Roger Hutchinson (born 1949) is a British author and journalist. Hutchinson was born at Farnworth, near

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

, in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, but lives on Raasay, off the east coast of

Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some o ...

Education

Hutchinson attended Bretton Hall College in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

to study English.

Career

In the late 1960s, around the time he studied English at Bretton Hall College, he founded and edited 'Sad Traffic', published from a small office in

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

, which ran for five issues before morphing into

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

's alternative newspaper, Styng (Sad Traffic Yorkshire News & Gossip). He then moved to London and edited '' OZ'', ''

International Times ''International Times'' (''it'' or ''IT'') is the name of various Underground press, underground newspapers, with the original title founded in London in 1966 and running until October 1973. Editors included John Hopkins (p ...

'' and the magazine '' Time Out''. In the late 1970s Hutchinson moved to Skye to become a journalist on the '' West Highland Free Press''. Since 1999 he has lived on Raasay. He has also served as editor of the '' Stornoway Gazette''.

Books

As of 2017, Hutchinson has written 15 non-fiction books. ''Polly, The True Story Behind Whisky Galore'' (1990) was about the SS ''Politician'', the ship which was wrecked on the Outer Hebrides with a cargo of whisky which inspired the book and film '' Whisky Galore''. Hutchinson wrote ''The Real Story of England's 1966 World Cup Triumph ...it is now!'' in 1995. This book follows the career of Sir Alf Ramsey from his early days in

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Fo ...

through to the 1966 victory. His book ''The Soap Man: Lewis, Harris and Lord Leverhulme'' (2003), was shortlisted for the Saltire Scottish Book of the Year Award. ''Calum's Road'' (2006), about Raasay crofter Calum MacLeod who hand-built a road to his croft, was shortlisted for the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

's Ondaatje Prize. In 2012 Hutchinson published ''The Silent Weaver'', the story of the Uist-raised crofter Angus MacPhee who suffered a schizophrenic breakdown during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and subsequently spent 50 years in Craig Dunain Hospital near

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

where he developed skill in weaving grass taken from the hospital grounds. As of 2018, Hutchinson's most recent book is ''The Butcher, the Baker, the Candlestick Maker: The story of Britain through its Census, since 1801'' (2017).

References

External links

Profile
at Scottish Book Trust 1949 births Living people English writers English male journalists People from the Isle of Skye Alumni of Bretton Hall College {{UK-writer-stub