THE First Minister is among those to have paid tribute to the widely read newspaper columnist Fidelma Cook, who has died aged 71.

Cook's passing in southern France, where she had lived for many years, was announced by her son Pierce Cook-Anderson yesterday on social media yesterday.

He wrote: "It is with great sadness that I have to tell you that my mother died peacefully in her sleep this morning in Moissac, France. She always wrote from the heart and with deep conviction. You all meant a lot to her. Thank you. Pierce xxx."

Nicola Sturgeon responded to the post by Pierce describing her admiration for his mother's writing and recalled being inspired and rather intimidated by her in her younger days when Cook worked as a reporter in Scotland. 

"So very sad to hear this. @fidelmacook inspired (and more than slightly intimidated!) me when I was a very young politician and she worked as a journalist in Scotland.

"In recent years, I have loved and admired her writing. She was a woman full of heart and character. RIP," wrote the First Minister.

SNP president and former constitution secretary Michael Russell tweeted: "Very sorry to hear this. She had been such a long-standing , distinctive presence in journalism & commentary  and had made such a courageous stance in and for so many things. Missed but never forgotten."

Cook had been diagnosed from cancer and her illness was among the subjects she regularly wrote about.

Along with her move to France, the ups and downs of maintaining her home and her opposition to Brexit, she often went into detail about her suffering and treatment in her column in The Herald Magazine every Saturday.

Her final article was published in the magazine yesterday where she railed against the UK's decision to leave the European Union.

A passionate Europhile, she described how incredulous she had been that many UK citizens she interviewed for articles after the 2016 referendum supported leaving the EU.

Donald Martin, editor in chief of The Herald, 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."

Former Herald editor Graeme Smith tweeted: "Terribly sad news. A great loss to The Herald and Scottish journalism. Thoughts with Fidelma’s family."

Journalist, commentator and theatre critic Joyce Mcmillan also paid tribute.

She wrote on Twitter: "Can't believe @fidelmacook has gone, after that mighty tussle with increasing illness and infirmity, recorded with such wit & gallantry, right to the end, in her weekly @heraldscotland column. What a fine journalist she was. Sending love and sympathy to all her family & friends."

Women in Journalism Scotland also paid tribute.

The group wrote that she was "a role model for a generation of journalists @BBCScotlandNews @Sunday_Mail & other outlets. Indomitable, uncompromising & possessed of a pin-sharp intellect, in her writing, Fidelma scythed her way through cant & hypocrisy to the very end."

Speaking to the Herald, Pierce said his mother was "a journalist to the end".

He said: "I spent two weeks with her very recently and she perked up noticeably. I managed to get her outside for the first time in months and we were drinking wine most nights, which was nice."

He said his mother, who died in hospital, 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.

Pierce added: "She loved company and called herself a gregarious reclusive. She was always interested, always asking questions. She was a journalist to the end."