Mary was a friend of my mother who worked in the Jute mills in Dundee in the 30/40s, and my auntie Annie, who gets a mention in one of Mary's books as a Dundee lassie that went of as a nun nursing lepers in Burma and died of malnutrition at the hands of the Japanese in the 2nd WW.
Legend has it that the only sound that could be heard on Remembrance Day 2 minutes of silence in the Mill would be the sound of Mary's knitting needles making as much noise as she could in protest!
She was also a great pal of Aberdeen Spanish Civil War Commisar Bob Cooney.
Dundee's singer Sheena Wellington also knew her well in her latter days.