I am the youngest of the "Elam" girls, Joyce, we lived next to the Arnofs in McCrory, Arkansas for years. I spent most of my young life playing with Ian and Ann. In Ann's playhouse or around the pool with Ian, Ann, and sister Katie. Your Great Grandmother Sis, would put all of us in her car and take us to town for ice cream. Ian was a great young boy, fun and fair. I knew he was destined to be a wonderful man. We moved to Michigan and the Arnofs moved to New Orleans. Lost touch unfortunately, but read of Ian's passing in the Arkansas paper. We contacted Ann in New York to express our sadness of his loss. Just know that even as a young boy, he was the best!

I spent much of my young childhood in the Arnof household in Memphis as Paige and I, along with our parents, were friends. I do recall that Paige had plastic figures of all of the U.S. Presidents in her bedroom. It was quite unusual in that era for a young girl to have anything not related to dolls or typical girl things in her room. Ian encouraged his kids to be independent thinkers with goals at a young age. Years later, I recall being invited to Pritikin for dinner on an annual basis when Ian was visiting Los Angeles. My husband and I would stop for a real dinner after visiting Ian as the food at Pritikin was tasteless and bland to say the least. It was always great to visit with Ian, even if it meant eating a meal of zucchini with no salt, oil, or butter. Ian was an incredible man who made a difference in many young people's lives, especially so many students at Vanderbilt. Ian is certainly missed.

I met Ian years ago, in the earlier years of working to build and sustain Teach For America and our presence in New Orleans. I always refer to this work of ours as a search for allies, and Ian was one of those natural allies. He believed so much in our work to ensure that all children, irrespective of the circumstances of their birth, should have an equal opportunity to fulfill their true potential. He also believed in our people -- our young, idealistic, deeply committed teachers and alumni and staff -- and treated them with such respect and care. He was so generous and generative in finding ways to support us and to leverage the support of others. I'll always remember Ian's incredible personal thoughtfulness and all that he did, before Teach For America was a thriving enterprise, to support our cause. His legacy will certainly live on through our work. 
My heart goes out to all his family and friends; it is so difficult to withstand the loss of such a rare and special person. With deepest sympathy,
Wendy Kopp
(founder, Teach For America)

I was a newer friend of Ian, having only met in the winter of 2004. He'd met my colleague at a Stanford Economic Forum, and having a few months earlier heard Charly Ellis praise Capital Group as an investor, asked to meet. My first meeting at his Carmel home lasted 3 hours, without any wasted time. Within weeks he was a client having established 3 accounts for Paige, Ian, and Lindy to help them learn about investing--since they would one day inherit his estate. He was one of the most thoughtful, generous and kind men I'd known, and I always looked forward to our conversations and meetings. I saw Ian only 3 weeks before he passed. While a bit frail, I had no idea of imminent death, and was truly shocked when I learned. His living legacy are his 3 children and 4 grandchildren. May his memory be a blessing to his family and friends.