A biography of Sam Hanna Bell, the Ulster broadcaster and writer, based on Bell's personal papers and the reminscences of family, friends and colleagues. Born in Glasgow of Ulster emigrant parents, he was bought home to Ireland at the age of seven to be reared in the Strangford Lough area of County Down, where his novel of Ulster rural life, "December Bride" (1951) is set. Sam Hanna Bell was also a legendary broadcaster. Working as a senior features producer with the BBC Northern Ireland region, he pioneered the collection and broadcasting of fast-vanishing folklore and folk music from remote country areas. He continued to write during this period and after retirement. His other novels are "The Hollow Ball" (1961), "A Man Floundering" (1973) and "Across the Narrow Sea" (1987). In 1970, Queen's University Belfast awarded him the honorary degree of MA for achievement in the arts. He died in 1990.