To write the life of a great man, as James Boswell wrote at the beginning of his biography of Dr Samuel Johnson, is “a presumptuous task”. We do not presume to do this on the basis of comprehensive historical knowledge and wise Olympian judgement, with all details correct and no stone left unturned and we pray the forgiveness of our readers for omissions and inaccuracies scattered throughout this book.

Our object is to provide a personal memoir of one who was our mentor, colleague and friend for more than thirty years and to do this before “Time, like an ever-rolling stream bears us and other contemporaries away – or allows them to descend into amnesia”.

We wish we had been like Boswell in keeping the diaries and accurate notes of conversations that make his book a masterpiece. For example, on 31st March 1772, Johnson said to Boswell, “Nobody can write the life of a man but those who have eaten and drunk with him”. While this is not entirely true, it encourages us. We did eat and drink with Ian Donald and our aim is to show him as he was. As we go along, we shall ask ourselves, not whether every feature we record was attractive, but whether it was characteristic.

Ian Donald was a vibrant, controversial character who deserves to be remembered for many things in addition to his contributions to ultrasound.