John (Jack) Barron Webster


1931 -

Journalist and author. Born in Maud (Aberdeenshire), the son of a farmer and auctioneer, Webster was a sickly child. He was educated at Peterhead Academy and Robert Gordon's College in Aberdeen. He began his career as a newspaper reporter with the Turriff Advertiser, going on to the Aberdeen Press and Journal (1950) and eventually becoming a feature writer with the Daily Express in Glasgow (1960-80). Webster joined the Glasgow Herald in 1986. During his career he travelled the world interviewing the rich and famous such as Charlie Chaplin, Muhammad Ali, Elizabeth Taylor, Ginger Rogers, Paul Getty, Sophia Loren, Pele, George Best and Christine Keeler. Webster has also written eighteen books, including biographies of Jimmy Johnstone (as ghost-writer), Gordon Strachan, Alistair MacLean and Sir Reo Stakis and a definitive history of Aberdeen Football Club, as well as award-winning television documentaries and a tribute to author Lewis Grassic Gibbon for the stage.

In 1996 he was voted Bank of Scotland Columnist of the Year and UK Speaker of the Year. He holds honorary degrees from the University of Aberdeen (2000) and Robert Gordon University (2009). He was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to journalism in 2012.


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