbs - Systemised and Simplified, was reviewed in Cothrom 'Colin Mark can only be thanked for his hard work in bringing this book out again, and adding to it ... for those who have been involved with Gaelic for some time, and who want to be sure that their speech and grammar are as accurate as possible (and doesn't that include fluent speakers who work professionally?) it has some extremely useful information'.

13 MAY 06	The Scotsman	Gaelic Verbs
		Colin Mark's Gaelic Verbs - Systemised and Simplified was reviewed on the Gaelic page in The Scotsman by Raghnall MacilleDuibh. 'Bu chòir do gach neach-ionnsachaidh a cheannach agus a sgrùdadh, oir chan eil dad nas cudromaiche na gnìomhairean, 's chan eil cùil dorcha den chuspair nach eil Cailein a' toirt an t-solais thuice. Sgrùd na h-eisimpleirean, leugh na chanas e mun ghràmar, agus till chun nan eisimpleirean.'

12 MAY 06	Groucho Club London W1	Crazy Love
		Victoria Mosley, author of Crazy Love, hosted 'Love Is in the Air' Jazz and poetry night. -- Oh yeah baby... For one night only, live in concert, the Groucho Club is proud, nay honoured to present: THE TECHNO PAGAN OCTOPUS MESSIAH. In association with the very wonderful, the very talented, Victoria Mosley, we offer an evening of the finest in Jazz and Poetry. These are fun, noisy and irreverent evenings that challenge the preconceptions of a 'gentile' poetry reading. Featuring Jazz trio Jazz Arc with Henrik Jensen on Bass, Alan Short on Flute/Sax and Julian Saul on Drums. The Poetry Groove, the first lady of poetry Fran Landesman with Miles Landesman, Inua and Abraham Gibson, singers Karen Lane and Kathleen Haskard and of course the inimitable Victoria Mosley reading from her new collection.

MAY 06	The Scots Magazine	Lorimer and the Edinburgh Craft Designers
		The paperback edition of Peter Savage's book, Lorimer and the Edinburgh Craft Designers, was briefly reviewed in The Scots Magazine.

28 APR 06	Dumfries and Galloway Standard	The Weem Witch
		Leonard Low's new book, The Weem Witch, was reviewed in the Dumfries and Galloway Standard. 'Leonard Low's relentless and brutal account leaves nothing to the imagination. With a self-confessed love of horror, Low has taken historical manuscripts, listened to the local lore, unearthed the woeful truth and added a large dose of his own inventiveness to come up with a spell-binding story of ignorance, fear and a world gone mad.'

APR 06	Radio Tay	The Weem Witch
		Leonard Low was interviewed on Radio Tay about The Weem Witch.

APR 06	Chicago Literary Club	Letters from Hamnavoe
		Letters from Hamnavoe by George Mackay Brown was praised in 'Grapes', by Daniel Hayman, a paper presented to the Chicago Literary Club. 'Christopher Rush has given us a very moving portrait of a rather remarkable individual, George Mackay Brown. Rush called Brown a craftsman and bard who could spin a web of words with exquisite delicacy, not as a spider and spin-doctor do, to entrap and deceive, but as the minstrel does, to enchant and beguile. I would completely concur with Rush's assessment of Brown's work. His Letters from Hamnavoe give us a marvelous view of Scottish life in the 1970's. He captures with his poetic prose all of the joys and challenges of the myriad details of people's lives. For example, his opening letter is a touching commentary on the mail, the month's postal strike, and his final summation of the problem. "We Orcadians feel very isolated these days as one of the most precious things in life, the communications between friends, has dried up." '

25 MAR 06	Dundee Courier	The Weem Witch
		Leonard Low's book, The Weem Witch, was featured in the Dundee Courier. 'Aims to drag these shameful stories out of the darkest corners of the Neuk's hidden past ... a terrible reminder of a world gone mad'

2 MAR 06	RCAHMS	Lorimer and the Edinburgh Craft Designers
		The paperback edition of Peter Savage's book, Lorimer and the Edinburgh Craft Designers, was celebrated at the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland in Edinburgh with a reception and an exhibition of documents and photographs relating to Sir Robert Lorimer.

MAR 06	The Scots Magazine	A Funny Way of Being Serious
		The Scots Magazine reviewed James A. Simpson's recent book, A Funny Way of Being Serious. 'Another rib-tickling collection of stories and anecdotes which will amuse and lift readers' spirits'

22 FEB 06	East Fife Mail	The Weem Witch
		Leonard Low's book, The Weem Witch, was reviewed in the East Fife Mail. 'The most complete account yet of the suffering inflicted upon the unfortunate victims of the anti-witch hysteria which gripped local communities in the 17th and 18th centuries ... the story of Janet Cornfoot forms the centrepiece of this remarkable investigation ... Through first-hand accounts recorded at the time, Leonard Low has pieced together a detailed picture of Janet's last hours at Pittenweem Harbour, and it doesn't make for comfortable reading. But it's this remarkable attention to detail which makes "The Weem Witch" such a compelling read. Leonard carefully describes the political, religious and economic factors which fuelled the witchhunts ... Leonard, who hails from Upper Largo, said he was driven to write the book by a desire to commemorate these forgotten scapegoats. And the remarkable stories he has uncovered are fascinating, enriched as they are by a dense assortment of facts and personal accounts which are as gripping as they are enlightening ... the political turmoil brought about by the Act of Union meant these scandals were forgotten. Until now!'

10 FEB 06	Greyfriars Bobby	Greyfriars Bobby
		A new film of Greyfriars Bobby was released. Forbes Macgregor told the real story in his book, Greyfriars Bobby: The Real Story at Last.

JAN 06	Gazette	A Funny Way of Being Serious
		The Boys Brigade official quarterly magazine, Gazette, featured James A. Simpson's latest successful book A Funny Way of Being Serious.