Gerald Michael Anderson

According to The Dictionary of Irish Biography introduction: The Dictionary of Irish Biography (DIB) is a project of the Royal Irish Academy. It tells the island’s life story through the biographies, at home and overseas, of prominent men and women born in Ireland, north and south, and the noteworthy Irish careers of those born outside Ireland.…

On 24th September 2019, long time friend and former colleague of Dad’s Robin Elliott organised a special charity evening at the Grand Opera House ‘Remembering Gerry Anderson‘. Robin put together a brilliant array of Ireland’s top entertainers that included Brian Kennedy, The Adventures, The Miami Showband, Bronagh Gallagher, Rose-Marie, Malachi Cush, Mirenda Rosenberg, Jim Brown,…

There is no doubt that Gerry was a people person. And there’s nothing he liked more than people watching. Not in a judgy or nosey way. He loved to study and observe people as they went about their daily lives. I am not sure when it started. But I think that studying social anthropology at…

Mark Patterson from BBC Radio Foyle has been looking back on legendary bands from Derry recently. Today it was my turn to join Colum Arbuckle and Jim Whiteside to reminisce about Toejam. Although Colum and Jim were doing most of the story telling considering I was still in a nappy when Toejam hit the scene!…

We think enough time has gone by to bring this up. Y2K and Princes ‘Let’s Party Like It’s 1999’ are distant echoes in our memories. Was there really a Rickety Wheel? And what really happened to the Millenium Whiskey? The Rickety Wheel  But first we must go back further in time to the reason why…

Growing up I knew Dad was a musician. We had guitars, music and records around the house. By the time I was 15, I was starting to get the itch to play. A friend was swapping his acoustic for an electric, and I asked Dad if we could get it. Of course, his initial response…

Gerry was nothing if not a keen observer of life and the people in it, and his take on their antics was often wry, regularly witty, but always wise. He was an enthusiastic student of human behavior and was driven by an innate curiosity, as he peered at the world through the informed lens of…

Gerry had a wonderful back catalogue of fun, wacky and musically brilliant songs that he played regularly on the show. They were carefully stored in this metal flight case. He knew that the CD’s in there were all he needed to craft a show around. He purchased the case because he had learned that CD’s…

A four-year-long story, as it turned out… A part-time musician and folk singer at the time, Seán Donnelly was a busy man running his shoe shop in Newcastle, Co. Down when his recording of The Homes of Donegal was played in 2010 by BBC Foyle’s Éamon Friel – a man who likes a good song.…

C’mere til I tell ya about BBC Christmas parties, bog rolls, rubber men, pensions and why country men are more dangerous. Gerry loved to people watch especially on holidays. He also loved to collect stories of silly things that people did or funny situations that they got themselves into. I can still hear him laughing…