Ismene Clarke

1963-2024

A tribute by Mike O’Driscoll at the Funeral Celebration 31 October 2024

Good afternoon. You will hear from Ismene’s real husband a bit later…I’m the other one, the “work husband”.

Ismene and I worked closely together for 35 years, mostly and beginning at Industrial Minerals magazine, where I was hired by a certain Gerry Clarke back in 1987 (so it’s his fault, and he taught me all about this speaking lark), and for the last 10 years in our own start-up company IMFORMED. It’s been utter fun all the way, and Ismene made it so.

Yes, many a client or contact mistook our close working relationship as something more intimate. A frequent event: commiserate with the well-meaning but hapless airline check-in assistant, who would enthusiastically start to seat us together on a flight, only to be baffled at first by the look of utter scorn from Ismene spitting out “What on earth would we want to do that for?”, followed by her world-weary, but misplaced, recognition that obviously these two are clearly married.

I feel so lucky that I was able to spend most of my career with this unique woman, who made working such a great adventure, one could say almost a hobby.

Of course, like many good relationships, we were very different, but our common ground was working hard, achieving professional excellence and worldwide respect and recognition in what we did. Above all, we both had a similar sense of humour, a great affinity for world travel, meeting people, …and for playing harder.

The last ten years especially has been a complete blast, and we laughed all the way. And anyone who knew Ismene will know what I mean when I say she always strove to turn the fun dial up to 11 – there was never any time for slacking in so-called downtime, every moment of leisure was to be accounted for by either wining, dining, exercising, and taking opportunities to push the fun envelope with or without clients, frequently in the classiest style, and often to extreme degrees – it could be exhausting at times: kayaking in Ha Long Bay, climbing hills in Dubrovnik, on safari in Namibia, dining at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Hong Kong. But never a dull moment, and always refreshed by a good gin and tonic or fine red wine.

She was special, but here’s the thing, she made other people think they were special too. Yes, she was ruthless in closing a deal, that was her job (I called her “my rottweiler”), but at the same time when the client signed up, their initial resistance seemed to evaporate as Ismene’s wonderful charm and humour made them feel welcomed to our special community and part of an exclusive club.

As evidenced by their presence today, and the many and incredibly touching tributes from speakers and attendees at our events in Mongolia and China from which I have just returned, as well as the avalanche of condolences emailed and messaged on LinkedIn from all four corners of the globe, many of our clients became firm friends, and longstanding relationships flourished with Ismene’s all-embracing magnetism and generous heart.

She was my business “partner in crime” (as we used to chuckle), my travelling companion, my good friend, and my confidante. She lit up every room she was in and people with her felt illuminated too. This shining beacon of light has gone out in our business and social community. But I say to you all, and especially to Daphne, Gerry, Zoe and Jas, our happy memories of Ismene will always burn brightly and be cherished by myself and many, many thankful people across the world.

You made your mark Girl, rest in peace.

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