Jack Scoltock

Life
1942- ; b. 19 Aug., Waterside, Derry City; son of James Frederick, and engineer and Kathleen [née] McGuiinness; ed., Derry; worked as bricklayer in Derry and England, 1959-67; m. Ursula Bridge Bradley, hairdresser, 2 Dec. 1967, with whom two children (Jason and Justine); lived at Caw Park; became Derry engineering inspector at Molins Engineering, 1971-85; author of Quest of the Royal Twins (1988) and numerous other children's books incl.; Rumble In The Jungle (1989), as A. Zebra; Badger; Beano and the Magic Mushroom (1990), and The Sand Clocker (1996), about a Spanish Armada stowaway and based on his experience as one of the divers who found the Armada wreck “La Trinidad Valencera” in 1971; works at Marine Sports;

listed among Arts Council Writers in Schools (NI & Republic), 1988; taught Creative Writing with W.E.A (NI) for 4 yrs.; short stories published and broadcast; a play, Hope In the Derry Workhouse (1995), performed in the Playhouse Derry to full houses; four of plays performed by Lilliput Players, Stradreagh; The Tractor, toured successfully; short film scripts; pamphlet story on arson commissioned by the Education Board (Republic of Ireland; Kathryn Edgar) and Northern Ireland Fire Brigade (Brian Gough); currently writing fictional life of young boy during the Siege of Derry; he has written Hope in the Derry Workhouse and other plays for special-needs performers.

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Works
Children"s fiction
  • Quest of the Royal Twins (Dublin: Wolfhound Press 1988).
  • A Rumble in the Jungle (Dublin: Wolfhound Press 1989), ill. by Cathy Dineen. [civil rights for animals].
  • ´[as Jack Scoltock,] Badger, Beano, and the Magic Mushroom (Dublin: Wolfhound Press 1990), ill. by Jeannette Dunne.
  • Jeremy's Adventure (Dublin: Wolfhound Press 1991), ill by Aileen Caffrey. [animal experimentation].
  • Justine's Secret Challenge (Dublin: Wolfhound Press 1992).
  • Seek the Enchanted Antlers (Dublin: Wolfhound Press 1992).
  • Fairy Girl (Dublin: Wolfhound Press 1992).
  • The Magic Harp (Dublin: Wolfhound Press 1994).
  • The Magic Sword (Dublin: Wolfhound Press 1995), ill. by Aileen Caffrey.
  • The Sand Clocker: Spanish Armada Stowaway (Dublin: Wolfhound Press 1996).
  • Midnight Mission (Dublin: Wolfhound Press 1997), ill. by Jeannette Dunne.
  • [with Ray Cossum]
    • We Own Laurentic (q.d).
    • Challenge of the Red Unicorn (q.d).
    • The Lost Magic (q.d);
    Newer fiction

    Brothers (2015), The Last Great Magicians (2020)

    Miscellaneous
    • A Sense of Survival (Dublin: Wolfhound Press 1997).

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    Quotations

    Jack Scoltock once told CA: ‘I was born in Derry and grew up in the 'Waterside' part of the city. I had a happy childhood, though when I was very young, my father and mother divorced. I was always an avid reader of comic books, which I still collect and read, though I can't get American or Canadian comics now (too expensive). I firmly believe that reading comics was what developed my imagination. Being the eldest of a family of three I used to pretend I could see things in the light bulb, and I would make up stories for my brother and sister in our bedroom at night. They still remember this. The local cinema, “The Midland”, was also a great developer of my imagination. Like many other children in Waterside I spend many happy hours there.’ (See Encyclopaedia.com - online; accessed 10.09.2023.) Describes himself as "lapsed Catholic".