Alexander McCall Smith
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Alexander McCall Smith | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Nationality | British |
| Genres | Crime fiction, Children's books |
Alexander (R.A.A.) "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE, (born August 24, 1948) is a Rhodesian-born British writer and Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the late 20th century McCall Smith became a respected expert on medical law and bioethics and served on British and international committees concerned with these issues. He has since become internationally known as a writer of fiction, most widely known as the creator of the The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Born in Bulawayo, Rhodesia, Alexander McCall Smith was educated at CBC Bulawayo before moving to Scotland to study law at the University of Edinburgh[1]. After returning to southern Africa to teach law at the University of Botswana, he returned once more to Edinburgh, where he lives today with his wife, Elizabeth (an Edinburgh doctor), and their two daughters Lucy and Emily. He was sometime Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh and is now Emeritus Professor at its School of Law. He retains a further involvement with the University of Edinburgh in relation to the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.
He is the former chairman of the British Medical Journal Ethics Committee (until 2002), the former vice-chairman of the Human Genetics Commission of the United Kingdom, and a former member of the International Bioethics Commission of UNESCO. Due to his late success as a writer these other commitments could not be continued.
He is an amateur bassoonist, and co-founder of The Really Terrible Orchestra. He is also the author of a testimonial in The Future of the NHS (2006) (ISBN 1-85811-369-5) edited by Dr Michelle Tempest.
He was appointed a CBE in the December 2006 New Year's Honours List. In June 2007 he was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws at a ceremony celebrating the tercentenary of Edinburgh University's School of Law.
[edit] Bibliography
[edit] The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series
- 1998 The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency
- 2000 Tears of the Giraffe
- 2001 Morality for Beautiful Girls
- 2002 The Kalahari Typing School for Men
- 2003 The Full Cupboard of Life
- 2004 In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (also known as The Night-Time Dancer)
- 2006 Blue Shoes and Happiness
- 2007 The Good Husband of Zebra Drive
- 2008 The Miracle at Speedy Motors
[edit] Professor Dr. von Igelfeld Entertainments Series
- 2003 Portuguese Irregular Verbs
- 2003 The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs
- 2003 At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances
[edit] The Sunday Philosophy Club Series
also known as Isabel Dalhousie Mysteries
- 2004 The Sunday Philosophy Club
- 2005 Friends, Lovers, Chocolate
- 2006 The Right Attitude to Rain
- 2007 The Careful Use of Compliments
[edit] 44 Scotland Street Series
- 2005 44 Scotland Street
- 2005 Espresso Tales
- 2006 Love over Scotland
- 2007 The World According to Bertie
- 2008 The Unbearable Lightness of Scones
[edit] Short story collections
- 1991 Children of Wax: African Folk Tales
- 1995 Heavenly Date: And Other Flirtations
- 2004 The Girl Who Married a Lion: And Other Tales from Africa
[edit] Children's books
- 1984 The Perfect Hamburger
- 1988 Alix and the Tigers
- 1990 The Tin Dog
- 1991 Calculator Annie
- 1991 The Popcorn Pirates
- 1992 Akimbo and the lions
- 1992 The Doughnut Ring
- 1993 Akimbo and the Crocodile man
- 1994 Paddy and the Ratcatcher
- 1995 The Muscle Machine
- 1996 The Bubblegum Tree
- 1997 Bursting Balloons Mystery
- 1997 The Five Lost Aunts of Harriet Bean
- 1999 Chocolate Money Mystery
- 2000 Teacher Trouble
- 2005 Akimbo and the elephants
- 2006 Dream Angus
- 2006 Akimbo and the snakes
- 2008 Akimbo and the baboons
[edit] Academic texts
- 1978 Power and Manoeuvrability (with Tony Carty)
- 1983 Law and Medical Ethics (with J Kenyon Mason) (this text has gone through several editions: a seventh, by Mason and Graeme Laurie, was published in 2006. McCall Smith contributed to all six previous editions.)
- 1987 Butterworths Medico-Legal Encyclopaedia (with J Kenyon Mason)
- 1990 Family Rights: Family Law and Medical Advances (with Elaine Sutherland)
- 1992 The Criminal Law of Botswana (with Kwame Frimpong)
- 1993 The Duty to Rescue (with Michael Menlowe, 1993)
- 1992 Scots Criminal Law (with David H Sheldon, second edition published 1997)
- 1997 Forensic Aspects of Sleep (with Colin Shapiro)
- 2000 Justice and the Prosecution of Old Crimes (with Daniel W Shuman)
- 2001 Errors, Medicine and the Law (with Alan Merry)
- 2003 A Draft Criminal Code for Scotland (with Eric Clive, Pamela Ferguson and Christopher Gane)
- 2004 Creating Humans: Ethical questions where reproduction and science collide (collected lectures, audio recordings)
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Professor Alexander McCall Smith's home page at the Law School, University of Edinburgh
- Author's homepage at UK publishers Little, Brown
- Author's homepage at publishers Random House
- Alexander McCall Smith's profile page at publishers Polygon
- Alexander McCall Smith at www.contemporarywriters.com (British Council)
- Interview with the author at Powell's City of Books, 6 May 2004
- Favourite music, on Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4, 19th June 2005
- Alexander McCall Smith's favourite humorous books in The Guardian
- The Scotsman podcasts: Alexander McCall Smith reads from the Scotland Street series.
- The Lives of the Scottish Saints, a short story by Alexander McCall Smith on Scottish Book Trust website
|
||||||||||||||
