LAVINIA Derwent, the writer of children's books who died at the
weekend, was the old woman who should have lived in a shoe. A spinster,
she had no offspring but, in word and in deed, she had generations of
children who loved her.
She died peacefully in her sleep in the early hours of Sunday morning
and with her went her age. She never once told anyone how old she was.
It was the lady's secret. Friends reckon she was in her early eighties.
Lavinia Derwent was born, one of six, in the Borders and lived her
childhood on a farm in the Cheviot Hills above Jedburgh.
She was prevented from embarking upon a college education by a bout of
serious illness. She moved to Edinburgh to work in the clerical
department of Collins, the book publishers. Later she transferred to
Glasgow, the city which became her lifelong home.
She was already writing. She started off with stories about the
animals on her farm. Her anecdotes about a child's life in the Borders
were both nostalgic and timeless. Then along came her most famous
fictional character, Tammy Troot, the fishy favourite of many a Border
Tale who went on to become the BBC Radio star of 135 adventures and a
strip cartoon hero in the old Bulletin newspaper.
Another Derwent creation was MacPherson, the scampy Glasgow message
boy, who was invented to show children that adventure could be found
just around the corner.
Adventure was never far from Miss Derwent's life as she travelled all
over the world, cementing her belief that national borders merely
separate peoples of basically similar natures and aspirations.
In Scotland she was part of that enthusiastic band of Scottish authors
who are willing to tour the country and visit schools, book sales, and
libraries in the hope of enticing a few more children to the written
word.
Some of her most accomplished work was to be found in her writings
about the fictional Hebridean island of Sula. The illustrations were
provided by Glasgow artist Louise Annand, who became a close friend.
She said yesterday: ''I found it so easy to do the illustrations
because of the way she explained things in the book. She wrote for
children in a very convincing way. It came out looking very easy which,
of course, was the most difficult thing to do.''
Lavinia Derwent was a gregarious, friendly person. She had a wonderful
way with children, according to her many friends. She could make an
angel out of the most difficult child simply by her manner.
Every Christmas Day she held a party in her smart home in the West End
of Glasgow. A regular guest was author Cliff Hanley, a friend of many
years standing who yesterday paid tribute to the old lady.
''All I could say is that I loved Lavinia Derwent, but that was
normal. People didn't like her. They either didn't know her or they
loved her,'' he said.
Lavinia Derwent suffered a serious stroke in 1987 and, after a long
period in hospital, she was admitted to a West End nursing home.
Although confined to a wheelchair for much of the time, she never lost
her sharp mind or her engaging smile. She was never short of friends and
was probably the most visited person in all the old folks' homes in the
city.
At the time of her death she was working on another part of her
autobiography which, sadly, she was unable to complete.
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