My father, Colin Cooper, who has died aged 86, was a playwright, novelist, music critic and a champion of the classical guitar. He was born in Birkenhead, Merseyside, grew up in Bridgwater, Somerset, and left school at 16 to work at the Bristol Aeroplane Company. In 1944 he trained as a wireless operator at Bletchley Park and served with the Royal Signals, witnessing the unconditional surrender of German forces at Lüneburg Heath.
Postings in the Middle East followed, which formed the basis of his comic novel of bungled espionage, Best Bent Wire (published as an ebook in 2010). Demobbed in 1947, he returned to Bridgwater and wrote several plays. By the late 60s he had moved to London, married Maureen, and had two boys, Dan and me. He submitted a play (inspired by my nocturnal screaming) about the killing of a baby to a competition in the Observer. His entry was selected and produced for television in 1969 as The Funeral of HM Queen Victoria.
Kenneth Tynan (one of the judges) wrote to ask if he had anything suitable for the National Theatre. He did not, having already turned to science fiction, writing first for the radio then producing a sequence of humorous Wyndhamesque novels including The Thunder and Lightning Man (1968), which was serialised on Woman's Hour.
Music had always been important, but when Colin first picked up a guitar in 1962 he developed an obsession which gradually took over his working life. From 1982 until his death, much of his writing was for one magazine, Classical Guitar. He edited, reviewed, and interviewed luminaries, including Andrés Segovia and Astor Piazzolla. He corresponded with Anthony Burgess who had composed for the instrument. "The guitar," wrote Burgess, in his one contribution to the magazine, "has the difficult nobility of a great disease." Burgess's only payment was a box of cigars Colin had brought back from Havana.
Colin moved to Umbria, Italy, in 1992. He was widely recognised as one of the foremost writers on the classical guitar and received frequent invitations to far-flung music festivals. He published two non-fiction books, Guitar Interviews (2001) and Did They Like Me? (2008). Deteriorating eyesight prompted a reluctant return to England in 2002.
Esteemed for his authoritative and sympathetic critical writing, Colin was also much loved for his kindness, humour and great sense of fun. At times he regretted not having fully committed either to writing or music, but to have neglected either would surely have caused deeper regrets. He gained intense gratification from promoting appreciation of an instrument he believed had been unfairly neglected.
Colin is survived by Maureen, Dan and me, and a grandson, Joe.
