“Leslie Deans was born in Edinburgh and, like parents George and Marlene, stayed there. His horizons were, however, not dominated by the city: he was fluent in French and Spanish, had a command of Italian and travelled widely in Europe. He was a regular at the Edinburgh Festival, the Jazz Festival and the Fringe.

“At six Leslie developed a limp. He found it increasingly difficult to walk and became used to plaster casts due to bone fractures. The limp developed into a shuffle and he was often helped by two girls to move around the school. He recently tracked them down and they enjoyed a lunch together, going down memory lane. At age 17 he was diagnosed with brittle bone disease; it had affected his growth and mobility. From being the tallest in his Clermiston Primary School class, he grew to be someone who would be called ‘a 5ft giant of a man’.

Read the full obituary on The Scotsman website