CALUM Macdonald, Crosswords Editor and former Group Digital Editor of The Herald has died. He was 55.

The journalist who had a 25-year career at The Herald before setting up his own news website, Positively Scottish, two years ago, died at his Glasgow home earlier this week.

He is survived by his wife Christine Jardine, who has been selected to fight the former Liberal Democrat seat of Edinburgh West in the June General Election and his daughter Mhairi, a 20-year-old University of Edinburgh student. He is also survived by two sisters, Morag and Shona.

Mrs Jardine said: "I am shocked and saddened by the way this has happened. The whole family is shocked and saddened.

"We will miss him terribly. We were married for nearly 30 years and Calum was such a big part of my life.

The Herald:

"My thoughts are with Mhari and we are touched by the kind thoughts and support we have had from friends in journalism and the family.

"He had a wonderful 25 years at The Herald. It was a huge part of his life. And we will forever associate his career with the newspaper."

He joined The Herald in 1990 from the Press and Journal in Aberdeen, as a news reporter and went on to become Night News Editor, Group News Editor and latterly Group Digital Editor before leaving the paper in April, 2015, although he continued to carry out his crossword duties on a freelance basis.

Mr Macdonald, whose father and grandfather were also both journalists, went on to set up the news website as a social enterprise initiative, to help young journalists and promote a positive news agenda.

The Herald:

Graeme Smith, Editor of The Herald, said: “Calum was an incredibly dedicated journalist and a great servant of The Herald. He worked on the paper and its website for 25 years.

“He was also our Crosswords Editor and managed our team of compilers as well as answering readers’ queries. His death is a great loss.”