Eric B Mackay

Born: 31 December, 1922, in Aberdeen.

Died: 16 May, 2006, in Edinburgh, aged 83

ERIC B Mackay, one of The Scotsman's best, and most affectionately remembered, editors has died at the age of 83.

After early post-war years on local papers in his native north-east and a brief excursion to the Daily Telegraph, his career and the rise of The Scotsman were inextricably linked.

From a place on the down-table sub-editors' desk he became deputy chief sub-editor, London editor, deputy editor to Alastair Dunnett for 11 years and then editor from 1972 to 1985.

Those were great years for the paper, starting quietly in typical under-stated Mackay style, and moving on to the first battle over devolution in the late 1970s.

The Scotsman, and Mackay, were for it, as were many of the growing army of readers as debate-driven circulation hovered within touching distance of 100,000.

The decimal-point vote against devolution came as a disappointment to him and many of his opinionated journalists, although reporting of the arguments had been scrupulously fair, again in best Mackay style.

Yet for all his sub-editing and production skills, the abiding memory for most who worked with him was of a man so laid-back as to be horizontal, unflappable, taciturn without being surly and, the side most saw at some time without it ever being overt, his kindness.

Alastair Clark, one of those who worked with him during most of the Mackay years, said of him: "After the dynamic editorship of his predecessor, Alastair Dunnett, Eric Mackay adopted a noticeably more laid-back approach.

"He regarded the editorial staff as his orchestra, all able to play their professional parts, with Eric, of course, at the podium, conducting in his languid, relaxed style.

"He didn't get involved in the nitty-gritty of producing pages and headlines, relying on the chief sub-editor of the time to do the business. Nor did he hang about to 'put the paper to bed'. Most nights, he was probably in bed before the paper."

The effect of this was to give many talented young journalists not only valuable experience at the cutting edge, but the kind of motivation that drove them to higher things.

There is a long list of those who did just that, including Neal Ascherson, James Naughtie, Andrew Marr, Arnold Kemp, Gus Macdonald and many more. Mr Ascherson said of Mackay: "Your paper took its devolution line discreetly, but with heart, against all the pressures and you never gave in."

Mr Naughtie said, at Mackay's retirement, that he was an editor who had "sustained the character of his paper and enhanced it ... the paper has his mark on it, and so do we all."

But there were also many who were with him from his early days and stayed, a generation of professionals with "The Scotsman" lettering running through them like a stick of rock.

Jim Seaton, who edited The Scotsman from 1995-1997, was one. He joined the paper in the late 1950s, his first major appointment of many on the paper, as features editor made by Mackay.

Mr Seaton said: "He was a very great man. He was the most principled and decent journalist I have ever worked with. He was an honest man of the highest personal standards and he expected the same of his journalists.

"He was cautious of politicians and cautious of civil servants. He was one of the greatest editors of The Scotsman. He took it to the cusp of 100,000 circulation when at the helm during the referendum in 1979.

"He demanded the highest standards of his staff, but I don't know anyone who has a bad word to say about him."

When Mackay believed in something, he took a stand. One was on Ian Smith's declaration of UDI for Rhodesia. Mr Seaton said: "He believed Ian Smith was wrong. In his paper, "government" was always in inverted commas because he felt it was not a proper constitutional government."

Ronnie Munro, another of The Scotsman's impressive list of North-east journalists, was taken on as a junior sub editor under Mackay.

He said: "He was editor during a very successful period for the paper, almost the last of the long serving editors. I had great regard for him. He was great at giving journalists their head and didn't interfere unless he had to."

That did not mean what they did was unobserved or that he did not take an interest: "He kept a close eye on them, he liked to see his protgs blossom. It was a very happy paper in the period and the staff were all loyal to him."

That did not preclude affectionate impersonations by his loyal staff of Mackay's famous mannerisms, such as the friendly punch on the arm that left bruises and the foot on the desk, ruler bending double, glasses on top of the head, as captured wonderfully well in the painting by Alberto Morrocco that hangs in our Holyrood Road office.

His equally famous laconic throwaway lines: "Leave it with me" and "A leetle travail", describing some horrendous production problem or lawyer's letter, became catchphrases. Other occasional pronouncements such as: "This is a seat of the pants job" as an answer to what a journalist should do with a story passed into office lore.

Behind those public mannerisms and conversations that were friendly in the minimum of words was a very private man. Few knew why he walked with a limp with a built-up boot. Many speculated, but most of us discovered only yesterday that he was badly injured as a 19-year-old in the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry in 1941 when his tank was blown up in Belgium.

His son, David Mackay, said: "He was the only survivor. He spent two years in hospital and it was touch and go as to whether he would lose his leg.

"The surgeon said, 'Stick him outside and see if the fresh air helps.' And it seems it did.

"He had a characteristic limp afterwards as one leg was always shorter than the other. It never held him back."

It was typical of Mackay that he never talked about his dice with death, equally typical that he almost never talked about his personal or family life.

David Mackay said: "He was totally committed to the paper. He was the sort of man who kept his family life quite separate from his business life. But he was very much a family man, especially after he retired, in his 60s, when he took up bowling and gardening."

Eric Beattie Mackay was born in Aberdeen. He served in the Second World War until his serious injury. After the war, he graduated from Aberdeen University, getting his first job as a reporter on the Aberdeen Bon-Accord before moving to the Elgin Courant.

He joined The Scotsman as a sub editor in 1950, moving briefly to the Daily Telegraph, then back to The Scotsman as deputy chief sub editor in 1953. He became London editor in 1957, returning to Edinburgh as deputy editor to Sir Alastair Dunnett in 1961. He became editor in 1972, retiring in 1985.

He is survived by his sons, David and Steve, and daughter, Susan. His wife, Moya, died 25 years ago and his third son, Ian, died last year.

FORDYCE MAXWELL