Erskine Writers

 As anticipated it was quite a busy meeting this afternoon. First of all we were heartened to hear that Donnie was now home from hospital and recovering albeit slowly and hope that Sandra is equally showing signs of improvement. Apologies were received from Sandra, Donnie, Hilary and Joyce and we were thrilled to welcome another new member - Ailsa Gillies - and hope that she enjoyed her initial visit to Erskine Writers. Morag chaired the meeting which had, as its subject, “A man’s a man for a’ that” - articles on people who deserved a far better recognition than they have originally received. Irene began proceedings with a portrait of a beloved aunt who had given her her love of reading and this was followed by Sandra R’s offering on her first fitness instructor - an inspiring lady who became a close family friend. Brian gave us “The king” - a biography of Denis Law - no surprise there - but it was well received while Jackie’ piece on the late US President Jimmy Carter was very enlightening and thought provoking. Rob wrote about the Scottish polar explorer and mountaineer Jock Wordie, Marilyn about her personal hero, the celebrated hostage John  McCarthy whom she had met on a couple of occasions and Morag’s article was about “Helen” a Liverpool nurse whose entire life was devoted to doing good for others. Joan gave us a very tender and loving portrait of her husband Miller.  Finally John’s inspired and piece on the haggis, its lifecycle, its contribution to Scottish life and folklore and a general history of this mythical beast left us all laughing. Joan then read out her poem “The Truth” and this was followed by Morag’s poem “Not Yet” and her book review on “The Light Between the Oceans”. The meeting ended with Ailsa giving us two readings from her book “Conversations with Nature”  due to be published on February 25th - a poem entitled “A lonely little girl” and a prose piece relating an encounter with the moon whilst on a flight “Eye to Luminous Eye”. A quick reminder that all entries in the writing for children competition are to be with Morag by next Tuesday in PDF format and that nest week we have the results and adjudications of our crime writing competition.