Another day, another unforgettable hire ...

I’VE said it before and I’ll say it again, the greatest joy of this job comes from the tremendous variety of people you meet and topics you discuss on a daily basis, without any prior warning. Every time a passenger steps into the back of your cab you can enjoy a five, 10, 15-minute snapshot of their life which never ceases to surprise.

I had another amazing example of this when I picked up a lady at a city centre hotel for a fare which was to take her to Glasgow Airport as she departed following a short business trip.

Turns out the lady was from the United States and after the usual small talk of how she had enjoyed her stay and would she return (she will!), it got really interesting, absolutely fascinating in fact.

In fact, my esteemed passenger was none other than Rebecca Donner, international best-selling author who was in town to deliver the Harry Ranken Memorial Lecture, sponsored by the Scottish Centre for War Studies, at the University of Glasgow.

Her best-selling book is none other than “All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days” (the title taken from a poem) which is the True Story of the American Woman at the Heart of the German Resistance to Hitler.

The book, it emerges during the journey, is the biography of Mildred Harnack, Donner’s great-greataunt, an American woman executed in 1943 for being a member of the German resistance to the Nazis during the Second World War.

It was both incredible and humbling to hear all about this in the space of 20 minutes or so.

Rebecca’s great-great-aunt’s story is of meeting a German, being in Germany during the Second World War, seeing the writing on the wall, starting an underground movement, writing memoirs and letters and translating in jail in Germany prior to her death.

I was absolutely gob-smacked by this – what a chance meeting to learn about the most astonishing and inspirational story.

The book was bought within seconds of the end of the journey. Given what I’d heard, I asked the obvious question before Rebecca left – was there a film in the offing? There is, unsurprisingly, and I’ll be first to watch it when it’s eventually released.

I thanked Rebecca at the end of the journey and told her it had been my absolute pleasure, which it had. She was absolutely delightful and in addition to her fantastic company and conversation even added a generous tip. Touch of class.

Once again, an amazing reminder that you just don’t know who might step into your taxi next. Rebecca Donner – thank you and haste ye back. Stay safe!