John Lavalie (talk | contribs) |
John Lavalie (talk | contribs) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{obit|Ian Marter}}{{article | {{obit|Ian Marter}}{{article | ||
| − | | publication = | + | | publication = Comics Buyer's Guide |
| file = 1986-11-21 Comic Buyers Guide.jpg | | file = 1986-11-21 Comic Buyers Guide.jpg | ||
| px = 650 | | px = 650 | ||
Tall, handsome, and sturdy, in natty blue blazer and flannels -- with an earnest and amiable "I say!" -- Harry Sullivan bumbled his way into the Doctor Who family.
"Big, butch Ian," Lissy Sladen called him. Ian Marter did seem larger than life.
Ian was the quintessential "sleeper" convention guest, winning new fans with a gentle cynicism and a witty sense of humor. Backstage, waiting to be introduced, he would frequently frin and bellow to the moderator, "Oh, get on with it!" and then stride up, biceps bulging under an open linen shirt, in jeans and casual shoes, swinging the ever-present black leather shoulder bag which contained, among other things, stand-by slices of bread and his life-giving insulin.
He brought a unique point of view to the Target novelizations. Apart from an erudite and rousing writing style, his adaptations are full of cheeky in-jokes and the names of his friends, and once -- he claimed -- the actors' phone numbers minus crucial digits.
This summer, in the heat of a California August, he spent four non-stop days sequestered in an un-air-conditioned apartment cranking out the book of the movie Tough Guys on a two-week deadline.
And then, finally read to dash to the printer to have the manuscript copied for the international courier, he raced back to retype the last page because he had just thought of a neater tag line.
He was proud of his gorgeous teen-age sons but was basically a private man. He adored the beach and delighted in word games. Oxford-educated, he could discuss any subject and he never failed to make his friends ache with laughter -- except after one Guinness too many, when he'd get onto politics, American or British, and all you could do was shout in a chorus, "Oh, p--- off, Marter!"
Nicholas Courtney, with whom he had become quite close in the last couple of years, said that Ian's death left him "so diminished." That applies to those who never had the privilege as well as to those who knew and loved him.
Disclaimer: These citations are created on-the-fly using primitive parsing techniques. You should double-check all citations. Send feedback to whovian@cuttingsarchive.org
