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".
Jean McLean (politician)
McLean was born in London to industrial scientist Arthur Marsden Crosland and high school principal Pauline Berezovsky; she was home-schooled except for brief periods at public school. Having moved to Australia she joined the Labor Party in 1965, and became union director of the Prahran College of Advanced Education from 1974 to 1980. From 1981 to 1985 she was ACTU Arts Officer and was a federal conference delegate from 1976 to 1988. In 1985 she was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council representing Boronia Province; when that seat was abolished in 1992 she moved to Melbourne West Province, which she represented until her retirement in 1999. has had a prominent and sometimes controversial career as a politician and as an activist in support of a broad range of high profile public causes.