Unfortunately I was the one who had to break the news to everyone. A few weeks ago a friend of his contacted the usual crowd of Housecon goers (there were only half a dozen regulars by 2019, including myself) to say that he was getting worried that he hadn't heard from Ian in some months. Well it turned out that no-one else had either. I tried contacting the local Wargaming crowd but got no response, tried the local surgery but they weren't allowed to hand out any information, so in desperation I got in touch with the Hampshire police force to ask them to make a welfare check. A day later they got back with the sad news that Ian had been found dead in his house back in May. They didn't give any more details except to say that they had had great difficulty in contacting any members of Ian's family.
I started going to Housecons back in the 1990s, I think Steve Gallacci and Pauli Kidd first pointed me in his direction when I corresponded with them. I've known Ian for 25 years and always found him to be an eccentric, warm-hearted and generous individual who could converse for hours on many subjects- military, historical, space technology, wargaming, furry... You name it, Ian would always have something to say about it. We'd assemble in his cluttered house, picking our way around the piles of books, videos, wargames and furry art and comics. We'd chat, swap news, look at what was new and watch daft anime, popping out for KFC or to the local pub, laying in food and drink for the evening. It was fun, it was a laugh. I first met Martin "Ferengi" Dudman of United Publications there and his colleague John Tatman, who would usually ferry us all down to Esdevium Games in Aldershot in his Landrover. They were good times. Last I spoke to him we were negotiating a trade of some of my books on early spaceflight for a first edition of Star Fleet Battles that he had and we were both wondering when the lockdown restrictions would finally lift enough to permit another Housecon. Now alas I'll never see him again.
I contacted Pauli to let him know, knowing that he would spread the word through the wider furry fandom and I'm glad to see that so many others remember him fondly. I have sent a letter to his house, addressed to the executors of his estate, asking if they can give me some more information concerning his death and, more importantly, where his final resting place may be. I think it would give some of us here a little comfort if we could at least visit there to say our final farewells.
Terry Pratchett said "No one is truly dead while their name is still spoken". Every so often I will lift a glass, as I hope you will, to Ian George Stuart Curtis.
Unfortunately I was the one who had to break the news to everyone. A few weeks ago a friend of his contacted the usual crowd of Housecon goers (there were only half a dozen regulars by 2019, including myself) to say that he was getting worried that he hadn't heard from Ian in some months. Well it turned out that no-one else had either. I tried contacting the local Wargaming crowd but got no response, tried the local surgery but they weren't allowed to hand out any information, so in desperation I got in touch with the Hampshire police force to ask them to make a welfare check. A day later they got back with the sad news that Ian had been found dead in his house back in May. They didn't give any more details except to say that they had had great difficulty in contacting any members of Ian's family.
I started going to Housecons back in the 1990s, I think Steve Gallacci and Pauli Kidd first pointed me in his direction when I corresponded with them. I've known Ian for 25 years and always found him to be an eccentric, warm-hearted and generous individual who could converse for hours on many subjects- military, historical, space technology, wargaming, furry... You name it, Ian would always have something to say about it. We'd assemble in his cluttered house, picking our way around the piles of books, videos, wargames and furry art and comics. We'd chat, swap news, look at what was new and watch daft anime, popping out for KFC or to the local pub, laying in food and drink for the evening. It was fun, it was a laugh. I first met Martin "Ferengi" Dudman of United Publications there and his colleague John Tatman, who would usually ferry us all down to Esdevium Games in Aldershot in his Landrover. They were good times. Last I spoke to him we were negotiating a trade of some of my books on early spaceflight for a first edition of Star Fleet Battles that he had and we were both wondering when the lockdown restrictions would finally lift enough to permit another Housecon. Now alas I'll never see him again.
I contacted Pauli to let him know, knowing that he would spread the word through the wider furry fandom and I'm glad to see that so many others remember him fondly. I have sent a letter to his house, addressed to the executors of his estate, asking if they can give me some more information concerning his death and, more importantly, where his final resting place may be. I think it would give some of us here a little comfort if we could at least visit there to say our final farewells.
Terry Pratchett said "No one is truly dead while their name is still spoken". Every so often I will lift a glass, as I hope you will, to Ian George Stuart Curtis.
Andrew Tucker.