AS soon as I heard the news, I could picture him straight away - and hear him.

"Don't be shy," went my brain in Paul Kelly's voice. "Give it a try."

I cycle up Buchanan Street every day on my way to work so I would see Mr Kelly often, and who could miss him?

He owned that section of pavement outside Sainsbury's on Buchanan Street.

He had flair, salesmanship and patter to spare.

The news of Mr Kelly's murder was shocking and the response has been, rightly, one of tribute to a real Glasgow character.

Read more: Man appears in court charged with murder of Big Issue seller 

Supermarket staff have created a memorial outside the shop for him and it is now laden with flowers; a chalkboard is covered in warm messages.

Today at noon there will be a vigil for the 50-year-old and I have no doubt it will be well attended.

How many of us, though, who have spared a thought for Mr Kelly routinely walk past other Big Issue sellers in the street and never put a hand in our pockets?

How many turn a blind eye from the painful sight of rough sleepers on the same bustling street Mr Kelly used to work as his pitch?

Read more: Big Issue's tribute to murdered magazine worker 

How many never toss some coins into the cup of those begging for help on the streets?

A fitting tribute today, or tomorrow or the next and the next, would be to buy a Big Issue in Mr Kelly's name, make a donation - and lobby your local politician for change that will ensure no one is on the street in modern Scotland.