Search: David J Black

With the kind permission of The Times, Scottish Legal News reproduces below the newspaper's obituary of David J Black. David was a gifted writer whose many pieces for us over the years, whether they followed the money or lampooned hypocrites, evoked both fervent endorsement and opposition. No one co

David J Black is underwhelmed by the US investor’s plans for a pod hotel in an elegant Edinburgh crescent. A mere few months have passed since Keir Starmer, chancellor Rachel Reeves, and trade minister Peter Kyle victoriously announced that they had secured a magnificent £150 billion dea

I recently found myself in the company of a remarkably sensible chap who was singing the praises of his chosen subject: artificial intelligence. Without question, this would change the world forever, he assured me, and we would all be much better off as a result. We were living in a new age. Medical

Small scale, unsubsidised, borne along on a wave of bookish enthusiasm, the ‘Writing Worth Reading’ cluster of 12 events at the Royal Scots Club can hardly be described as a competitor to the big literary beast which, not long past, was licking its wounds in a venue oddly described as th

David J Black discerns traces of Scotland in America. See part one here. Alasdair Gray was the quintessential Glasgow author. The city is imprinted on his text, albeit with a hint of his idiosyncratic urban metaphysic. With a grid street plan and a wise-cracking populace well seasoned with the desce

Choices, choices, always choices. On February 25th it was between an event in Edinburgh’s Usher Hall marking the third anniversary of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, or a ‘Gray Day’ in Glasgow’s Oran Mohr marking the 90th anniversary of the birth of the Scotland&r

Statue of Burns in Dumfries town centre, unveiled in 1882. David J Black reminds us just how famous Burns was. See part one here.

Musing over the haggis, coaxed down with a friendly single malt, David J Black shares his thoughts on why it is that so many Scots have a bizarre love-hate relationship with that man from Ayrshire. Robert Burns is, by a long way, the most celebrated poet in the world. His January 25 birthday feast i

In the final part of his series on Big Book, David J Black finds yet more revelations between the lines. See part three here. Let us park Ms Rooney in a lay-by for the moment, and focus on the man in the shadows. A dyed-in-the-wool Republican, one time Rubio-supporting Trump sceptic Paul Elliott Sin

David J Black finds that money and sanctimony make for a heady cocktail as the plot of his bookish inquiry thickens. See part two here. Sally Rooney really should know that Waterstones’ US parent, private equity fund Elliott Advisors, is part of corporate giant Elliott Investment Manageme

Literature is another casualty of our ailing civilisation. David J Black discusses the simulacrum left in its wake. See part one here. Unlike her risque predecessors Jilly Cooper and Joanna Trollope, Ms Rooney enjoys the honorific sobriquet "the voice of a generation", in which office she has seemin

David J Black exemplifies Juvenal's dictum that "It is difficult not to write satire". Literary criticism will not be the purpose of this exercise, so those anticipating a promotional puff for Intermezzo or anything else by the much celebrated Sally Rooney may be disappointed. It’s usually a r

Word reaches your scrivener that a well regarded seasoned journalist by the name of Claire Atkinson is engaged in writing an unauthorised biography of the old boss we both used to share, namely one Rupert Murdoch. But will she cover everything? Fans of the brilliant, yet chilling, HBO series Success

David J Black tackles the issue of the day. One of the more annoying things about the British media in general, and the navel-gazing BBC in particular, is the irritating habit they all have of prioritising so-called news stories which are so trivial and ephemeral they barely deserve to make the insi

David J Black traces the origins of a scandal in plain sight and calls for a judge-led inquiry in part three of his series on the continued plight of ME/CFS sufferers. See also parts one and two. It is doubtless commendable to provide an ill or disabled person with fulfilling work, though hopefully