The Eighth Booked! Festival had a wonderful start at the Millennium Hall, Gartocharn. Sally Magnusson, author, journalist and TV presenter, delivered the third Alastair Pearson Lecture to a packed hall on the subject of Eric Liddell. The Millennium Hall is a superb venue, with a glorious vista of Loch Lomond and the Ben, and this provided a stunning backdrop, especially as the sun set, to Sally’s lecture. The Alastair Pearson lecture commemorates and celebrates the life and achievements of the UK’s most decorated soldier who was also for ten years the Lord Lieutenant of Dunbartonshire and who lived much of his life in Gartocharn.

Sally Magnusson’s lecture provided a fascinating overview of the life of a man that many consider to be Scotland’s greatest ever athlete. Deploying her considerable broadcasting skills, Sally fluently delivered a lecture that was informative, humorous, thought provoking and moving, distilling the qualities that made Eric Liddell such an extraordinary person. Liddell famously refused to run on a Sunday because it was in violation of his religious beliefs, but he went on to win gold in a different race altogether. She sought to explain why a man, whose athletic achievements were magnificent, but not unique, is still remembered today, the key being in how he lived his life. After Olympic glory he shunned the limelight and departed for the mission fields of China. Her research into Eric Liddell’s life revealed a man about whom, without a word of exaggeration, nobody had a bad word to say. Sally believes that Eric represents the best of religious faith, and that his example is a counter-argument to the message from the exponents of militant atheism, such as Richard Dawkins, who see religion’s influence as only ever being malign or weak-minded. Whatever one’s religious views it was impossible not to be moved and impressed by Sally’s description of this extraordinary man.

Sally fielded questions from the floor and gracefully and humorously conceded that one of the questioners seemed to be even more of an expert on Liddell than herself. It then fell to Ian Stuart to deliver a vote of thanks and to speak briefly about the achievements of his late father-in-law, Alastair Pearson. Ian, who is a great admirer of Liddell, could see parallels between these two great Scottish heroes. Both possessed integrity and physical, as well as, moral courage. Both lived “life on the edge”. Ian warmly thanked Sally for her talk and she received a lengthy and very enthusiastic round of applause. Sally then signed books and chatted with members of the audience, with everyone commenting on her very warm and engaging personality, and her immaculate appearance. We were all impressed at how punctual she was considering that she had been reading the news prior to appearing at the Millennium Hall, which is not an inconsiderable distance from the BBC studios. A real star in every sense of the word!