His second book, To be a Pirate King,[3] extended the story into 1971 and caused a sensation in the Netherlands, where it was published by De Telegraaf.
The first meeting of what was to become what is now Publishing Scotland, took place in a late afternoon in 1973 in the offices of Canongate in Jeffrey Street.
His Airbus was bombed in the attack on Ljubljana airport and he then stayed on to report from the front line; from children's hospitals; from refugee columns under fire; and, even, from the mortuaries in Christmas week.
The publishers Kennedy & Boyd (Glasgow) brought out an updated version of When Pirates Ruled the Waves in 2007, the fortieth anniversary of the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act 1967.
In 2009, his autobiography More Thrills than Skills: adventures in journalism, war and terrorism was published by Kennedy & Boyd [5] After settling in Coldingham, Berwickshire, he established a gallery and auction house for Chinese art.