FUN, feisty and formidable – and the thrower of the “most extravagant parties”.

Friends and former colleagues joined Scottish politicians, celebrities and readers in warm tributes to much-loved Herald columnist Fidelma Cook after her death at the age of 71. She had been suffering from lung cancer.

Her son Pierce Cook-Anderson said she was admitted to hospital in Moissac, in the south of France on Friday and passed away peacefully on Saturday morning in her sleep. 

A prolific newspaper and broadcast journalist, she began a weekly column in The Herald in 2006, writing about her new life abroad and quickly became a favourite of readers. 

For her the biggest sin on earth was to be dull.

She disclosed her terminal diagnosis on August 29 last year in a searingly honest account of life’s blessings and regrets, writing "I wish I’d accepted the love offered from the odd, kind decent man instead of seeing it as a weakness – discovering too late it’s a strength beyond price when wrapped in strong arms as night falls."

Her final column was published on Saturday, the day she died.

READ MORE: Fidelma Cook: Much loved Herald columnist has died 

Janice Preston, head of services in Scotland for Macmillan Cancer Support, said:

“Fidelma’s writing was always tenacious, compassionate and honest. Her regular commentary on her metastatic lung cancer diagnosis  helped raise vital awareness of the complex issues faced by people living with cancer.”

Writer and journalist Melanie Reid described her former colleague and neighbour as “funny, exceedingly waspish and hilariously snobbish”.

She said: “Her string of maxed out credit cards, which she’d gaily unfurl from her purse like trophies, embodied her ‘live-now, tomorrow might be cancelled philosophy’. For her the biggest sin on earth was to be dull.

“No cheap bottle of champagne ever crossed her lips. 

The Herald:

“I remember her tiny height, scarlet nails and her smart suits – plus her outrageously funny stories of the all in one underwear she wore to look good in them. 

“She was also wildly superstitious and saw ghosts in every house. One especially lived in her remote country property in West Stirlingshire (being Fidelma she put Perthshire down as the address because it was grander), where she believed there was a resident spirit. 

“That was an especially happy period in her life, with her partner George Anderson, her mother and her son, gardening, ponies. 

“She lived in great style, as only Fidelma could, throwing extravagant parties.

READ MORE: Read her last column: Brexit: There will always be an England and flags, plenty of flags 

"She was brave — she drove a tiny 4WD Fiat punto and negotiated snow and floods in it, gripping her dark More cigarettes in her teeth. 

“Should she get stuck she would flutter her eyelashes and her scarlet nails and play the helpless blonde to perfection and amuse us all the next day with the story.”

The grandmother of two was born in Blackpool and began her career in English local newspapers in the seaside town, before moving to TV where she was a reporter for BBC Scotland. She also worked for the Daily Mirror, Daily Record, Sunday Mail, Daily Mail and Daily Express.

After being made redundant from the Mail on Sunday, at the age of 56, she left behind her flat in Glasgow’s west end and moved to France with her Afghan hound Portia.

Her son Pierce said she was always happiest when she was writing and even in the midst of her illness she continued to file her weekly column for The Herald Magazine.

He said: “She always wrote from the heart and with deep conviction.” He said a memorial service in the UK was planned after her funeral.

Her columns covered friendships, ageing, and the perils of bad plumbing and she was also fierce in her political views, especially her distaste for Brexit and the present UK Government.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: “Fidelma Cook inspired (and more than slightly intimidated!) me when I was a very young politician and she worked as a journalist in Scotland.”

Campaigning journalist Dorothy-Grace Elder said: “A point which should never be forgotten is Fidelma’s courage in standing against London BBC pushing aside BBC Scotland on a big news story,

“Years ago Fidelma and her crew were on Orkney on another story when they came upon a horrific cull of seals with baby seals being bludgeoned to death.

“Fidelma’s story was massive and went global – then she was told to stand down, London was sending a team.  But Fidelma was bigger in guts. She refused to abandon her story – and later resigned on principle.”

READ MORE: Fidelma Cook: I have been truly blessed and believe me I  know it. Thank you all 

Glasgow-based PR consultant and longtime colleague and friend Peter Samson said: “She was truly, a one-off.

"Fidelma loved a gossip - even about people she didn’t know. She had a huge appetite for detail. 

"In our recent FaceTime calls I could tell by her voice how much stronger she’d become and she was optimistic about the future despite her frail and compromised health status.

"Her therapies had worked. Even though we all appreciated the story didn’t have a happy ending, the news of her passing still came as a shock.

"A life truly well lived and written about beautifully by her own fair hand.”

Herald Editor-in-Chief, Donald Martin said: “Everyone at The Herald is deeply saddened by this news. Fidelma was a wonderful writer. The readers took her to their hearts, and she took them to her heart.”