I was deeply saddened to learn of the death yesterday, following a severe stroke, of Kinn McIntosh M.B.E., better known to crime readers as the Diamond Dagger winning author Catherine Aird. She was 94, born in the same year that the Detection Club, of which she was a loyal member for more than forty years, was founded. Catherine - I'll use that name in this post - is someone who has been a friend for more than thirty years. I always enjoyed her writing - in fact I read and reviewed Parting Breath on this blog just three weeks ago - but more than that, I had huge admiration and respect for her as a person.
As an author she will be remembered for twenty-six novels, almost all of them featuring her Calleshire cop DI Sloan, as well as a good many short stories. One of those stories, by the way, is due to appear in a forthcoming Detection Club anthology next March. Whenever I approached her with a view to writing a short story, she was always glad - and quick - to oblige. She really enjoyed the short form. Her fiction pays tribute to Golden Age traditions whilst remaining distinctive - and consistently witty.
I first met Catherine through the CWA, which she chaired for a year in 1990-1. She was a charming and supportive companion to her many friends and a leading figure in the Dorothy L. Sayers Society as well as in the Girl Guide movement. She suffered ill-health in her youth, and I think that health problems probably troubled her for the greater portion of her life. But she was uncomplaining and great fun. I have a prized photograph, taken by the Independent newspaper, of several of us, including Val McDermid, Chaz Brenchley, and Catherine, wandering around under Brighton pier during a CWA conference. Another treasured memory is of spending a good deal of time with her during the 2015 CrimeFest at Bristol, when she was a guest of honour. We were on a 'forgotten authors' panel together, and she joined my wife and me and other friends for a very enjoyable evening. So was the Daggers Dinner at which she was awarded the Diamond Dagger.
I last saw her in person when I visited her at her home in Sturry, near Canterbury, two and a half years ago. By that time her mobility was much diminished, but her good humour and lively intelligence were much in evidence. She very kindly gave me a number of books from her collection, as well as signing several of her books that I'd collected over the years, and writing a few notes about the background to each. During the course of the day neighbours kept popping in to see that she was okay. She was, at that time, working hard on her next novel. It was an extremely pleasant day and quite a real privilege to see her in the home she'd had since the late 1940s. From time to time she'd drop me a line, to pass on information about crime fiction heritage that she thought would be of interest to me. And it always was. I shall miss her a great deal.
16 comments:
She sounds as delightful as her books!
Such sad news to be the bearer of, Martin. Kinn was enchanting to know. Witty, twinkling with intelligence, good humour and good heart. She was the sort of person who would pick up a conversation started a year before, between meetings, as if no time had passed at all. I recall her amused delight when a birthday dedication for her appeared on Classic FM, and how she turned the traumatic story of being burgled into the rather silly problem of trying to convince investigating police officers she was indeed a crime writer And, of course, a close relation of Josephine Tey. A golden light has gone out. She will be so sadly missed. But has left a true body of work behind her for our continuing delight. Pure King.
A great age! So enjoy her novels! I love them as audiobooks as well. Sorry to lose her..
Sad news indeed. Lovely memories of that meal at Crimefest. Hard to believe it is so long ago!
I'm very sorry to hear this. I first met her at that 2015 Crimefest where, when she heard my accent, she asked where I came from. When I told her it was a small village near Inverness that she probably wouldn't have heard of, she smiled and told me she had spent much of her wartime childhood with her aunts, who lived around the corner from my house. I always think of her when I cycle around 'Drummondreach' on the Black Isle, where she set her medieval mysteries. A lovely lady.
My condolences to Catherine's loved ones. She was a very good writer indeed.
Thank you so much for this kind reminiscence!
So sorry to hear this. I remember meeting her many years ago, when she had asked me to contribute to the Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing of which she was one of the editors. Catherine invited my wife and I to her home in Sturry for tea, to discuss the project, and she was so warm and charming. An occasion remembered to this day.
That is sad to hear. I always enjoyed her novels. Thank you for the memories.
Thanks very much for these kind and thoughtful comments. Melvyn, I really should have mentioned the Oxford Companion in my post. An epic project!
Oh, dear. Such a lovely lady. I don't know whether you agree, Martin, but I think if Catherine hadn't devoted so many years of her adult life to assisting her father in his pharmacy she could have become a most able lawyer. She could see through to the real significance of anything that was proposed and then deal with it logically and without fuss. We served together on several committees including one when the Crime Writers Association was considering getting incorporated as a limited company and her insights were invaluable. Quietly, without giving offence to the chairman, she led the discussion.
She also surprised us all in the CWA when she was chair by announcing that Princess Margaret had agreed to attend the awards dinner that year - our first and only visit by a royal, I think. Catherine was assistant secretary to the Girl Guides movement, of which Princess Margaret was Patron - but quite how she pulled the right strings I never discovered.
I do agree, Peter, that's a very shrewd insight. She had a very incisive mind - rather more so than a few lawyers I could think of, actually!
Thank you for sharing that memory, Shona, I know she held you in such very high esteem - Anna M
I'll never forget Catherine's contribution to the CWA's Torquay Conference at the time of the Agatha Christie Centenary. She arranged for us to visit Greenway and be shown round by the family. Idle chatter revealed that James Prichard had studied Mining (I think) in the building next to where I'd studied Metallurgy a generation earlier, and the swapping of Cardiff memories was in full swing when Catherine realised our visit had reached the end of its allotted time and 'encouraged' me back onto the coach!
I remember that trip to Greenway, Bill! A lovely afternoon. Hope you and Sarah are keeping well.
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