It is the combination of John’s love of the outdoors with his passion for writing that make him a uniquely powerful storyteller. In his writing, John tells tales of his travels in the mountains, his love of nature and the excitement his finds in visiting wild places.
John continues in his fascination for exploring the Highlands and now has added a new dimension to his journey as he travels the Highlands in his Scandinavian style hot tent. His most recent book, The Hot Tent Diaries, brings his readers the joy of camping all year round in Scotland. The book is a celebration of this unique camping style and also a practical guide to those want to share the experience.
He is currently working on the much anticipated sequel to his best selling collection of short stories Bothy Tales. In Bothy Tales II John takes us back to the Scottish Highlands with more stories of high mountains, remote bothies and the people who travel these wild places.
John’s first book has become a classic of British mountain literature. In The Last Hillwalker John brings together over forty year’s experience in the mountains of the British Isles to stories from our hills with humour and compassion.
Originally from Merseyside, John moved to the capital of the Highlands, Inverness, over thirty years ago, to follow his passion for the hills. For over 40 years he has walked and climbed the hills of Scotland whilst also making occasional trips to more exotic location like the Alps, the Pyrenes and the Canadian Rockies.
An expert ice climber, he was also a member of the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team, and has taken part in numerous rescues in the Highlands. More recently he has rediscovered his love for remote bothies (isolated mountain shelters) and regularly visits the wilder places of his Scottish home.
John began writing almost 15 years ago, and at first found an outlet for his creativity as a performance poet. In 2002 he produced as collection of poetry, Wind Dancer, aimed at raising awareness of autism, a condition that affects one of John’s two children.
Contact John: