The death of Ian Bell at the age of 59 has deprived Scotland and the UK of one of their finest journalists and literary critics. He died at his home in the Scottish Borders shortly after becoming ill.
In a career that spanned more than 35 years, he was a star columnist for the Glasgow Herald, the Scotsman, the Sunday Herald, the Daily Record and Scotland on Sunday.
In 1990 he also edited the Observer’s dedicated Scottish section, which was highly regarded and is still fondly remembered for the quality of its writing and commissioning. In a bitter irony, one of Ian’s last columns for the Herald was a tribute to his great friend, the novelist William McIlvanney, who died last Saturday.
Few other journalists in Scotland have been honoured for their work as much as Ian Bell. The jewel in these prizes occurred in 1997 when he won the Orwell prize for political journalism, the most august accolade in the profession. The list of credits and awards on their own, though, don’t do justice to this gentle giant of a man. I have rarely encountered someone who was blessed with so many gifts, or one who was less affected by them.
The journalism game can be hard and unforgiving and when new recruits begin the big adventure they can find it a daunting one where the rough edge of someone’s tongue or humour is never far away. In Ian Bell though, fledgling journalists always found a gentleman of the old school who was never in too much of a hurry to impart his wisdom or advice. This was one of the reasons why the impact of his death has been felt by so many in the Scottish media, arts and politics.
I had the great privilege of working with Ian during several spells on different newspapers and was delighted in 2000 when I was able to persuade him to leave the Scotsman publications, his spiritual home, for the Herald and Sunday Herald. On many occasions Ian’s writing was of such a high standard that if you bought a paper carrying one of his columns you often might not bother to read anything else in it, so comprehensive and penetrating was his analysis.
Ian Bell was also an important columnist. If a good newspaper is doing its job properly, it will bring governments to account and scrutinise remorselessly people who wield influence and the instruments with which they do so. Any publication that carried an Ian Bell column or essay knew that, on at least one page, the paper would be speaking truth to power.
In a fitting and thoughtful tribute, on Saturday the Herald placed 10 of what it considered to be his finest articles online.
Ian’s writing and philosophy was from a nationalist, republican, socialist and atheist perspective. Happily, his words were never disfigured by a hectoring tone and were enjoyed by many whose political beliefs lay significantly to the right of his.
Often, journalists can overestimate the influence they wield or the importance of their work relative to that of other trades and professions. In Ian’s case, it is reasonable to assume that his writing greatly influenced the political views of many of his fellow Scots.
I know of one former government minister who has told friends that, if he was required quickly to increase his knowledge on some specific issues, he first searched for what Ian Bell might have previously written on it.
He also left us with very fine biographies of Robert Louis Stevenson and Bob Dylan. Dreams of Exile, the title of the one on Robert Louis Stevenson, was named the Saltire Society’s Best First Book in 1994.
In an article for the Herald, the first minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, wrote: “During the great debate of 2014, Ian played his part to the full. I’m sure I speak for the whole Yes campaign when I say we were so fortunate and grateful to have someone of his intellect, skill, determination and persuasiveness on our side of the debate.”
