Mark Insull – RIP

Mark Insull was one of my favorite people.

I suspect he was a favorite for many others, too. To know him, was to love him.

His good looks (that included a luxuriant head of hair), a very proper British accent, and his simply daffy sense of humor were simply irresistible to anyone who came into his orbit.

What really got me was his vocabulary.  It was amazing.

Let me illustrate.

Mark started working at CEB a year before I did.  Because we were two of the least young people in the San Francisco office, we bonded instantly. On day one we went to lunch.

“Well Jim, this job has me totally flummoxed! I can’t help you, good luck! Ha ha ha!”

Honestly, I can’t remember anyone in my life who ever used the word “flummoxed.” Haven’t heard it since.

Mark and I became friends. Lots of lunches.

You can learn a lot about people going to lunch with them. You learn what matters to them, and how they think. If you were with Mark it also meant lots of laughs in between tales of work and his devotion to his family.

During those lunches I learned about Mark’s meeting Anne Marie.  An american college professor and a used car salesman from the UK in San Francisco. An unlikely pair, perhaps.  Regardless, he was totally smitten.

They married and had two beautiful daughters, Charlotte and Rachel.  He was so proud that both of them were college graduates.  From good schools. Something he hadn’t done. “Sort of makes the crazy work thing worthwhile!” he told me just two weeks ago in what would be our last conversation.

What I remember most about Mark was his laugh. He was always quick to laugh at my lame jokes. I was always sad when our time together was coming to an end.  He was simply lovely to be around.

This is a super sad time. He’s irreplaceable. No sense to be found here with his passing. I feel so much for his wife, daughters, and family. They know what a special gift he was.

The only thing I can add is, now we’re all flummoxed. RIP – Mark.