Ian Henley

Ian Henley's life was going swimmingly until just after his 8th birthday when his little brother, Kris, appeared and things took a substantial turn for the worse. From an early age Kris demonstrated his prodigious talent for causing embarrassment, focussing initially on blighting his older brother’s pathetic attempts to ingratiate himself with the opposite sex, with faux naïve questions, noisy entrances at intimate moments, and blatant spying.

When Ian left home for University, it was a massive relief to them both. As told in 'Starting From The Back Of The Grid', Kris later went his own way to travel the world, miraculously finding his way from rough sleeper on a rubbish dump in Hong Kong into TV production in Formula One, and settling at last in Buenos Aires. So the bothers met only occasionally over the next forty years.

Meanwhile Ian pursued a career in sales, marketing and leadership roles in the technology industry, before founding a successful management consultancy. But to lighten the mood he always tried to keep his friends and colleagues amused with irreverent and humorous writing. Someone was sufficiently amused to suggest he write a book, to which he replied, ‘great idea, but about what?’

Then at a rare family reunion Christmas in 2021, the conversation turned to Kris's extraordinary life story, the glamorous world of Formula One, its intriguing people, scandals and rivalries, and the many hilarious situations Kris had found himself in.

‘I’m writing a book about it,’ said Kris.

‘Oh really?’ said Ian dubiously, familiar with his brother’s writing skills. ‘Perhaps I can help’.

And he did.