John Macleod has blocked me on Facebook because I called him a liar. He doesn't like being called a liar. But hey, if the cap fits...
He claims he has no memory of an article I published about him 20 years ago. Here's why I say he's lying.
A wee story.
Back in May of 2000 I and my brother Donald were at Stornoway's famous Cromwell Street railings (no longer there - removed by the stupid Western Isles Council - put them back I say). Donald spotted 'Johnny Foot' (as we called him) leaving the newsagent with a tightly-rolled copy of the Island Post in his hand. The Island Post was a small local paper I produced from '96 to '01. I had just published a story centred around allegations of sexual misconduct made against his father.
Donald being Donald and ever one to stir the pot called out to him: 'Hey Johnny, is that an Island Post I see in your hand?' 'Johnny' came straight over to where Donald was perched on the railing, which meant he was considerably higher than John who is quite short. Now Donald was fully six foot tall, well built, and could handle himself in a fight. My brother Donald went missing in Turkey in 2010: http://ararathunt.blogspot.com/.
Johnny pointed the rolled-up newspaper at him and said, 'Donald, I've never hit anyone in my life before, but there's always a first time.'
I could hardly believe my ears. Wee Johnny Foot squaring up to Donald. The Mini Metro challenges the Tiger Tank.
Donald immediately bristled and began to sit more upright, glaring at Johnny, he said, 'are you threatening me?'
Donald immediately bristled and began to sit more upright, glaring at Johnny, he said, 'are you threatening me?'
Well, whatever Dutch courage Johnny had been relying on up to that point suddenly deserted him and he was off down that road like the proverbial rabbit.
The editor of the established local paper at the time, the Stornoway Gazette, was a fellow called Peter Urpeth. Someone who had no love for me as he had previously threatened to sue me in a rage over a humorous little piece I had published about him. He gave Johnny two full columns down the entire length of a page of the broadsheet. A tirade full of invective and bile aimed at me and the journalist who wrote the story (Iain X. Maciver).
Strange he forgot that.
Anyone interested in reading it could find it in Stornoway public library's Stornoway Gazette Archive. It was published shortly after I published the article, I reckon within the next week or two. The Professor Foot article being dated 5 May 2000.
Within the last year or so we argued on Facebook about the article which prompted me to post it on the same thread. This was plainly a surprise to him because he didn't expect me to have copies. His immediate response was to delete everything. Then he was gone.
Strange he forgot that too.
The Facebook spat:
The YouTube podcast:
The lie:
The article:
