In a small town in Imperial, Pennsylvania. Graduated from High School. Attended Penn State University and was interrupted by the Second World War. Served 2 1⁄2 years in the 3rd Army. Went back to school at the University of Georgia in Industrial Engineering and finished at the University of Colorado. Went to work for the Martin Company and spent time at Lambert Field in St. Louis, Missouri, on the F101 and F101A then moved to Denver. Traveled as chief industrial engineer on missile silos throughout the US. After 21 years in aircraft and missiles, I retired and wrote several books, ''The Young Scots" and the "Shooting Star." One is bibliographical and the other is a Russian spy story about a famous woman who is known little of today but then saved our bacon.

The Times top ten bestseller Granta Best of Young British Novelists Scots Book o the Year Winner of the Somerset Maugham Award & Betty Trask Award ‘Trainspotting for a new generation’ – Independent ‘An instant Scottish classic’ – The Skinny 2005. Glasgow is named Europe’s Murder Capital, driven by a violent territorial gang and knife culture. In the housing schemes of adjacent Lanarkshire, Scotland’s former industrial heartland, wee boys become postcode warriors. 2004. Azzy Williams joins the Young Team [YTP]. A brutal gang conflict with their deadly rivals, the Young Toi [YTB] begins. 2012. Azzy dreams of another life. He faces his toughest fight of all – the fight for a different future. Expect Buckfast. Expect bravado. Expect street philosophy. Expect rave culture. Expect anxiety. Expect addiction. Expect a serious facial injury every six hours. Expect murder. Hope for a way out. Inspired by the experiences of its author, Graeme Armstrong, The Young Team is an energetic novel, full of the loyalty, laughs, mischief, boredom, violence and threat of life on these streets. It looks beyond the tabloid stereotypes to tell a powerful story about the realities of life for young people in Britain today. ‘A swaggering, incendiary debut’ – Guardian ‘Dialect that fizzes off the page’ – Observer ‘One of the most admired young voices in British fiction’ – The Times

Quick-witted, sharp-tongued Connor Lambert won't take it any longer: the bullying, the secrets, the sympathy. He's been dying from cancer for years, but he’s not dead yet. He's going down fighting. Forming an unlikely friendship with fellow juvenile delinquent Skeates, the pair stage a break out and set off on a crazy tour across Scotland -- dodging the police, joy riding and extreme partying -- to find Connor's dad, an inmate at Shotts prison. But Connor's left two things behind -- the medication he needs to keep him alive, and the girl who makes living bearable. A fresh and bold debut novel full of heart, guts and raw emotion. Farewell Tour of a Terminal Optimist is a brilliantly funny, thrilling exploration of friendship, identity and mortality populated with witty, sharply drawn characters.

This collection of essays explores the role played by imaginative writing in the Scottish Enlightenment and its interaction with the values and activities of that movement. Across a broad range of areas via specially commissioned essays by experts in each field, the volume examines the reciprocal traffic between the groundbreaking intellectual project of eighteenth-century Scotland and the imaginative literature of the period, demonstrating that the innovations made by the Scottish literati laid the foundations for developments in imaginative writing in Scotland and further afield. In doing so, it provide a context for the widespread revaluation of the literary culture of the Scottish Enlightenment and the part that culture played in the project of Enlightenment.

The early twentieth century witnessed the emergence of Scottish and Quebec nationalisms that were closely intertwined with liberal philosophies. The Young Scots' Society and the Ligue nationaliste canadienne carried these liberal nationalist ideas. This book offers a comparative and historical examination of their ideas and politics, exploring the Young Scots as a movement, as well as the ideas of key Nationalistes. James Kennedy argues that the growth of the Young Scots' Society and the Ligue nationaliste canadienne was largely in response to changes within empire, state, and civil society. He suggests that the actions of the British Empire and the Canadian state not only prompted nationalist responses in Scotland and Quebec respectively, but also shaped their liberal character. His comparative analysis provides insights that would not arise from a single case study of either movement, while detailing the important roles that geopolitics, consociation and federation, and organized religion played in the creation of nationalist philosophies. The first-ever comparative history of nationalism in Scotland and Quebec, Liberal Nationalisms is an insightful study of nascent political nationalisms and a major contribution to the scholarship of nationalist movements in the early twentieth century.

A major survey of Scotland's dominant ideology over the past three centuries by one of its leading historians.

Unleashing the Passion of Young People in Your Church Is Possible! Churches are losing both members and vitality as increasing numbers of young people disengage. Based on groundbreaking research with over 250 of the nation's leading congregations, Growing Young provides a strategy any church can use to involve and retain teenagers and young adults. It profiles innovative churches that are engaging 15- to 29-year-olds and as a result are growing--spiritually, emotionally, missionally, and numerically. Packed with both research and practical ideas, Growing Young shows pastors and ministry leaders how to position their churches to engage younger generations in a way that breathes vitality, life, and energy into the whole church. Visit www.churchesgrowingyoung.org for more information.