William McIlvanney, 1936-2015

A few weeks ago, a shivering intimation of imminent mortality was felt all across literary Scotland. Willie McIlvanney was not well. Very far from well. The kind of unwell that requires a lung transplant. If the news was hardly revelatory – McIlvanney had, for more than sixty years, given his body a pretty thorough work-out – it was still gloomily depressing.