A Moray man has written a book detailing the life and times of his father – a well-known Buckie business figure who died last year.
John Duncan rose to prominence across the north-east through his dealings in the construction trade, but always kept his hometown very close to his heart.
He died last September, at the age of 73, after suffering from diabetes.
His son, Mark Duncan, felt compelled to document his life and times – and has spent much of the past year toiling over the 326-page volume.
And now, the finished work, It’s Tough at the Top, goes on sale today.
Mr Duncan jun, who runs the Planwell roofing supplies firm with his brother Murray, said his father was renowned in Inverness as well as across the north-east.
He added: “I wanted to do something as a tribute to him, and the book seemed like the right thing to do.
“At his funeral, a lot of people suggested the idea, they said he had the sort of life that could make a good story.
“My dad left school at 13, and was a self-made man.”
He entered the workplace after World War II, when his father returned from the conflict with part of a leg missing and could no longer provide for the family.
In the early 1960s, he played a crucial role in bringing television to countless homes in and around Buckie, as a TV engineer.
He subsequently embarked on a new venture erecting steel pylons for electricity cables, but in 1969, he was almost killed when a forklift truck with a faulty gearbox crushed him against a cable drum.
He remained in hospital at Golspie for more than a week, during which time it was “touch and go” as to whether he would survive.
The family later discovered the bed he had been given had most recently been used by music legend John Lennon – who stayed there after crashing his car nearby.
In 1972, he launched his own construction firm and steel fabrication business, and began building houses.
The book intertwines passages about his career with nostalgic snapshots that document his young family growing up.
The entrepreneur, his wife Georgie and children Mark, Murray and Morag, came runners up in a “happy families” competition at the Butlins holiday park in the early 1970s.
Despite not being a football fan, he funded an enclosure at Highland League side Buckie Thistle FC’s Victoria Park to keep supporters sheltered. And he led an improvement project which enhanced the town’s Christmas lights.
Mark Duncan has previously written a book about Buckie Thistle, but declared that penning a personal biography had proved an altogether tougher task.
He sifted through thousands of family photos, and ended up including 400 in the finished work.
He added: “I started on the book about Christmas and it was quite an effort putting it all together.
“It’s not just my dad’s story, but it’s our story as a family.
“There will be people all over the UK reading about him, and I’ve sent a few copies abroad too.”
The book is available from the Slater’s sports store in Buckie, and copies can be requested by calling Planwell roofing on 01542 832170.
