Ian Thomson (or "Papa Oyibo", as he was called by the Yoruba people in Nigeria) was a senior engineer who's intellect and charm led him to have many adventures in Africa, Asia and the Middle East while at work there. He was a well-travelled man, exploiting his knowledge, skills of storytelling and Scottish charm all over the place. They are many, which I have trouble remembering in exact detail as they were so many. He did write them down in black book, which I have seen him read from (and I hope, is saved from obliteration (more on that later)).
Of all the stories I have heard, one story that I just got reminded of by my mother recently (which, I think, is very relevant now) is how he became "The Man Who Sang." One day in an Islamic country (I don't know which one exactly, but for the sake of the search-bots invisibly crawling over this text let's keep it vague shall we.), Ian sang out loudly from the roof of his hotel the song "The Lord is My Shepard" (I think, I'm not 100% on this (keeping it vague).). Non-surprisingly, he was soon arrested for it. However, while most people would just accept the punishment, Ian argued that he technically didn't break the law on the grounds that the the scripture in question can be found in the Koran, therefore singing it was not an act of blasphemy. He was free in a hour. That night, at one in the morning, he received an alarmed knock at his door. It was from a Christian. He had heard of the story of "The Man Who Sang" and asked him to become their minister (as their previous ministers kept been getting arrested). He turned down the offer been a minister (he was not that religious), but he did meet with the other Christians and taught them (basically) how they can get away with expressing their faith without going to jail by exploiting the fact that the Koran contains many scriptures that originate from the Bible. (It's a history thing not many people realize. DISCLAIMER - I am not a religious scholar, just a casual amateur historian.)
And that's just the tip of a huge iceberg...
By 2000 he had enough life experience and intellect to have talking match against Brian Blessed. I can confirm this as it was by this time that I actually started to know him. By then, he began to write down many stories fictional and biographical.
He did manage to get one story published as a children's book in 2000, which I have a copy of...
Big Brother, Little Sister by Papa Oyibo (2000)
I checked and its on sale on Amazon.
This is one many many short stories he has told and written over the years. However, he hasn't been able to publish them in the traditional money-making sense because...
- His ill-health in his later years prevent him from almost all physical work.
- Because of this ill-health he was highly dependant of welfare.
- If he did try to make any money from publishing his work, he'll lose such welfare.
But now that he is no longer with us, I am personally worried about the amounts of written material he has left behind (on paper and on digital media). What is going to happen to them? Is some heartless philistinal house clearer going to destroy this material? I would be absolutely angry if someone did this to my collection of drawings and writings. And if this did happen when I died, I will (if it is possible in the afterlife) haunt this guy's house as a poltergeist and destroy everything he had worked hard to earn or assemble, making him feel what this angry spirit is feeling. I imagine Ian would feel the same way. And I would imagine he would have read what I have just said (though the ether of our Wi-Fi signals and on an iPad (as Steve Jobs has improved the infrastructure) and is thinking of doing just that, now that he has no sick physical body and the law to hold him back (as far as I know the law doesn't apply to ghosts). So if you hear news of a house clearer in Scotland (or anyone working in the DWP) experiencing destructive paranormal activity recently, its a good chance its my Uncle Ian.
To any of his and my family reading this, I can safely assume that Ian would be in fits of laughter reading that last bit. He needed it, after all that bureaucratic headaches he suffered in life.
But I still worry about his creative work. However, I know that a small bit of it is safe, because I have a few bits of it on my hard drive. A few years ago he proposed an idea to make a children's eBook, featuring illustrations by me. I did a few sketches for it, and he gave me a lot of material to work form, including the original text. However, things got in the way (mostly due to his health) and little progress was done. But, I still got all the material, and it should be enough that (if I have the will and time) finish this book (plus a few sequels, if its a success).
My uncle Ian was an inspiration, and I am very saddened that he is gone.
This picture was taken in 2010.
Later images don't do him justice due to his ill health.
