High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! James Alexander Mackay (21 November 1936 – 12 August 2007) was a prolific Scottish writer and philatelist whose reputation was damaged by a criminal conviction for theft and repeated accusations of plagiarism. In an obituary by John Holman, Editor of the British Philatelic Bulletin, Mackay was described as a "philatelic writer without equal". Mackay`s output was broad and in philatelic works rivalled only by Fred Melville.