"Blossom is an account of Scotland at the grassroots through the stories of people I've had the good fortune to know – the most stubborn, talented and resilient people on the planet. They've had to be. Some have transformed their parts of Scotland. Some have tried and failed. But all have something in common – they know what it takes for Scotland to blossom. We should know too."

The ScotIndyBook series features audio book versions, full books or selected pieces, fiction and non-fiction, of some of the books being written about the independence referendum, or using it as a theme.

All the books in this series have been given by the kind permissions of their authors.

This time it is part of Blossom, by Lesley Riddoch (who was also on the other podcast just before christmas).

I'm sure you know who Lesley is but in case you aren't sure...

An honours degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, president of the student union in 1981, founded and directed a feminist magazine known as Harpies and Quines, contributing editor of the Sunday Herald and assistant editor of The Scotsman. She was editor of a special one-off edition of The Scotsman known as The Scotswoman produced by the paper's female staff.

Writing columns for The Sunday Post, The Scotsman, and occasionally The Guardian, shortlisted for the Orwell prize. From 1989 to 1994 she presented the BBC Radio Scotland programme Speaking Out and was one of the presenters of Radio Four programme You and Yours. In 1993 Riddoch won a Cosmopolitan woman award for Communication and in 1994 for the best talk show award. Her programme Speaking Out took the Silver Quill Law Society award that same year. Between 1999 and 2005 she had her own daily radio programme the Lesley Riddoch Programme on Radio Scotland.

8392802340_fea0d5a957_zRiddoch presented TV programmes of which include The Midnight Hour on BBC2, and The People's Parliament and Powerhouse on Channel 4, runs her own independent radio, podcast and TV production company known as Feisty Ltd.

Riddoch was involved in the buyout of the Isle of Eigg by the local community. She assisted in putting together the buyout plan and later became a trustee of the Isle of Eigg Trust. The trust bought the island in 1997.

In 2008, Riddoch served as a member of the Scottish Prisons Commission. In 2009, she acted as Chair in Task Force, set up by the Scottish Government, to transfer the island of Rùm into community ownership from Scottish Natural Heritage.

So there you have it. And she's donated part of her book, so here it is...

Hope you enjoy...