Arts Editor Pays Further Tribute to Fairley

The arts editor of The Scotsman has written of penning his first ever obituary: for the freelance music journalist and academic, Jan Fairley, who died at the weekend.

The obituary, by Andrew Eaton-Lewis, had appeared in The Scotsman on Monday. And he chose to use the paper's Thursday arts supplement, yesterday, to pay further tribute to Fairley. 

He writes: “Jan was a writer, broadcaster, academic, singer, actor and dancer, and seemed to throw an equal amount of energy into all of these things. She travelled the world and, as one friend remarked, ended up becoming friends with almost everyone she met professionally.” 

He also writes movingly of visiting her, not long ago – at her home in Morningside, Edinburgh – where, despite being confined to her bed, Fairley was still bubbling with enthusiasm.