Walter Allan R.I.P.
SUGGESTED
While I never met him personally, I want to express my sadness at the recent death of a former Publishing Director of the IEA, Walter Allan.
Walter was a great man and by all accounts was one of the funniest people ever to work in this organisation. With endless stories of his roguish and outrageous humour, his boundless energy and his exuberant love of life, I know that loved ones and friends alike will be greatly saddened at this tragic and early loss.
Still only in his 50s, he was a larger than life character with an infectious wit. Always the life and soul of any party, he was also a formidably hard working and talented writer, editor and teacher. At this time of sorrow and reflection, my heart goes out to all his family and friends.
Memories of Walter may be added in the comments box.
3 thoughts on “Walter Allan R.I.P.”
Comments are closed.
SHARE
I’m sorry to hear Walter has died. I knew him when he worked with A level students. He recruited me to write my first Hobart Paper and was always very helpful. He was a keen football fan and also wrote freelance reports on games. I went with him to matches once or twice and I attended his wedding, at the (now condemned!) Commonwealth Institute where he cut a fine figure wearing a kilt as I remember. I’m afraid I lost touch with him after he left the IEA.
Walter passed away suddenly, from a heart attack, on Thursday 4th March. Typically, he talking about football to a Manchester City academy player whom he knew well. Walter had been suffering from heart problems since the end of 2009.
I was privileged to be a very close friend of Walter for 20 years. It was a great honour to serve as his best man when he married Eunice in 2006. Over two decades we shared many wonderful and funny times – and a few “hairy” moments too! I can honestly say that we never argued or had a cross word to say each other.
Professionally, Walter was held in high esteem by colleagues in both academia and the publishing industry. He was a one-off and there is a huge gap in my life. We will all miss Walter and his outrageous sense of humour. RIP Wal!
An obituary has now been published in The Scotsman:
http://news.scotsman.com/obituaries/Walter—Allan.6153646.jp