Raasay
The poet Sorley MacLean was born in Osgaig, a small crofting community on the west coast of the island; perhaps his most famous poem is about "Hallaig", an abandoned community on the east coast. MacLean's writings often combine an ancient traditional awareness, with a modernist political outlook, in which Raasay, and the areas adjacent to it are frequently referenced. But while MacLean's work dwells on the brutality of war, of the Highland Clearances and modern exploitation, he also writes about nature. Thus, although the Clearances leave an empty landscape populated only by the ghosts of those evicted or forced to emigrate, "Time, the deer, is in the Wood of Hallaig".
Nick McLean
McLean was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of George McLean and Dorothy Jane (née Scott), and raised in the San Fernando Valley. He attended North Hollywood High School. His family was highly involved in the entertainment industry. His uncle was an actor and his step-father, Fred Jackman, Jr., son of the second president of the ASC, was a cinematographer. McLean attended USC on a football scholarship. He then opened a pool hall and a body and fender shop in Van Nuys, California.