Inner Hebrides
The poet Sorley MacLean was born on Raasay, the setting for his best known poem, "Hallaig". George Orwell wrote much of the novel "1984" whilst living at Barnhill on Jura and J.M. Barrie wrote a screenplay for the 1924 film adaptation of "Peter Pan" whilst on Eilean Shona. Cressida Cowell, the author of "How to Train Your Dragon", spent childhood summers in the Inner Hebrides and has stated that they are "one of the most beautiful places on Earth" and "the kind of place where you expect to see dragons overhead".
Ron McLean
He was born in Townsville to Kenneth Murdock McLean and Edna May, "née" Blee. He attended Bulimba State School and then Brisbane Technical College, where he took an apprenticeship as a carpenter. From 1964 to 1975 he was a waterside worker, becoming active in labour politics as a delegate to the Queensland Trades and Labour Council and chairman of the Maritime Unions Group. He was also a federal councillor for the Australian Waterside Workers Federation and president of the Brisbane Waterside Workers Association in 1980.