Ian Bell (journalist)

Ian Bell (7 January 1956 – 10 December 2015) was a Scottish journalist and author who won the Orwell Prize for political journalism in 1997. Over a thirty-year career he wrote for and edited: The Scotsman, The Herald, The Sunday Herald, the Daily Record and The Times Literary Supplement. He was named Scotland's columnist of the year four times between 2000 and 2012. He completed three books- two volumes on Bob Dylan and a biography of Robert Louis Stevenson.

For other uses, see Ian Bell (disambiguation).

Ian Bell
Born(1956-01-07)7 January 1956
Edinburgh, Scotland
Died10 December 2015(2015-12-10) (aged 59)
Coldingham, Scotland
NationalityScottish
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
OccupationJournalist and writer

Early life

Ian Mackay Bell was born on 7 January 1956 in Edinburgh, Scotland.[1] His father was Ian Bell, a fireman on steam trains and a trade unionist.[2][3] His mother was Helen Bell (née Mackay), a personnel worker with Edinburgh city water board.[3] He lived on the Magdalene council estate and attended Portobello High School.[4] He studied English Literature and Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh where he graduated with an honours degree.[2] He was a great-great-nephew of James Connolly, the Irish revolutionary.[5]

Career

Bell applied to a graduate trainee scheme at The Scotsman but instead joined the newspaper in 1978 as a library assistant and shortly after became a sub-editor.[2][3] He also wrote articles for the paper on rock and pop music, from the end of the seventies until 1986, when he became the literary editor.[2][3] He was an active member of the National Union of Journalists, where he was Father of the Chapel, a role equivalent to shop steward.[3] After a labour dispute where journalists were locked out, he left the Scotsman in 1987.[6][7]

He next worked as sub-editor at The Herald and The Sunday Herald.[7] As a freelancer, he also wrote for The Scotsman. In the late 1990s he worked at the Daily Record, having been persuaded by the editor Martin Clarke.[4] He also worked on The Times Literary Supplement.[6] He worked as the editor of the Scottish edition of The Observer 1988–1990.[8][9] Bell was an advocate of Scottish independence over the course of his career.[2][8][10][11]

Bell wrote a biography of Robert Louis Stevenson, Dreams of Exile which was published by Mainstream Publishing in November 1992.[12][13] He wrote a two-volume biography of Bob Dylan. Once Upon A Time is a 590-page work which covers Dylan's career up to and including his fifteenth studio album "Blood on the Tracks".[14] The second volume Time Out of Mind was 570 pages.[15][16][17] He wrote a novel Whistling in the Dark which was listed in catalogues by Mainstream in 1992 as "coming soon" but remained unpublished, with Bell reworking it several times.[2][3]

Awards

Dreams of Exile was awarded Best First Book by the Saltire Society in 1994.[13]

Bell won the Orwell Prize for political journalism in 1997.[2][18]

He was named columnist of the year at the Scottish Press Awards in 2000, 2007, 2008 and 2012.[19][20][21][22]

Personal life

Bell's second marriage was to Mandy Henriksen, an artist, and they had one son, Sean who became a journalist.[2][3] He was a supporter of Hibernian F.C..[4]

He lived in Coldingham, in the Scottish Borders, for several years. He was there when he suddenly became unwell and died on 10 December 2015, at the age of 59.[23] A memorial service was held on 22 December at Mortonhall Crematorium in Edinburgh.[24]

In April 2017 plans for an award for young writers being set up in his name was announced.[25] The award itself was launched in September 2017.[26]

References
  1. "Herald writer and columnist Ian Bell dies at age of 59". BBC News. 11 December 2015.
  2. Taylor, Alan (12 December 2015). "Ian Bell". The Herald. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  3. MacAskill, Ewen (14 December 2015). "Ian Bell obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  4. Hannan, Martin (11 December 2015). "Obituary: Ian Bell, journalist and author". The Scotsman. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  5. "Connolly march scrapped after 20 years". The Herald. 4 April 2007. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  6. MacDonald, Hugh (11 December 2015). "Ian Bell: A man propelled by principle". The Herald. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  7. "Tribute to Ian Bell" (Press release). National Union of Journalists. 8 January 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  8. McKenna, Kevin (12 December 2015). "Ian Bell dies aged 59". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  9. "Celebration of the life of NUJ member Ian Bell" (Press release). National Union of Journalists. 8 May 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  10. "Ian Bell, journalist – obituary". The Telegraph. 14 December 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  11. Bell, Sean (13 December 2015). "Goodbye, Dad ... A Tribute to Ian Bell by his son". The Herald. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  12. Sutherland, John (3 December 1992). "Heliotrope". London Review of Books. 14 (23): 12.
  13. "Ian Bell, award-winning Herald columnist, dies at age of 59". The Herald. 11 December 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  14. Malitz, David (30 November 2013). "Book World: Ian Bell's 'Once Up a Time' peels away Bob Dylan's legend to reveal his oeuvre". The Washington Post. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  15. Dyer, Geoff (5 December 2014). "'Time Out of Mind: The Lives of Bob Dylan,' by Ian Bell". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  16. Dunnett, Ninian (25 August 2013). "Book review: The Lives Of Bob Dylan by Ian Bell". The Scotsman. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  17. Ian Bell : Time Out of Mind. 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2017 – via Vimeo.
  18. "1997 Journalism Prize Winner: Ian Bell". orwellfoundation.com. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  19. MacLaren, Lorna (25 May 2000). "Financial writer makes history at millennium Scottish Press Awards". The Herald. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  20. "Scottish Press Awards: full list of winners". The Guardian. 20 April 2007. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  21. "Scottish Press Awards winners". The Guardian. 18 April 2008. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  22. "John McLellan collects newspaper of the year award". Press Gazette. 20 April 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  23. Morton, Brian (17 December 2015). "Ian Bell: Scottish journalist whose nationalist writing won him the George Orwell Prize". The Independent. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  24. Hannan, Martin (23 December 2015). "Tributes of love and respect for colleague and friend Ian Bell as he is laid to rest in Edinburgh". The National. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  25. "Media Release: Ian Bell award for new writing". allmediascotland.com. 4 April 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  26. "New journalism prize in memory of Ian Bell". The Herald. 7 September 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
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