Frank Delaney

Novelist and broadcaster Born: October 24, 1942; Died: February 21, 2017 FRANK DELANEY, who has died aged 74, was an author and literary authority who had an exceptional gift for storytelling and was a fine wordsmith. He became widely known through his numerous broadcasts on Radio 4 and often appeared on television interviewing eminent authors. He was himself the author of several best-selling books and a recognised scholar of contemporary writing.

Mr Delaney often visited Scotland but is remembered for his appointment in 1980 by John Drummond, the Edinburgh Festival’s artistic director, as the chairman of a writers’ conference held in the Assembly Rooms. Mr Delaney joined Gore Vidal, Joan Bakewell and Melvyn Bragg for a discussion on The Inhuman Condition.

Mr Delaney had something of a literary coup at the conference. In a rare public appearance together Elizabeth Smart – the author of the epic novel By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept – and her long-time lover the poet George Baker read extracts from their writings to a packed Assembly Rooms.

In 1993 Mr Delaney published A Walk To The Western Isles: After Boswell And Johnson, which included delightful accounts of the food and hospitality the two enjoyed. One critic described it as elegant and entertaining and the next best thing to the journey itself.

Francis James Joseph Raphael Delaney was born in Tipperary, the son of a teacher, and after a short career in banking became a broadcaster with RTE principally working on documentaries and as a newsreader. In the mid-1970s he joined the Northern Ireland region of the BBC in Belfast and for many years covered the turmoil of Irish politics.

In the early 1970s he joined the BBC in London and his first book, James Joyce’s Odyssey: A Guide To The Dublin Of Ulysses, was published in 1981 and won immediate acclaim. Mr Delaney devised a One-Man-Show on James Joyce, ReJoyce, which played in London’s West End.

He wrote 12 novels, one novella, two anthologies, and a number of short stories. For Radio 4’s Bookshelf he interviewed more than 1,000 international authors and presented Poetry Please. For BBC TV he was seen on the arts programme Omnibus and fronted the six-part series The Celts. In 2002 he wrote the screenplay for an ITV adaptation of Goodbye, Mr Chips starring Martin Clunes.

In 1995 he nearly died of septicaemia after cutting his foot while working out in a gym and was later diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat. He decided to move to more tranquil surroundings and lived for some years in a 16th-century house in Somerset. In 2002 he relocated to Connecticut.

Mr Delaney was dapper in dress and manner, articulate and blessed with the gift of the gab. He certainly preserved a glorious Celtic lilt in his voice and delighted in the potency of words and the telling of a story.

Mr Delaney was married four times. His first three marriages were dissolved and he is survived by his fourth wife, Diane Mier, and three sons from his first marriage. Telephone 0141-302 6000 or by e-mail at announcements@heraldandtimes.co.uk