Alexander McCall Smith
In 1980, a book called The White Hippo appeared under the name Alexander McCall Smith, marking the first published work of a writer whose fiction would eventually reach readers in dozens of languages around the world.
Smith was born on 24 August 1948 in Bulawayo and grew up in Southern Rhodesia, attending Christian Brothers College in Bulawayo before making his way to the United Kingdom. He studied at the University of Edinburgh and its School of Law, and built a career that ran along two distinct tracks at once: he worked as a jurist and served as Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh, while continuing to write fiction for both children and adults. His life as an academic and a novelist meant that for many years his writing existed alongside, rather than instead of, a serious professional role in legal education.
One notable work from his fiction output is The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. By 2010, his books in English alone had sold more than 40 million copies, and his works had been translated into 46 languages. Those figures reflect a readership that spread well beyond the English-speaking world and across multiple series aimed at different audiences, from adult novels to children's books. His output as both a novelist and a children's writer gave him a broad reach across age groups.
The recognition he received over the course of his career included appointment as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, elevation to Knight Bachelor, election as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and election as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. That last fellowship, from the national academy of Scotland, connects directly to his long association with Edinburgh, the city where he studied law and later held a professorship, and which remained central to his working life as both an academic and a writer.
Quotes by Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander McCall Smith's insights on:
Well, I'd say all of us are a combination of moods and emotions. In my day to day life I don't go around skipping, but at times one can feel sheer exhilarating joy at the world.
But you cannot expect every writer to dwell on human suffering. I think my books do deal with grave issues. People who say they are too positive probably haven't read them.
My wife Elizabeth and I started The Really Terrible Orchestra for people like us who are pretty hopeless musicians who would like to play in an orchestra. It has been a great success. We give performances; we've become the most famous bad orchestra in the world.
Crisis. It was a time of sustained anxiety for anybody who read a newspaper or listened to the news on the radio, and that included his mother, Mrs. Florence Woodhouse, who was anxious at the best of times and even more so at the worst. What was the point of continuing the human race when nuclear self-immolation seemed to be such a real and imminent possibility? That was the question that occurred to Florence as she was admitted to the delivery ward of a small country hospital in Norfolk.
As a writer, I have readers who will have a range of political views. I don’t think they look to me for political guidance.
I like you when you’re algebraic,” said Ulf – and immediately regretted it. It was a flirtatious remark – describing somebody as algebraic was undoubtedly to cross a line. You would not normally describe an ordinary friend as algebraic, and then say that you liked her that way.
French philosophers had been able to admire Mao and his works because they did not have to live in China at the time.
The young rarely believe that they will not be able to get what they want, because there is always an open future.
You are a lucky lady to be marrying a man who can fix things. Most husbands just break things.