Ian R. Stone (1943-2020)

Ian R. Stone, high­ly estee­med as a fri­end, col­le­ague and polar his­to­ri­an by this aut­hor and many others, left on his final jour­ney on 10 July 2020. Many rea­ders of the­se lines will remem­ber him as a bril­li­ant his­to­ri­an and gifted lec­tu­rer on board small expe­di­ti­on ships in the Arc­tic and Ant­ar­c­tic, such as the Rus­si­an ones used by Ocean­wi­de Expe­di­ti­ons in years now gone past, or in more recent years also on crui­se ships in war­mer waters, an expe­ri­ence and way of life that he shared with his wife Olga. I enjoy­ed Ian‘s know­ledge and fri­end­ship during a num­ber of crui­ses both in the Arc­tic and Ant­ar­c­tic. He never hesi­ta­ted to share his vast know­ledge and expe­ri­ence in a warm, fri­end­ly, humo­rous but always pro­fes­sio­nal way with a youn­ger col­leage.

Ian R. Stone (1943-2020), in March 2005 at Base Orca­das on the South Ork­ney Islands.

Ian was a gen­tle­man aca­de­mic in a clas­si­cal way, the kind that they just don’t make any­mo­re the­se days. His end­less know­le­ge of polar (and other) explo­ra­ti­on was always rea­di­ly available, cer­tain­ly not just after a quick, secret glim­pse at an online resour­ce. At the same time, he was rea­dy to take it up with surf and Zodiacs or with an angry polar bear, if nee­ded.

It has always been good to know that the­re was someone who would be able to ans­wer any his­to­ri­cal ques­ti­on that could be ans­we­red, some­thing I have often bene­fi­ted from also as an aut­hor. Ian always sup­port­ed others with plea­su­re. I have fond memo­ries from the times that I could share with him.