Welcome to Ian Mathie's website
NEW!
Ian Mathie's new book, The Man of Passage, is a collection of true stories about unusual - even mysterious - things he witnessed and experienced while working as a rural development officer in Africa in the 1970s and early '80s. His love affair with Africa began many years before when, aged three, Ian first went to live in Northern Rhodesia.
Photograph courtesy of the Leamington Observer
Taking material from detailed observations recorded in notebooks that accompanied him to many different countries, Ian's stories cover a wide range of topics. They give a fascinating insight into Africa's life and peoples at the time and show how a European could then be accepted and welcomed into local communities.
Hearing his enthralling and sometimes bizarre tales, Ian's friends frequently suggested he should write a book about his travels and adventures.
The first draft of The Man of Passage was written some years ago, as an 80th birthday present for Ian's Dad. It was his posting to Northern Rhodesia that planted the seed of the travel-bug, so this is a somewhat belated "Thank You" for that start and for all the continuing interest and encouragement that both his parents gave to his work and life in Africa.
