Sandy was at Glenalmond in Patchells 1957-62, where, in addition to his academic achievements culminating in Oxford entry, he enjoyed his rugby and taking part in school plays flourishing at that time under the benign tutelage of 'Froggie' Hunter, housemaster of Patchells.

He was cast as the Dauphin in Shaw's St Joan (Douglas Keyden, a neighbour in Sandy's home town of Kilmacolm, was St Joan), but perhaps his greatest triumph (not) was to play a leading part (?The Grand Inquisitor) in the Modern Languages VIth production of Das Leben des Galilei in German. He did not speak a word of the language, but his prodigious memory saw him through a faultless if clueless performance.  

He read History at University College Oxford and then went on to get a diploma in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Bologna in 1965/66. Italy and Italian proved to be the love of his life - literally so when he met and married Nadia and went on to teach English to mainly European managers at the Canning School of English in Milan and London. Pirelli was their first major client.

Sandy lacked formal teaching qualifications but drove his pupils on to attain the level of English communication skills they needed with a very personal, energetic and challenging style delivered at top volume. After his retirement from Canning, he studied for an MA in History at Birkbeck.

When not at his desk, he ran the streets of West London, attaining a Marathon-ready fitness level. It was an early sign that not all was well with him when he started falling over, at speed, on the unforgiving pavement. His mental and physical condition deteriorated over the years, and his last days were in an Oxford care home.

His marriage with Nadia sadly had come to an end, but Sandy remained in touch with her, his son Alan and daughter Camilla. They all survive him, with Sandy taking great joy from his 5 grandchildren. He was fortunate in later life in meeting Tsitsi (Cilla) de Winter, who was his partner in his final years. Both his brothers – John (Patchells 1968-1974) and Pat (Patchells 1959-1964)- pre-deceased him.

He will be much missed by his OG friends - William Brotherston, Andrew Hewson and Colin Adamson 

Colin Adamson
1957-61 Goodacres