The Beatles' paperback writer enjoys ‘fab’ visit to Johnstone
He is the only authorised biographer of The Beatles and spent the night partying with Paul McCartney just last week.
But days later, it was a bizarre change of pace for Hunter Davies, who returned to his hometown of Johnstone for the first time in almost 80 years.
The 79-year-old writer, who later grew up in Carlisle, was born at Thornhill Maternity Hospital in Johnstone on January 7, 1936 and also lived in Renfrew. He is the author of more than 60 books, including novels, travel writing and The Glory Game which is based on a season he spent behind the scenes at Tottenham Hotspur. Unbeknown to many of his fans, Hunter comes from a working class Johnstone background and has lived an extraordinary life mixing with some of the world’s most famous celebrities. And on Monday he caught up with The Gazette to share some of his most noteworthy tales, set to be revealed in his memoirs.
“I’m thrilled to be back in Johnstone,” Hunter beamed. “I don’t really have any memories of here because I was just a baby but I wanted to see what the town is like today. “My next book is about my memories of growing up in the 50s, from birth to the 50s, but my first chapter will be about the experience of me going back to Johnstone today.”
Arriving at Johnstone Railway Station in a pair of sandals and a backpack slung over his shoulder, a bronzed Hunter certainly stood out from the crowd. He travelled all the way from Lakeland, Australia, to meet our reporter, and upon his arrival he took time chat to a local resident, Alastair Wilson, who recognised the prolific author right away. “I wanted to see the site of Thornhill hospital, where I was born, and also Renfrew Old Parish Church which is for sale for £88K — so I brought my cheque book,” he joked.
“I’m here to learn more about Johnstone as I’m writing a memoir about my life and it will begin from when I was born here to growing up in the 60s. “My father was a clerk in the RAF but apparently Abbotsinch, that was a little airport before it became Glasgow Airport, was where he worked. “In 1939 we moved to Carlisle, then to Dumfries, but both of my parents brought me up in Scotland.” Arriving at the former site of where he was born, Hunter quipped: “I can feel the trembles now of where my mother’s waters broke.” “I came out talking, and reading and writing — and I had a typewriter when I was born as well.”
Source: The Gazette
