Tributes to 'Mr Stirling': journalist dedicated to his home town

The Herald Scotland

3 days ago

Died: July 3, 2025
Some individuals are destined to become influential figures whose success in life will impact significantly on people, communities and events. Alan Rennie, who has died aged 74, was one.
A highly talented journalist, Alan's enormous contribution to the Stirling Observer, very many people (including me) and the royal burgh, towns and villages in which he lived and socialised cannot be exaggerated. In Alan's case, however, what set him apart from other similar souls was his humility, deference and humour.
Alan, I suspect, never had any inkling of the colossal regard and affection which many of us had for him. He was my first boss in his role as chief reporter for the Observer and proved to be a brilliant editor, tutor and guide. To his great credit, however, he had no concept of this. I am one of many aspiring journalists whose careers owed much to Alan. There is still an unlikely number of Scotland's preeminent journalists and media figures who owe at least part of their success to Alan. For me (and I claim no preeminence), perhaps most importantly, we remained friends for life.
Away from newspapers, however, many other people shared the same extreme respect for Alan. Indeed, in the days after his death there was an outpouring in just about equal measure of affection for him as an individual and admiration of his professional achievements.
In sport, he was rugby daft and a lifelong member of Stirling County RFC. Some stalwarts of the club credit him with helping County's rise to Scottish champions in 1995. That team's scrum-half, Kenneth Harper, said Alan's promotion in the Observer of all things County drove up interest, attracted players and spectators, and contributed to the title win. Mr Harper also suggested that the change in emphasis from soccer and Stirling Albion to rugby and Stirling County was a brave revolution that had never been done previously.
He was also a keen golfer and was a member of [[Stirling]] Golf Club for many years. In his younger days, he played football to a very decent level, turning out for Bannockburn Amateurs during the club's very successful seasons in the early 1980s. Cricket was another game he played, featuring for the [[Stirling]] Observer team in the Palmer Sevens tournament run by [[Stirling]] County Cricket Club; and he was known to take to the area's bowling greens from time to time.
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But back to his roots, Alan was a [[Stirling]] man through and through, a Son of the Rock, born in the Raploch, in the shadow of [[Stirling]] Castle. His father was a policeman who was posted between [[Stirling]] and Falkirk, which meant his education was split between schools in the latter but mostly at St Ninians Primary and [[Stirling]] High School in the former.
HIs working life began as a trainee journalist with Outram, a company which then owned The Glasgow Herald and a stable of local titles. He started at The Herald but moved to the Perthshire Advertiser, where he became chief reporter before transferring back to [[Stirling]] with the same position at the Observer.
His wife, Mary, said: 'Alan's mum once told me that all he ever wanted to do from when he was a small child was to become editor of The Stirling Observer, and he got that in 1982. In 1987, he was offered the job of deputy editor at The Glasgow Herald, and he swithered about it but decided against it.'
It was far from journalism alone, however, that marked Alan as a very special person; he had deep roots in his communities and gave back by the bucket-load. He sat on, and chaired , the community council where he lived near the village of Cambusbarron; he was a Rotarian who toiled through the auspices of his local club for good causes; he served on the board of the highly regarded Smith Art Gallery and Museum in [[Stirling]]; he was a trustee of the William Simpson Residential Care Home; and he was, as mentioned, a grand sportsman.
He parted ways with the Observer in 2009 after more than a quarter of a century running the paper, the severance prompting thanks from local people. Mary recalls: 'There was a letter in the paper saying that he was Mr Stirling because he knew so much about the place. He was head-hunted by Keep Scotland Beautiful because of what he knew and who he knew. He was there for three years until he took early retirement.
'In 1992, he was contacted by someone in London saying he had been chosen to represent the Guild of Newspaper Editors, of which he was president, at a conference in Colorado Springs in America. He thought it was a joke call but it wasn't. He went off to Colorado and had a great time.'
A keen traveller anyway, Alan later took Mary to the same place and they became frequent visitors to the United States, journeying with Mary to Colorado annually. He also made yearly trips to South Africa with golfing chums.
'He would do anything for anybody and was well liked by his staff,' said Mary. 'He had a great sense of community; he was also a member of the Guildry of Stirling and the Stirling Hammermen; and he was chieftain of the Stirling Highland Games in 2004. But he never did anything for personal kudos.'
Another of his achievements was being a major influence in delivering city status for Stirling in 2002; the paper campaigned hard for the accolade.
Alan was a loving husband to Mary, whom he married in 1987; she was equally devoted, as was evident during his last weeks and days when Mary was seldom away from his bedside, often sleeping in a chair beside his bed in hospital and care home.
The best of company, he was well-known for enjoying a drink and over-imbibing on occasion. Famously in Stirling, he once approached the door of a nightclub in the town after a tipple or two more than was advisable only to be told he would not be admitted. 'Do you know who I am?' he demanded. The bouncer shook his head. 'I'm the Observer of the Stirling Editor!' he proclaimed.
He was not, of course; he was the Editor of the Stirling Observer - and a damned fine one.
MARTIN LAING