Laurence Brady is a writer of fiction, biography, essays, blogs, and children’s non-fiction.
Chiaroscuro is his debut novel. A second work of historical fiction will follow.
He is a biographer of one of the world’s first global entrepreneurs, the Glasgow-born tea magnate and America’s Cup challenger, Sir Thomas Lipton. The Man Who Challenged America, was published by Birlinn in 2007. Sir Thomas possessed such a positive attitude to life, a passion for sailing and the sea, that he inspired Laurence to set up the Sir Thomas Lipton Foundation in 2010.
It is a charity dedicated to giving disadvantaged pre-teenage children a fair opportunity to make horizon-expanding discoveries about their talents and motivation through practical maritime experiences, including learning to sail. Laurence continues to run this charity today. Laurence’s work for the charity includes the writing of true stories for children about extraordinary people, past and present, whose lives have been changed by encounters with the sea.
Drawing on more than 30 years of experience in charity fundraising, management and consultancy, Laurence has also published a collection of biographical essays about European philanthropists, Seven Pillars Of Philanthropy.
Laurence lives in Selkirk in the Scottish Borders close to Abbotsford, the home of Sir Walter Scott, where the River Tweed and ideas for writing flow.