Mike Edwards (journalist)
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Mike Edwards is a Scottish author, army reserve officer, charity trustee, dementia campaigner, retired journalist and Deputy Lord Lieutenant.
Born and bred in Inverness, Edwards was a journalist for nearly 40 years, beginning his career as a trainee reporter for the Inverness Courier in 1986. He later switched to radio and worked for Radio Forth, Radio Tay and Moray Firth Radio before returning to press journalism as a sports correspondent for The Press and Journal in Inverness. Edwards was one of 120 journalists sacked for being a member of the National Union of Journalists and spent a year on the picket lines.
Shortly after his dismissal, Edwards moved to Switzerland and worked in Bern for the World Service of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation covering the fall of the Iron Curtain, the Soviet Coup and the first Gulf War, before joining Scottish Television in 1993.
He is a major in the Army Reserve and was mobilised for active service in Iraq and Afghanistan where he came under repeated enemy fire. In Iraq his tour of duty ended when he reached Saddam Hussein's river palace in Basra. While in Kabul, he wrote his first novel Friendly Fire.[1] The book was published in April 2006.
His book The Road Home, an autobiographical travelogue, was published in May 2018. It charts a coast to coast journey across the USA via five places named Inverness after his home town, interspersed with his life story as a journalist and soldier.[2]
A second volume of autobiography, provisionally entitled 'The Road to War,' will be published shortly and it is anticipated that a series of novels will follow.
He retired from journalism in 2019 after 26 years as a reporter with STV.
Mike became the main carer at home for his mother Margaret, after she was diagnosed with dementia. She died in 2019 aged 91.
Since his retirement he has devoted his time to charity work, particularly to help military veterans and those living with dementia and their families.
He is a trustee of the military charity Erskine, Erskine (charity) the Highlanders museum at Fort George https://www.thehighlandersmuseum.com/ , the Royal Highland Fusiliers trust and is a caseworker forhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erskine_(charity) the service charity SSAFA https://www.ssafa.org.uk/
He is an ambassador and campaigner for Alzheimer Scotland https://www.alzscot.org/.
Mike is also a volunteer with Crimestoppers Scotland https://crimestoppers-uk.org/campaigns-media/community/Scotland.
In June 2021, he was appointed Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Dunbartonshire.
His hobbies are attempting to play the guitar and following Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC.
He made a cameo appearance in the 100th episode of the STV crime drama Taggart on Christmas Eve 2009.
References[]
- ^ Edwards, Mike. "Inverness-born journalist Mike Edwards goes in search of his 'home towns' across America". Press and Journal. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
- ^ "The casual joke in Kabul that almost cost STV journalist Mike Edwards his life". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
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