SNAPSHOTS FROM MEMORY: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A GREENOCK ACADEMY SCHOOLBOY

Author, artist and retired Depute Head, Jo Johnson was born and brought up in the leafy suburbs of Greenock in the West of Scotland. Educated at Greenock Academy until the age of fourteen, he experienced a profound culture shock when the family relocated to Kilwinning in Ayrshire, where he found himself in a much rougher school environment.\nBorn into a devoutly Christian family, Jo had to balance the competing demands of ‘church and state’ at an early age. His story is peppered with entertaining, poignant and occasionally unpleasant memories, of growing up in 1960’s Greenock and his coming of age in 1970’s Ayrshire.\nHe documents his experiences as an art student at Glasgow School of Art and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee. Later chapters trace his journey to find work with a waxworks company in London, teacher training in Liverpool and back to Scotland, where he taught art before moving into school management. Jo’s faith in God and his connection with the Churches of God, is a recurring theme throughout the book. Read on to find out how Jo responded to a significant and unexpected medical challenge.