John Dickson, who was known to virtually every art teacher in Scotland as sales manager for Specialist Crafts, has died.

Born in 1948, John originally trained and worked as a teacher. In the early 1970s, he joined Reeves Dryad in Leicester as a salesman selling art and craft materials to schools, and he worked passionately to promote high-quality art education ever since.

John had been one of the leading lights at Specialist Crafts for nearly two decades and made hundreds of friends in the education business. He leaves his wife, Caroline, and their children, Keith, David and Sarah.