Ian McKay (and beard) outside the village from which he commuted to London – when he wasn’t working all night.
Having worked on the first edition of Antiques Trade Gazette, he is the longest-serving member of our roster of expert writers.
Back in 1971, as the first issue of ATG was being finalised, the printers that had been chosen to produce the edition suddenly said they could not do it in time and asked if the newspaper could be delayed by a week.
Somehow, alternative typesetters and a press were found and issue number one was completed with the fledging staff team toiling all hours to get it over the line.
Ian, working on that first edition alongside founder and editor Ivor Turnbull, was so busy that he had no time to go back home and so began growing the beard that he still sports today.
For the following 52 years and the subsequent 2599 issues Ian played a key role in the newspaper’s development and weekly content.
Even trade unionists could not prevent Ian getting ATG to press on time. Secret meetings used to be held with a sympathetic typesetter who, to get around problems caused by a militant troublemaker, would do their work elsewhere and hand it over to Ian in a south London car park at 4am.
Loyal following
More recently, Ian has written ATG’s Books and Works on Paper column, formerly called Antiquarian Books. His writing gained a loyal following throughout the rare books trade and we know his insight and humour will be missed.
We can assure our readers that we will be continuing with the weekly Books & Works on Paper section and calendar so there will be no disruption to the service you have been enjoying for so long. For now, everyone at ATG wishes Ian well and offers a sincere thank-you for his unique contribution.
