Well known piper and solo adjudicator Bill Livingstone from Ontario has announced that he will release a book of his memoirs on August 1. The blurb: Bill Livingstone, record-setting Pipe Major and soloist, will release his memoirs, entitled Preposterous: Tales to Follow, on 1st August 2017. Written by Bill, the 276-page work covers over seven decades of Bill’s life, ranging from his childhood in the tough mining town of Copper Cliff in northern Ontario, Canada, to some of his most high-profile solo and pipe band ventures around the world.
‘This book has been in the works for several years now,” said Bill. ‘Writing it has been a roller-coaster ride of emotions as I have not held back on putting my memories, my views and my feelings out there for everyone to see. Seeing it finished is simultaneously elating and terrifying.’
Preposterous: Tales to Follow will be available for sale online, in hard and softcover, at all major book retailers from 1st August 2017. Hard and soft cover copies will also be available for sale at the Glengarry Highland Games, Ontario, on 4th/5th August 2017, where Bill will officially open the 70th edition of the games as guest of honour.
A publicity campaign celebrating the release of Bill’s memoirs will roll out over the coming weeks. Go to Bill’s official Facebook page @williamjrlivingstone and www.williamlivingstone.com for all the latest news and updates. Stay tuned for more special announcements!
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A biography released with the book reads: William John Roderick (Bill) Livingstone was born in Copper Cliff, a mining town near Sudbury in northern Ontario. He is a graduate of Laurentian University and of Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto.
Soon after being called to the Bar of Ontario, Bill opened his own law firm in Whitby, Ontario and practiced in the Medical Malpractice field until his retirement in 2013. He has been married to Lillian for 51 years and still calls Whitby home today.
Bill began his piping career with the Copper Cliff Highlanders Pipe Band, lead by his father, Bill Sr. Growing up, Bill received bagpipe tutelage from his father and from several of the art’s most legendary names both in Scotland and Canada.
Bill has captured almost every major prize available in both light music and piobaireachd. Bill was one of the first serious North American solo competitors to join the competitive circuit in Scotland and one of the first non-Scots to win the Highland Society of London Gold Medal.
Bill holds the distinction of being the only person in history to have led a Grade One band to a World Championship and to have won a Clasp for piobaireachd at the Northern Meeting in Inverness, Scotland (1981 & 1984).
As Pipe Major of the 78th Fraser Highlanders Pipe Band of Toronto, 1981 – 2010, Bill led the band to its most famous achievements, including victory at the 1987 World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, which marked the first time ever that a non-Scottish band took the top prize.
Bill has produced several solo recordings, six pipe band recordings, including the landmark 1987 Live in Ireland concert, and two collections of music. He is currently in high demand as a teacher and adjudicator around the world and is a member of the Grade 1 Toronto Police Pipe Band.
Prominent pipers and drummers have been gives pre-reads of chapters of the book. Here are some of the comments:
‘It’s filled with gossip, insight, history, laughter, tragedy and a little bit of payback — all packaged within Bill’s delightful gift for language.’ – Jim McGillivray
‘Written with wit and humour. To hear the stories from the horse’s mouth was fascinating.’ – P/M Richard Parkes MBE, Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band
‘I found it fascinating…I couldn’t put it down.’ – P/M Stuart Liddell, Inveraray & District Pipe Band
‘A real eye-opener and entirely relatable…I see myself in him.’ – L/D Stephen Creighton, St Laurence O’Toole Pipe Band
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