Book review: In Case Of Any News, by Kenneth Roy

Thursday 4 October. It is official. I am dying of cancer. I know this because the Times, once known as the paper of record, carries a news story, bylined Magnus Linklater and headed: Scottish Review editor reveals terminal cancer.’” So, characteristically, opens this remarkable and moving book, a day -to-day record of experiencing death’s approach while casting back over the years and asking how he had lived his life. I say “characteristically” not only because it was Kenneth Roy’s way to look reality in the face, but also because, alert journalist and hawk-eyed editor to the last, he had actually avoided using the words “terminal cancer” in the piece written for his Scottish Review magazine.