- Angus MacVicar
Angus MacVicar (
28 October ,1908 ,Argyll –31 October ,2001 ,Campbeltown ,Argyll and Bute ) was a Scottish author with a wide-ranging output. His greatest successes came in three separate genres: crime thrillers, juvenilescience fiction , andautobiography . His early writing was interrupted by wartime service with theRoyal Highland Fusiliers , hence most of his fiction appeared in the two decades followingWorld War II .MacVicar, whose father was a Presbyterian minister in the
Church of Scotland , lived most of his life in the village of Southend. After attending theUniversity of Glasgow he went on to work for the "Campbeltown Courier".Highlights of his many thrillers included the
Edgar Wallace -style "Greybreek" (1947) and the smoothly readable "The Killings On Kersivay" (1962), plus some books with pleasant golfing backgrounds.His children's stories at their best would combine simple
character sketch es and exoticadventure with a non-obtrusiveChristian morality . The excellent Lost Planet series was extremely popular in books, radio and TV versions (he was also an accomplishedscriptwriter andplaywright ). In these fondly-remembered stories apacifist theme came through strongly. Later titles such as "Space Agent from The Lost Planet" still have their fans; the series became less effective as it extended.It was the first Science Fiction series ever translated to
Hebrew , and had considerable impact on the development of this genre inIsrael [ Review on the website of the Israeli Science Fiction and Fantasy Association [http://www.sf-f.org.il/story?id=94&NewOnly=2&LastView=2008-09-17%2004:28:46] ]The short unrelated Atom Chasers series was also popular, boasting a fine twist ending in "The Atom Chasers in Tibet" (1957).
In later life MacVicar turned to portraying his life and background as a child of the
Manse in several delightful memoirs such as "Salt in My Porridge" (1971). These books showed his Scottish literary voice at its most characteristic, unhampered by the genre requirements of his fiction.MacVicar also presented the
BBC television program "Songs of Praise ".References
External links
* [http://www.theweeweb.co.uk/public/author_profile.php?id=216 Angus MacVicar]
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