Lewis Grassic Gibbon

Lewis Grassic Gibbon (Scots pronunciation: [ˈluːis ˈɡræsɪk ˈɡibɪn]) was the pseudonym of James Leslie Mitchell (13 February 1901 – 7 February 1935), a Scottish writer. He was best known for A Scots Quair, a trilogy set in the north-east of Scotland in the early 20th century, of which all three parts have been serialised on BBC television. Mitchell was born into a farming family in Auchterless and raised from the age of seven in Arbuthnott, in the former county of Kincardineshire. He was educated first at the parish school and then at Mackie Academy in Stonehaven. Mitchell started working as a journalist for the Aberdeen Journal in 1917 and later for the Farmers Weekly after moving to Glasgow. During that time he was active with the British Socialist Party.In 1919, Mitchell joined the Royal Army Service Corps and served in Iran, India and Egypt before enlisting in the Royal Air Force in 1923. In the RAF he worked as a clerk and spent some time in the Middle East.

When he married Rebecca Middleton (known as Ray) in 1925, they settled in Welwyn Garden City. He began writing full time in 1929, producing numerous books and shorter works under his real name and his pseudonym. He suffered an early death in 1935 from peritonitis, brought on by a perforated ulcer.