Iain Marrs, Homeopath, Educator, and Friend—1956 to 2015

Iain Marrs ([Fig. 1]) was born in England on July 22, 1956. He attended Oxford University, where he majored in literature. Shortly after moving to Canada in 1990, he began his study of homeopathy.

Fig. 1 Iain Marrs (1956–2015).

Melanie Grimes states, “I had the great pleasure to study homeopathy with Iain as he was first introduced to it in Paul Herscu's class in Seattle beginning in 1992. Iain had already been writing and studying the enneagram and his experience with typology enabled him to quickly understand Materia Medica.” Iain later studied with Lou Klein and graduated from his Homeopathic Master Clinician Course in 2004.

Iain became assistant editor with Durr Elmore of “Simillimum, Journal of the Homeopathic Association of Naturopathic Physicians.” He coedited from 1993 to 1996. “He had a keen intellect and a love for homeopathy (and the enneagram),” states Durr Elmore. “He was a diligent worker and excellent editor. He wrote some fine articles and commentaries in Simillimum.” Iain published one article in that journal, in 2001 Iain's article “Drawing Conclusions,” was published in that journal, and later presented at the BCSH Case Conference.

Iain worked with Harry van der Zee as guest editor for Homoeopathic Links in 2009 and has been associate editor and member of the board of advisors of LINKS since 2010. He edited books for Lou Klein and many others. He contributed thoughtful articles to The American Homeopath, Homoeopathic Links, Simillimum, and The Homeopath. Iain's articles for The American Homeopath included “What is a lion in homeopathy?” and an interview with British homeopath, David Mundy.

In addition to seeing patients, Iain taught at the Vancouver Academy. His teaching often included the combination of his understanding of the enneagram and other homeopathic typologies, such as those of the French homeopath, Vannier.

A member of the British Colombia Society of Homeopaths, Iain was editor of The Bulletin and served as President of the Society from March 2006 to March 2007. He presented cases at their annual case conferences. Iain was one of a handful of presenters at the April, 2007 Canadian conference “Homeopathy for Homeopaths: Several topics relevant to today's homeopathic practitioner.”

Iain also was an editor for Interhomeopathy and guest edited with Pat Deacon. Pat states, “I enjoyed immensely guest editing 4 issues Interhomeopathy with Iain. He was such a big part of my homeopathic life in B.C. and of that community. I will miss his kindness, his insight, his humour, his quick intelligence, his unique perspective on everything, and his ability to come up with the perfect quotation for every occasion.” Articles published in Interhomeopathy include Chemical Algebra and editorials.

Laurie Dack, colleague and collaborator, comments that Iain had, “a marvellous ability to bring several paradigms together and lay one on top of another and then one more on top of that, creating a seamless mosaic that deepened one's understanding of all the threads. Wonderful tapestries he wove and what a story teller!!”

Iain's insights, attention to detail, broad intellect and intelligence, and sense of humour made a profound impact on his colleagues, patients, and the international homeopathic community. With his editing work on his own and other homeopathic books and journals, has left a fortunate legacy for future generations. He will be missed.