Different topics during insightful night

At the latest meeting of East Kilbride Speakers Club, president Paul Munday introduced Tony Dinwoodie and invited him to take the chair and conduct the evening’s proceedings.

Alastair Fraser delivered the first of the main speeches in comical mode by exhibiting traditional Glasgow humour as he portrayed vivid word pictures of characters from the east end of the city in following one of them in a tortuous but ultimately successful quest to find a job.

A complete contrast in culture followed when Alex Rintoul spoke of the work and character of the German composer Richard Strauss.

In an informative speech he illustrated what a conceited and flawed musical genius Strauss was by quoting a series of anecdotes from his lifetime where he outraged people by heaping the highest praise on his own compositions and claiming how superior they were to that of other composers.

The next speaker, Bob Hunter, utilised his conversational style of delivery to best effect in making each member of his audience think he was speaking exclusively to them as they could identify with every aspect of the tribulations he encountered in cultivating his overgrown garden.

Harvey Littlejohn concluded the main speeches in a heartfelt manner as he spoke with great conviction of his admiration for Geoffrey Shaw, who came from an affluent, welleducated background before adopting a life in the Gorbals where he strove tirelessly to improve living conditions there, and then extended this work throughout the rest of Glasgow and beyond by becoming the first convenor of the newly formed Strathclyde Regional Council in 1974.

Confident, well-structured impromptu responses were delivered by each of the members to the topics presented by Ross Hammond and Ken Murray gave astute advice to all of the speakers in his general evaluation of the evening’s programme.

Visitors are welcome and details of the meeting due on Thursday, October 18 can be obtained from secretary Ken Murray on (01355) 265424.