IN this week of 1930 the death occurred of Neil Munro, the journalist and author best known for his creation of the characters of Para Handy and the crew of the Vital Spark. Munro holds a curious place in the pantheon of Scottish literature. Derided by Hugh MacDiarmid for being a member of the Kailyard school of Scottish writing, he was also hailed as a poet and published by MacDiarmid himself, while his short stories about Para Handy and a host of other characters were wildly popular in their day. This brief account of his life and career contains no judgement of Munro’s literary aptitude. For me, I am happy to agree with Professor Alan Riach’s well-argued contention in The National on September 29, 2017, that close reading of Munro “opens up greater depths and complexities” than the simplistic sentimentality of the Kailyard school.