A PROFESSOR of politics who is a long-time Helensburgh resident marked his 80th birthday this year with the publication of his 41st and 42nd books.

'Representing Europe: A Pragmatic Approach', published by Oxford University Press and written by Professor Richard Rose, charts how the European Union has a democratic imbalance — not enough chances for citizens to influence Brussels, but lots of chances to influence national governments whose decisions in Brussels they dislike.

Iain Hope penned this tribute to his brother-in-law, Helensburgh Heritage Trust company secretary and treasurer John Johnston, who died on October 5 2012.

JOHN JOHNSTON first came to live in Helensburgh in 1945 when his parents, Jack and Muriel Johnston, chose to move their young family from the London area to his father’s ancestral town.