Clifford Leonard Clark Hanley October 28, 1922-August 9, 1999
The eighth of nine children raised in tenement Glasgow in the twenties and thirties, Clifford (Cliff) Hanley emerged, fully-fledged as an author with his acclaimed first published book "Dancing in the Streets", which recreates the life of his native city and which is now accepted as a classic of its kind.
Hanley's journalistic career began with a life of crime - reporting from the city courts for a local news agency. By the time he had graduated to the Daily Record, it was clear that he had an astonishingly versatile range. In particular, he loved the then hectic world of Glasgow show-business, reporting on the raft of theatres which still survived in the city in the 1960s. He was so prolific and quick to turn a story that his editor had him also use the pen name Andrew Bonar.
Hanley was always more than a commentator and reviewer, his membership of Equity testifying to his skills on the speaking circuit, and to his talent as a lyricist.. He was astonished when, having put words to an old pipe tune for use in a variety show, he found Scotland The Brave emerging as the de facto national anthem, but he also penned marvelously witty Scottish folk song
He produced a score of novels, including thrillers under the pen name Henry Calvin, scripts for the theatre, television and documentary films, notably the Oscar-winning Seawards the Great Ships, and poetry as Ebenezer McIlwham, the Bard of Whifflet West. He hosted his own television show "Cliffhanger", and was a well-known voice on radio.
He served on the Scottish Arts Council, and the Inland Waterways Advisory Council, was Scottish chairman of the Writers Guild, president of the Scottish Center of International PEN and of the Glasgow Philological and Literary Society. He was proud of his stint as a writer in residence at a Toronto university, reveling in a new role in a new country.
Despite his staggering talents, Cliff had his faults. He was, for instance, a lifelong fan of Partick Thistle, and a devout worshipper at Firhill, the Glasgow football ground for agnostics and masochists.
Despite his staggering talents, Cliff had his faults. He was, for instance, a lifelong fan of Partick Thistle, and a devout worshipper at Firhill, the Glasgow football ground for agnostics and masochists.
As a devotee of golf his 20 handicap was a flattering nonsense. As a yachtsman he had difficulty keeping clear of properly charted but submerged rocks in the Kyles of Bute. But there he'd be, risen early and out first light to swing clubs, bend on sails, or whatever else was his latest sporting enthusiasm.
A man of short stature, he married Anna, who was six feet tall, and much enjoyed the visual gag presented by the couple, whose long and happy marriage only ended with her sudden death.
The Hanleys had one son, the artist Clifford G. Hanley, and two daughters, Jane and Jo.