Will Collin

1943-

A resident of Dunbar, Scotland, John Muir's birthplace, Will Collin is a retired principal of Dunbar Grammar School and former high school teacher of physics, science and mathematics.

Will moved to Dunbar in 1977, the year after the creation of the 733 hectare John Muir Country Park on the edge of the town. Three years later, a small museum opened in John Muir’s birthplace on Dunbar’s High Street. These were Will's first encounters with the name of John Muir. Then, as The John Muir Library was published, a copy of each book was placed in Dunbar Grammar School library, courtesy of the Sierra Club, and Will frequently used passages at school assemblies. In 1995, Will visited California for the first time and learned first hand how important the Dunbar-born Muir really was.

Will graduated with an honours B.Sc. in Physics and Mathematic from the University of Edinburgh and a teaching diploma from Moray House College of Education. As a teacher, he quickly learned that education is a lifelong process.

Will says that John Muir taught him that anything may be possible, with dedication, vision and application. "John Muir is a role model for people of all ages, particularly demonstrating that increasing age is not a barrier, but presents another series of opportunities."

Will has been treasurer of the local Friends of John Muir's Birthplace since 1997 and a trustee and treasurer of the John Muir Birthplace Trust, which bought Muir’s birthplace and converted it to a 4-star interpretation centre dedicated to the life and message of John Muir.

He has presented the story of John Muir to schools, clubs and other organisations in southern Scotland and northeast England. He made a presentation, "The Influence of the Writings of Robert Burns on John Muir" at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, at its 2006 John Muir in Global Perspective Conference.

Also in 2006, he and fellow Rotarians presented all young people attending school in Dunbar and the surrounding area with a John Muir ‘California quarter’ to illustrate how wide their horizons could be.

He led a small team which, in 2007, produced the first book of quotations from the writings of John Muir to be published in the UK: Still Walking the World.

Will says that among the many facets of John Muir’s writing what he most appreciates is his vision, the poetry of his prose, his humour, and the expressions of love for his God, nature and family. Will especially enjoys finding references to Muir’s ‘Scottishness’ and shares with Dunbar’s most famous son a love of the works of Scotland’s bard Robert Burns.