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Frank’s association with International Orthopaedics began in June 1982 on the death of Lester Lowe. The Editor at that time was Paul Masse and Frank was the Associate Editor, responsible for writing the English abstracts for the French articles, in addition to editing the English language in all the articles. I joined the Editorial Board in 1987 and shall always be grateful to Frank and his lovely wife, Cynthia, for showing us the ropes and introducing us to the delights of Paris when we visited for the November meeting of the Editorial board. In 1995, Paul Masse retired as Editor of the journal. Frank and Toni Trias were nominated as possible successors. Unfortunately the Editorial Board were split evenly between the two candidates, but the situation was resolved when Frank and Toni decided they had waited outside for long enough and returned to announce that Toni would be Editor and Frank would be Chairman of the Editorial Board!

A memorable Editorial Board meeting was hosted at Frank’s lovely home with the wonderful address, “Providence”, Plumpton, in the beautiful Sussex countryside about this time. The presence of the founding Editor, Merle d’Aubigné, and his wife made the occasion particularly special. Frank Horan’s contributions to SICOT were recognised in 1999 when he was made an Honoured Member of the Society.

Frank trained at St Mary’s Hospital in London, qualifying in 1959 and achieving FRCS in 1966. A research fellowship in Montreal led to an MSc from McGill University in 1974 and on his return to the UK he was appointed Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon to Haywards Heath Hospital, where he also became the Medical Director.

He was awarded The Robert Jones Gold Medal and Association Prize by the British Orthopaedic Association in 1976.

He was a member of Council of the British Orthopaedic Association for 11 years and was made an honorary Fellow in 2006.

Frank always took a keen interest in sport, especially cricket and, in particular, Sussex County, where he lived. He was Orthopaedic Surgeon and Medical Advisor to Lords Cricket Ground from 1976 to 2006, a member of the medical committee of the British Olympic Association, Medical Advisor to the English Basketball Association and Irish Basketball Association from 1976 to 1996. His knowledge of all sports made him very popular amongst the younger generation, with whom he always had something to talk about in a very easy relaxed way. I well remember being tutored in the finer points of baseball whilst taking time out from an International Orthopaedic meeting in Toronto. Frank tended to adopt a combative style when talking to his peers, whereas he was kindness personified when communicating with the young, providing support and encouragement to trainees. He co-authored with Alisdair Fraser, “The Mary’s Men”; a history of St Mary’s Hospital Rugby Football Club and he co-founded the British Sports Trauma Association acting as secretary until he became President in 1995.

Although not born in the computer age, his editing skills were phenomenal. He had a mind that recognised passages of text so that when articles were stitched together with extracts from earlier work by other authors, he could not only spot the inclusion but he could usually find the article from which it had been stolen. He explained to me that all authors have a unique writing style, so that when a paragraph from another author is inserted, it was instantly obvious to him that it did not belong. Although he never became Editor of International Orthopaedics, he was appointed Editor of the British Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery; a position he greatly prized.

In 1984, the SICOT Triennial Congress was held in London and Frank was part of the organising committee chaired by Prof. W. J. Sharrard. About ten days before his death, surviving members of the 1984 SICOT committee met together for lunch with their wives. The occasion was most enjoyable and Frank was in fine form with no foreboding of the rupture of his aortic aneurysm, which happened three days later. After an encouraging early recovery, his condition suddenly deteriorated when his kidneys failed. I feel fortunate to have such happy memories of such a remarkable man. We shall all miss him.