Kenneth
Roy was born in Falkirk in 1945, and once had the honour of being named
his native town’s Man of the Year. He was educated at Denny High School,
but left as soon as possible in order to become a cub reporter on the
Falkirk Mail, where his responsibilities included covering the
twice-weekly dog meeting (he was briefly a greyhound racing tipster for
the Daily Record) and reviewing films, a job which did not
involve actually going to see any films.
At the age of 19 he became one of
the youngest reporters ever employed by the Glasgow Herald (as it
then was). He founded Scottish Theatre magazine at the age of 24
and was presenting Reporting Scotland on BBC Television by the
age of 27. For nine years he presented political and religious as well
as current affairs programmes on both television and radio. He left the
BBC to establish a new independent local radio station. in south-west
Scotland, and was West Sound’s first managing director.
In 1983 he founded Carrick Media
which publishes Who’s Who in Scotland and other reference titles.
He established Scottish Review magazine in 1994.
He resumed his journalistic career
His books include Travels in a
Small Country, Conversations in a Small Country, Both Sides of the
Border, A Man of His Word (in honour of Alastair Hetherington), and
The Closing Headlines (an account of his career in broadcasting).
In 2000, he founded the Institute
of Contemporary Scotland.
He is married with two children
and lives in Ayrshire.
