Ian Bell

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.

Early life Ian Mackay Bell was born on 7 January 1956 in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father was Ian Bell, a fireman on steam trains and a trade unionist. His mother was Helen Bell (née Mackay), a personnel worker with Edinburgh city water board. He studied English Literature and Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh where he graduated with an honours degree.

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.

He next worked as sub-editor at The Herald and The Sunday Herald. Bell was an advocate of Scottish independence over the course of his career.

Bell wrote a biography of Robert Louis Stevenson, Dreams of Exile which was published by Mainstream Publishing in November 1992. 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". The second volume Time Out of Mind was 570 pages. 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wrote a novel Whistling in the Dark which was listed in catalogues by Mainstream in 1992 as "coming soon" but remained unpublished, with Bell reworking it several times.

He was named columnist of the year at the Scottish Press Awards in 2000, 2007, 2008 and 2012.

Personal life Bell's second marriage was to Mandy Henriksen, an artist, and they had one son, Sean who became a journalist. A memorial service was held on 22 December at Mortonhall Crematorium in Edinburgh.

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