John J. Graham

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John J. Graham, OBE, (born 1921, died February 17th 2008), Shetland author, editor and teacher and compiler of the popular 'Shetland Dictionary', is one of the key figures in Shetland culture in the latter half of the 20th C.. Graham was born in Lerwick in 1921, but spent the first five years of his life in Stromfirth, Weisdale, after which the family moved to Tingwall, where he went to Gott Public School. He then attended the Lerwick Central School. John served with honour in the RAF during World War II, then entered Edinburgh University where he was active in student literary circles along with his brother Lollie Laurence I. Graham. John graduated M.A.in 1950. He became an English teacher at the Anderson Educational Institute from 1950 until 1966, was made headmaster of the Lerwick Central Secondary School in 1966, and then headmaster of the Anderson High School in 1970, where he remained until he retired in 1982. He subsequently served as member for Sound on the Shetland Islands Council.

With his brother Lollie (Laurence) Graham, John Graham was co-editor of quarterly magazine The New Shetlander from 1956 to 1998. As president of the Shetland Folk Society he was instrumental in the reprinting of Jakob Jakobsen's dictionary, sacrificing his own 1st edition so that the facsimile might be created.

John Graham died on 17 February 2008.

John J. Graham was the author of a number of books, including:

The Shetland Dictionary, published by The Shetland Times Lerwick, 1979 (1993, 1999), which details the history, pronunciation, etymology and grammar of the Shetland dialect and also contains a sizeable word-list, and an English to Shetland section

Shadowed Valley: a novel based on the Weisdale evictions.set in 19th century Shetland, Shetland Publishing Company, Lerwick, 1987

Strife in the Valley, a novel, Shetland Publishing Co., 1992

A Vehement Thirst for Knowledge: Four Centuries of Education in Shetland, The Shetland Times, 1998

Shetland Humour: Twatree selections, a collection of humorous Shetland stories, Shetland Times, 2002

With Laurence I. Graham he compiled and edited:

A Shetland Anthology: poetry from earliest times to the present day, Shetland Publishing Co., 1998

With T. A. Robertson (Vagaland) he compiled and edited:

Grammar & Usage of the Shetland Dialect, Shetland Times, 1952, 1991

Nordern Lichts: an anthology of Shetland verse & prose, 1964

External Links

John J. Graham's partial translation into Shetlandic of 'The Seafarer', with a response by 'Stooralaand' (Peter Jamieson) is available @: http://www.cichw.net/1949JJG-PJ.html

John J. Graham's poem to Jakob Jakobsen is at: http://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/SESLL/Stella/STARN/poetry/jacob.htm