Ian was born in London, England in 1931, and hashing gained a future star (although it didn’t realize it at the time, as it was not started until 1938). In 1940, during the Second World War, Ian and his sister, like many other London kids, were evacuated to Canada. He liked to tell the story about how he and his sister were delayed on the trip from London to Liverpool, and missed the ship they were supposed to catch, a fortunate delay as that ship was torpedoed.
In 1944, Ian returned to UK and to Uppingham School where he made a name for himself by being the first person to walk around Rutland, the smallest county in England, in 24 hours. He found walking with a pack on his back enjoyable so he joined the British Army in the Lancers (they of “Charge of the Light Brigade”). He also joined Esher Rugby Club, his first introduction to singing the many Hash songs he later so often entertained us with.
In 1950, Ian climbed Mt. Snowdon in Wales and was immediately promoted to Second Lt., and in 1951, was drafted to Suez, Egypt, where there are no mountains at all.
In 1952, he left the army and joined Gestetner, (for younger readers Gestetner made a stencil duplicating machine, which was great for running off hash circulars), where he worked until 1992. The company posted him to various countries in Europe and East Africa until, in 1956 he was sent to Indonesia where he met his future wife, Jane, who was working with MI6, the British secret service; presumably he was vetted, but as he had not yet joined the Hash he passed with flying colors; Ian and Jane were married in 1957.
After a 3 year stint in Nairobi Ian was appointed as Country Manager in Kualar Lumpur where he and Jane joined the local dramatic society where he met David Scourse, who belonged to a strange running group that followed pieces of paper into the jungle. Whilst Jane rehearsed, Ian and David used to retire to the scenery room and down a couple of beers. Noting his predilection for the amber fluid David suggested he might also enjoy hashing and so, in 1961 Ian’s hashing career was born.
In 1962 Ian was transferred again, this time to Singapore and soon missed his Monday night beers at the Hash and so, with Ian as founder, the Singapore Hash, the second Hash in the world, was born.
His time in Singapore was short, as in 1966 he immigrated to the US. This time it took a little longer to feel the pangs on Hashing abstinence and it wasn’t until 1978 that he, and Charles Woodhouse (also ex Singapore HHH), founded the New York Hash House Harriers, were he remained as Grand Master (later Emeritus Grand master) until he died.
Ian was always a great fan of singing at the on on, be it in a bar, at someone’s house or in the woods. In his own words:
“Singing is an emotional experience. One of the features of singing at NYH3 was an easy-going attitude towards singing, full of unrehearsed surprises and lots of “winging it”, listening to other singers to try to find out what the hell was coming d
own. The best singing is not a raucous rendering of `The Monks’ or `The Doggies’ – but a late night octet sprawled around a beer-flooded table tuning in on `The Weaver’ or `There was a little Bird’ or `O See dem Ducks’ or `Twas a Cold Winter’s Evenin’. The cacophony of the tone deaf is absorbed into magnificently spread chords so intricate that any note will fit in. That is to everybody but those convinced thatlewd songs have no place in the Hash, they drive away the shy and unpresumptuous. Let `em go, I say.”
Ian, coming from traditional hashing, did not believe in live Hares. NYH3 has no nicknames, no circle or other beer-time consuming ceremonies, other than full participation in singing. He insisted that nearly all starts be at railroad stations. The rationale behind this, he said, is related to the low IQ of NY Hashers and their inability to read maps or follow written directions. He did however believe in Hash Haberdashery and had a hand in some memorable garb but it was always a mistake to put an item through the wash or leave it unattended! We know of at least one red terrycloth jacket that is still well preserved in Australia 30 years after everyone else’s fell apart. There are though, no known surviving examples of his famous lederhosen stitched together over an unbroken 36 hour stint. He wouldn’t tell us what Jane had to say about this escapade.
In the age of National and International hashes Ian expanded his horizons and his circle of disciple like friends and admirers: he set the tone for unabashed, uninhibited, creative but never vulgar fun. He became a celebrity wherever he went: from the DC 500th, the first on-shore Americas Interhash at Atlanta, and the next in Philly, in Rhode Island, San Diego and Hogtown, to Interhashes in Bali and New Zealand. In addition there were many local weekend trips to Summitt, Rumson and the NYCH3, inspiring the St Lucia and Downtown Fiasco annual events. He found the Australian and Swedish embassies especially enticing ONONs for their free beer and food and luxurious accommodations. Many of you will have met him on these trips, especially if you went anywhere near the hot tubs.
Ian was the master of these special occasion Hashes, which for decades became the major events of our social calendars, looked forward to with great anticipation by hashers far and wide. First on the local list was the essential New Year’s Day Hash at Goose Summer Down. Hashers travelled great distances in all kinds of garb, in dreadful hangover conditions, some without sleep after Times Square, just to attend The usually mercifully short run was followed by the most sumptuous, exotic meal, slaved over for hours by Ian and his crew in the kitchen, which usually including mounds of rice and heavily spiced unidentified animal body parts. There were endless down downs and rounds of singing led and performed by Ian, and often incurring the resigned disappearance of Jane.
The AGM, was for the longest time run in the coldest part of the winter. The first with the ON ON at one of the sleazy bars, subsequently razed, was conducted with half the pack still lost in deep snow. The Hare, Bob (later Mayor) Elliott had laid a circular trail with no indication as to where it ended. The missing hounds were rewarded with committee promotion but no reduction in Hash Cash. Ian always led the singing but was also a humorous raconteur (who can ever forget his rendition of “the death of Nelson” or his mysterious appearance at a NYC bar as a heavily disguised Soviet agent… see photos of both below), he was an artist and a wordsmith.
The AGM became huge and was known for 15 years as the St. Valentine’s Day, Lee Carlson Memorial AGM, often run in appalling conditions involving deep snow, driving winds and partly frozen streams but winding up with the most crowed On On’s at the Back Street Café or Mildew Mansion, the 
Valhalla Railroad Station, Fahnstock Park Education Center or some unsuspecting club house whose serving staff didn’t know whether to be shocked, appalled or highly entertained or a mixture of all three. Eventually we ran out of places that would accommodate us and had to go to Geof and Kath’s house, where thankfully we have been able to keep the traditions going.
Our runs were logged and counted meticulously by Ian; he knew exactly how many runs were set by every hare for decades, and we had memorable celebrations of our 50th, 100th, 150th, etc. runs. Each one was marked by the unexpected and outlandish. The 150th, for example, was marked by the roasting of a whole pig on a spit. I don’t think the hares ever broke even on the expenses but it was Ian’s influence that made us want to create the special, memorable and unconventional in all aspects of the Hash!
As a result of Ian’s reputation for these kinds of events, for 30 years the NYH3 drew attendance from all over, and, in reciprocation, Ian was honored and received the royal treatment wherever 
he went. He would be invited to speak at Interhashes and topless adoring harriettes would fling their arms around his neck to register appreciation. For those of us lucky enough to have been involved, Ian was our most unforgettable character and his decline over recent years and eventual loss has been a great blow. He will be sorely missed, but we enjoyed extraordinary experiences and created unforgettable memories that have changed our lives and enabled us to look back with immense pleasure and gratitude. We felt that no other group existed that knew how to have a good time like us and strangers in bars actually came up to us and told us so!!! Landowners with shotguns and nuns with immaculate monastery properties sometimes had different opinions.
Ian however was no real connoisseurs of beer – he loved them all- his comments on NYH3 could equally be applied to Ian himself:
“The New York Hash may be “On The Piss Again” but can lay no claim to being connoisseurs of beer. We know what it is and what to do with it, but the standard is Black Label in cans and anything other than Bud “can do” so long as it’s cheap and not Light. The introduction of Antipodean brews by Geof and the like only leaves us with Foster or Swan breath in the morning after, but we’ll drink just about anything that flows and foams.
So here we are talking beer, which is basically what the Hash is all about. What else is there to say? “
What else indeed – Ian you will be sorely missed.