Angus MacVicar
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Angus MacVicar (1908-2001) was a Scottish author with a wide-ranging output. His greatest successes came in three separate genres: crime thrillers, juvenile science fiction, and autobiography. Early writing was interrupted by wartime service with the Royal Highland Fusiliers, hence most of his fiction appeared in the two decades following WW2.
Highlights of his many thrillers included the Edgar Wallace-style GREYBREEK (1947) and the smoothly readable THE KILLINGS ON KERSIVAY (1962) plus some books with pleasant golfing backgrounds.
His children's stories at their best would combine simple character sketches and exotic adventure with a non-obtrusive Christian morality. The excellent "Lost Planet" trilogy was extrmely popular in books, radio and TV versions (he was also an accomplished scriptwriter and playwright). In these fondly-remembered stories a pacifist theme came through strongly. Later titles such as SPACE AGENT FROM THE LOST PLANET still have their fans; the series became less effective as it extended. The short unrelated "Atom Chasers" series was also popular, boasting a fine twist ending in THE ATOM CHASERS IN TIBET (1957).
In later life MacVicar turned to portraying his life and background as a child of the Manse in several delightful memoirs such as SALT IN MY PORRIDGE (1971). These books showed his Scottish literary voice at its most characteristic, unhampered by the genre requirements of his fiction.
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