 He died in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh after a heart attack outside a newsagents on Dundas Street in Edinburgh, and was buried in Dean Cemetery in the northern 20th century section, towards the north-west.His wife, Hazel Williamson, lies with him.He is commemorated by a "pavement poem" in the "Makars' Court" a section of James Court off the Lawnmarket on the Royal Mile.