Allan Massie dead: Legendary author dies after cancer | UK News

Renowned author Allan Massie, hailed as one of Scotland’s biggest literary figures, has died aged 87. Massie had been battling what he described as a “wretched cancer” and only stepped down as a literary critic for The Scotsman last month.

Massie handed away surrounded by his family members at his daughter Claudia’s home on Tuesday (February 3).

“It was all entirely peaceful and pain free, here in Doune surrounded by family with the dandie dinmont barking outside in the garden. As these things go, it couldn’t have been a better death,” his daughter said.

His son, Alex, added: “Father died this afternoon. Outside, my sister’s Dandie Dinmont terrier was barking in the garden as he quietly slipped away. It was a good and light end to a good and light life, the kind of death many of many of us would possibly want for ourselves: at peace, in mattress, surrounded by all his kids.”

Mr Massie was born in Singapore but was raised by his mother in Aberdeenshire. He attended Glenalmond College on a scholarship before heading to Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating in 1960.

Massie wrote almost 30 books and is estimated to have reviewed around 3,500 books for The Scotsman since starting at the paper in 1975.

His first novel, Change and Decay in All Around I See, was published in 1978. Massie considered his mid-European trilogy of A Question of Loyalties (1989), The Sins of the Father (1991) and Shadows of Empire (1997) to be among his best work.

Alongside his lengthy stint as The Scotsman’s literary critic, he wrote columns for The Scottish Daily Mail, The Sunday Times, The Herald and The Daily Telegraph.

Massie was honoured with a Knighthood of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2007 and received a CBE six years later.

Leading the tributes was author Ian Rankin, who was taught by Massie at Edinburgh University in the early 1980s.

He said: “Allan was such a big help to me. The writers in residence I’d met at Edinburgh Uni had all been poets but I’d moved from poetry to prose.

“Then Allan arrived and I started showing him stuff. I then entered a short story contest sponsored by Sinclair Computers and The Scotsman. Allan was the judge and I was runner-up to Iain Crichton Smith. A huge fillip.

“Allan was also editing New Edinburgh Review and took a story or two for that. Then, after Polygon had published my first novel The Flood, Allan introduced me to his editor at Bodley Head, Euan Cameron. Euan took my first Rebus novel Knots and Crosses. And that was that. Allan even provided a quote for the jacket.I was in my infancy as a published writer but Allan was there at the delivery! We kept in touch forever after.”

He added: “Allan was throughout this period a terrific and largely underrated author – novels, non-fiction, guide reviews and other journalism. It was a privilege to get to know the person behind the work. I’ll always be grateful to him.”

Massie is survived by his three children Alex, Claudia and Louis.

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