The mischievous face that stares at you from the front page of this tribute tells it all about Alan McClarty, who died suddenly on Tuesday, 1 November 2011, in Lagos, Nigeria, where he had currently been working.

A legend among the legion of Nineties/Noughties media directors in South Africa, Alan chose to plough new fields in the rapidly increasing West African market with great success and admiration among his new colleagues, whose Facebook postings reflect their admiration and devotion to the man who steered some of South Africa's top brands on successful advertising paths.

Deep and understanding, quiet, amusing, prankster would all fit. But dedication, knowledge and commitment would equally qualify him as one of the best media men to emerge in the last three decades in SA.

He was accessible and helpful, a friend of print media where he had cut his teeth as a "female" employee - he begged Bob Harrison for a job at the Argus, where the only vacancy was for a telesales lady. McLarts took the job and never looked back, rising to the pinnacle of media management in South Africa.

We'll miss the intelligence and good times. I certainly will.

Alan McClarty, or McClarts as we all used to call him, was one of the most important people in my life! As I write this, I find it hard to swallow as my stomach aches with pain for the longing of an icon I will not see in this lifetime again!

Alan was my mentor and friend for many years. I went to work for Alan at McCann Erickson in the '90s - we worked real hard and we played real hard!!

Our relationship was a partnership; we supported one another fully and were the best of friends. Our working relationship did not end there. Alan worked with me at Optimedia when I was almost ready to give birth to my twins - once again, there was Al, right by my side, supporting me when I really needed him most.

Al made work fun, interesting and challenging but, most of all, Al believed in me and allowed me to fly!

Thank you Al, for always guiding me in my younger years, for teaching me so much more about media and for always opening doors for me in the media industry.

I will always love you and will always hold you close to my heart! For you, my friend, had the biggest heart ...

I dedicate this short verse from Kahlil Gibran...

And what is to cease breathing, but to
free the breath from its restless tides, that
it may rise and expand and seek God unen-
cumbered?

Only when you drink from the river of
silence shall you indeed sing.

And when you have reached the moun-
tain top, then you shall begin to climb.

And when the earth shall claim your
limbs, then shall you truly dance.

Dance on Al and thank you again - I was blessed to have shared so many wonderful years with you!
I will always treasure our time together.

A great friend, working colleague and horse-racing partner.
You will be sadly missed by all of us.

McClarts, everybody talks about the need for creativity in media but you're one of the few that lived it out, rather than just talking about it. The only media man in Mzansi who took the Ogilvy copy test just to prove the point. You turned "work hard ... play hard" into an art form. A free spirit in a demanding discipline, you never gave out more stick than you were prepaid to take yourself. In an age of media accountants, you were an artist and we all celebrate the canvas of your life!

How strange that I first met Alan in the 1970s, not at an industry function, not over a beer, not over a desk, but on horseback in the Cape! The late Peter Gazzard and I had rented a couple of hacks to while away an afternoon. Alan, recognising two absolute amateurs, came over and introduced himself whilst pointing out that were either of us to get moving faster than a trot, we'd probably go arse over kettle. Both Peter and I received a rapid training course on horse saddling!

And in sad retrospect, that, maybe, was so typical of Alan. Helping people to do things better came as his second nature. No side, self-promotion or "what's in it for me?", just professionalism. The ad industry has lost another legend.

My best days in the advertising industry were working with Alan McClarty and Richardo de Carvello between 1991 and 1995 at The White House (which later got the DDB Needham adage). I knew Alan as a brilliant media mind, one that gave the people who worked with him free reign to be just that: brilliant and creative and to explore the outer edges of the possible. He was generous, hard-working, hard-partying and always ready for a tough engagement with the abstract, the innovative, that which will push the boundaries and make the media buck work beyond the measurable(s) available back in those days.

Alan was also instrumental in getting me to go to Uganda in 2000. Lucky, since this is where I met my husband. Alan, you are loved and missed and always remembered. Your original face is timeless. Peace be with you.

Alan remains one of the most humble and brilliant minds that I have ever met. He possessed a unique ability to train, encourage, mentor, inspire and coach and, without him, the media industry would certainly not be what it is today. I am deeply grateful that I was fortunate enough to train and work with him for so many years and I often default to what Alan taught me - the good old-fashioned way. Al - you will be missed. I hope the Amstels are always cold! RIP.

Alan McLarty was one of the most unassuming people I've ever met. When I used to sit on the AMASA committee, I'd call him and ask him, often at the last moment, to lecture at the school or on a workshop. He never said no, and the students loved him because not only did he really know his stuff, but he was off the wall and made learning fun. All of them wanted to go and work for him.

As much as he loved working with youngsters, he loved jolling with them even more! I remember him rescuing Sarah England from Dozi at an AMASA weekend. Dozi wanted to take Sarah with him, so Alan grabbed hold of her to get her away, and he promptly picked them both up and was ready to walk out with both of them!

Fond memories - Alan imitating Mike Jagger in a wheelchair, being attacked by a paper bag and having a food fight with Gordon Muller, because of something that happened 10 years previously.

Many senior media people today were trained by Alan, and I'm sure that they are all grateful to him. His input into the SA media industry was enormous.

So thanks, Al, for making media a fun place to work!

I also go back to BBDO days with Alan and have to endorse Garth's sentiments.
A great character. Maybe it was something to do with his height but he could always see below the radar.

Alan, it has been a great pleasure working with you over the years, and the fun we had at various conferences together. It will always leave a smile on my face remembering how you and the other three guys fell asleep when you accompanied me to a Broadway show in New York, and when we got lost in Paris for hours walking the streets trying to find our hotel in the wee hours of the morning. It was also great to have our catch-ups during my visits to Lagos over the years. May you rest in peace. Love Sharon

Before Alan matriculated, he applied to me for his first job. At the time, I was advertisement manager of the Argus in Cape Town. He was happy to take on the most menial of tasks and soon became a real star.

I even attended his 21st birthday party in Durbanville and remember clearly how amused he was when I offered to act as barman for the night. A wonderful character who will be sadly missed by his loving family and friends.

Cheers

I did not have the privilege of getting to know Alan well, but on the occasions when we did meet, I came to appreciate the high regard in which he was held by colleagues in our Industry. I came to know him as a larger-than-life personality, idiosyncratic in some ways and downright odd in others. Have a beer or two for us up there in Heaven.

These are the qualities I remember most about Alan. I met him when he first arrived in Johannesburg...

An understanding of creativity and an inquisitive ardour for statistics.
The knowledge that in advertising you never stop learning
Three important ingredients towards a good media mix.
Add to the recipe Alan McClarty the man. His tenacity. The personality,
likeability, rapport and respect. And a great sense of humour.

His ingredients were correct and he baked a successful cake.
I'm just so sorry he's not around to eat it...

To Alan. A toast.
Rest in Peace

Alan McClarty

The man I knew
From my earliest recollections of him to the last
He remained constant in character and in his commitment to his craft and his goals
When he agreed to join me in Nigeria to set up Initiative media
I felt a sense of relief and accomplishment, for he embodied all that was necessary
To survive and thrive in this challenging environment
His life and times in the tropics were legendary and peppered with tales that often bordered on bizarre
His initial arrival and 'hijacking' I discovered has become an urban legend
Relayed with astonishment in all corners of the continent
Surely the average person may well have taken the first flight out
Or the time when he single handedly stepped in to protect a young woman
Who was being assaulted by the local constabulary
And was rewarded for his chivalry by numerous vicious blows from their AK 47's
Ending up in the local lock up to cool his gallant impetuosity
I am sure you will hear more of his extraordinary accomplishments
Most of which went unheralded during his eventful life
The one which for me will always stand as a beacon to his ability and commitment
Was his first interaction once he had settled in this vast and dynamic new market.
The media industry was very much in its infancy and lacking in the base data
So essential for sophisticated and accurate media investment decisions to be made
The industry was about to abandon the their first media consumption and attitude survey
as it seemed impervious to interrogation
Alan tackled the problem head on and spent the next month investigating and evaluating
both the raw data and the proposed interface and software.

The result
He was able to identify the problem and propose a very inexpensive solution
His pioneering attitude saved the industry millions of dollars, as well as time,
for if the study had been consigned to the scrapheap,
a new study would have taken many years to commission and complete.
For this he received no remuneration, nor public accolade
But to him that was not important, he had done what he felt was right
And in his pragmatic way he needed to have the data to enable him to create and craft,
efficient and measurable plans for his clients and their marketing investments
His dedication and intense commitment generally took precedence over his personal life
And this became his final sacrifice.
We will all miss him for a vast array of reasons
For apart from his creativity, compassion, dedication, integrity and humanity
In essence Alan was a unique man with values very seldom found
in this material and ever accelerating world
And a piece of advice I dispensed to him with monotonous regularity
Which fell largely on deaf ears, unfortunately.

Rest in peace my friend

The media world will miss your light and inspiration
As I will miss your friendship
Richard Knight

On behalf of his many expat friends who have been unable to attend any of the memorial services
And pay their respects.

A few of us did congregate last Friday to share a compulsory Heineken or three, both in his memory
And to assist the Brewer in stabilising their declining sales.