Journalist; Born September 15, 1926; Died February 20, 2008. ALAN Fielding, who has died at the age of 81, spent most of his career in Scottish journalism, mainly as features editor of the Scottish Daily Express and chief features sub-editor of The Herald. But his roots were far from his home on the south side of Glasgow. He was born "down Lambeth way" and was proud of his Cockney connection, with an accent he never lost. The family moved to Stanmore, Middlesex, where they were bombed out of their home during the war.

He joined the Royal Navy and caught the tail-end of that war. He served on HMS Sheffield, forerunner and namesake of the ship that was sunk during the Falklands War of 1982 - the first British warship to be sunk for 37 years.

When the Falklands War broke out he was in a minority of people who could tell you where the Falkland Islands really were. He had been there during his Navy days - and was able to write about them authoritatively for readers of The Herald.

Naval service brought him to Scotland, where he met Marion, the Glasgow girl he would marry in 1950. They cut a dash together as ballroom dancers at the old Dennistoun Palais.

Having started his journalism with the Daily Sketch, he moved to the Glasgow office in Hope Street, in time to report on events like the tragic fire at Grafton's store in Argyle Street in 1949, in which 13 people died and another 21 were injured. But his main strength was to be found in sub-editing, with a special talent for page layout and headline-writing. And his career blossomed when he joined the Scottish Daily Express in Albion Street, when Lord Beaverbrook's creation was the biggest-selling newspaper in the country, with a daily circulation of 650,000 in Scotland alone.

Fielding became features editor, a consummate professional with total integrity and dedication to his work. In a profession not without its prima donnas, he found no place for his own ego, sought no recognition of his talent. The paper was all that mattered.

In the 1960s, writers could find themselves on a plane to New York or Hong Kong or Moscow at short notice, tracking down the people who made the news. It was the heyday of print journalism and expense was no object. Exciting careers were forged from such adventures.

Fielding could be direct to the point of bluntness, it was totally without rancour. No grudges were held. But he could spot a phoney, and did not suffer fools gladly.

The glory days at the Express came to an end in 1974, when union trouble brought the paper to its knees and production was moved to Manchester. Fielding went there temporarily but returned to Glasgow, joining The Herald (or Glasgow Herald as it still was) and taking up the position of chief sub-editor in the features department.

The high standards were so much a part of his nature that they would never desert him and he gave fine service to this newspaper till his retirement in 1991. Sadly, muscular dystrophy dogged his latter years. Alan Fielding is survived by Marion and daughters Marion and June.