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".
Andrew Dyas MacLean
Andrew MacLean was born in Toronto, the only child of Hugh Cameron MacLean and Elizabeth ('Bessie') Emma Matilda (née Dyas) MacLean. His mother died when he was six months old and he was raised by his maternal grandmother, Emma Ball Dyas. His grandfather, Thomas W. Dyas, was the advertising and circulations manager of "The Toronto Mail" and of the "Toronto Empire", and a founder of A. McKim and Company, the first advertising agency in Canada. MacLean was educated at Appleby College, Upper Canada College, and University of Toronto Schools.