McGrath was born in
Rutherglen,
Glasgow in October 1940. His father was an electrician and his mother a housewife. They were a
Roman Catholic family and Tom grew up rejecting the repressive aspects of Scottish culture. During the mid 1960s he was associated with the emerging
UK underground culture, participating in
Alexander Trocchi's
Project Sigma, working as features editor of
Peace News. In 1966 he was the founding editor of the
International Times. During the early 1970s he worked with
Billy Connolly on
The Great Northern Welly-Boot Show. From 1974-77 he was director of the
Third Eye Centre (named after the influence of
Sri Chinmoy), an arts centre on
Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow. During this time, he wrote the popular play
Laurel and Hardy. In 1986 he wrote the script for a short film commissioned by
COSLA and produced by Glasgow Film and Video Workshop. The film was written as a comedy-drama and toured Scotland on a bus after being shown at the
Edinburgh Film Festival. ==References==