James MacVeigh is a reformed offender who managed to reinvent himself through writing. He has written biographies, local history and crime paperbacks and e-books as well as plays for stage and radio. His father kicked him out in 1963 at the age of 16. After he was caught breaking into cars, he was sent to a Detention Centre. Borstal followed. He wrote Gaskin (1982) about Graham Gaskin who was placed in care as a baby after his mother committed suicide by throwing herself from the Wallasey ferry. Graham was passed from children's home, to foster family, to institution, often being mistreated by those in authority. As he came of age, Graham had nowhere to turn but to a life on the streets, eventually living by his wits around the world.