A horse walked into a bar...
CommentsI met Ian in the sands of the Sahara in Mauritania. My abiding memory of him is during our many rest stops during the trek, there would be a lull in the conversation, and Ian would start one of his jokes from his vast repertoire (from the 1964 Beano Joke Book, as he said): "A horse walked into a bar..." - the rest of the group would hang on his every word and action, and end up weeping tears of laughter at an awful joke expertly told. On the last night of the trek, somewhere in the desert, with the only light coming from the campfire in the sand, Ian organised everyone - tourists, camel drivers, cooks, drivers - into groups to sing a round of songs with utterly nonsense sounds. I can still picture it ending with everyone dissolving in laughter, while Ian looked on in mock disappointment.
I am sure (being a failed teacher myself) that the ability to have an audience in the palm of your hand is vital to success as a teacher and I am sure that Ian would have been very fondly remembered by his ex-pupils.
I also remember walking with Ian through the town of Chinguetti (more of a loose collection of buildings being buried under the sand), and trying to find a phone. Eventually we found a shop claiming to have an international telephone. It had hardly anything on its shelves, but after about 20 attempts, Ian managed to get through to phone home.
The success of a trip like that depends largely on the group, and how they get on. Ian's presence there contributed greatly to its success.
I am sad that I won't bump into him again on some trip to a far-flung part of the globe.
Reader Comments (2)
Well - was in a train with the wee man years ago - going though Paris - he had a certain scottish purse named a sporran - Ian as they say was dipped as the train was cramped - she thought as she ran out of the train she had loads of money - Ian only kept toilet paper in the sporran - was hilarious.........
Its with great sorrow i hear of this GREAT mans passing , this is a man who lived live to the full and thought nothing of what he gave to others and will continue to do so with memories, god bless