My name is Brendan McLaughlin. 71 years of age. I was brought up in Toryglen, a Council Housing scheme on the Southside of Glasgow, Scotland. I attended Holyrood and St. Mungo’s Secondary schools. On leaving, I became a telephone engineer till age 28, when I went to Strathclyde University to study Economics, Politics and Sociology before moving onto Glasgow University to do a Post Grad in Social Administration and Social Work. My involvement in the politics of music and literature has informed most of my adult actions and interests.

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In 1988 it led me to lease the Scotia Bar with the hope of restoring it to the political/art community it was in the 1960s. I promoted it as a political, music and literary venue. Hosting the ‘Scotia Bar Writers Prize’ hoisted it onto the International Media Wire which brought people from all over the World ... America, Canada, Australia and many parts of Europe, but especially Scotland, Ireland and the rest of the UK. Before the first year was out, it had gone from being more or less empty to being one of the busiest pubs in Glasgow.

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In 1993 myself and my wife bought the Merchants Pub across the road from the Scotia. After demolishing the entire interior, we opened the refurbished pub as the Clutha Vaults to complete a campus of creativity in what I christened the Stockwell Village.

After 16 years in the License Trade, I retired from the pub game to write and record my own songs. I undertook a Masters in English with the Creative Writing Department at Glasgow University. To date, I have produced four albums and had a number of short stories and essays published. The First Of May is my first book. I live in Glasgow with my wife Joni, her daughter Katie, and our wee dug Ruby Tuesday.

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This description was written by Brendan shortly after learning that Ringwood would definitely publish his book, but before being admitted to the Hospice where he died on 13th July 2022.