Melvyn Bragg had a sell-out audience as one might expect for such a well known radio and television presenter. Stephen Gale's job, as Chair, was therefore very easy; reminding us that Melvyn Bragg had been born in Carlisle and had gone on to Wadham College, moving from the BBC to ITV for "The South Bank Show", the long-running show that now runs on Sky Arts.
As a northerner, Bragg said he was delighted to be in Edinburgh and among its lovely buildings, saying that his mother used to say that none of the great sights of the world could compare to the floral clock in Princes Street Gardens!
Bragg's latest book "Grace and Mary" describes three generations of his family through his mother and grandmother. He stressed that this was a novel, set in Cumbria, where he grew up, that was looking at what he called 'the middle ground' where landscape, time and place were all very important.
Bragg recalled the shock and sadness of his first wife taking her own life and his deep regret at not appreciating that he had not known about her history of previous attempts at suicide.
He spoke of his 'dream time' where he imagined a middle aged woman in a long dress near a lake and then realised that this person was his grandmother. He said he knew too little about her, so wanted to imagine her life with her three siblings brought up in this small house.
He did know that she went into service and that she had a child out of wedlock, who was his mother. At that time some 47% of children were born outside a marriage.
He spoke of the influence of the Salvation Army, the Churches and society as it was then, all pressurising individuals for what they all thought was for their good. For someone with an illegitimate child the only course of action acceptable at the time was to leave the town, so this is what she did.
From scraps of information he built up the picture of his mother and grandmother's life in those days. Living in a small flat above a pub they were restricted for space, but strangely did not use the parlour, except for special occasions - quite remarkable!
It was a mixture of tragedy with comedy; he said that someone at the school told his mother that she was illegitimate and wondered what effect this had on her. He knew that from being a bright, achieving pupil she drifted down the class and lost much of the impetus to work or the will to achieve. It was a cruel act and one of great unkindness. He recalled his memories of being with his mother as a child and singing songs together. He said how much he loved this as he felt it brought the two of them together.
Moving on he recalled at the end of the last war, when he was five years old, that news came that "the men are coming home" and going to Carlisle to meet his father whom he did not recognise as he had been so young when he went to the war.
The novel, because much of what Bragg has written, is pieced together from fleeting memories and scraps of information he has picked up over the years, will be fascinating to read.
Set in his native Cumbria it will doubtless be a moving experience and one recounted in Melvyn Bragg's inimitable style, full of emotion with not a little heart searching.
Grace and Mary by Melvyn Bragg (Sceptre, 2013)