Any News of Pete?

[Lucky Star]

I fail to believe that Pete has abandoned both of his favourite forms on almost the same day without a single word of explanation or goodbye. And then compounded it by ignoring emails and texts from longstanding friends!! Something has happened and I struggle to see anything good. Is there any point to contracting his local police? Or would they need something more before they'd act?

[Katharine]

As far as I know, Pete has a wife, 2 daughters, plus was looking after elderly parents, so I think it unlikely that something has happened to him that someone close to him isn't aware of, and would be acting upon if necessary. However, I do think it would be a nice touch if someone could try contacting him by post just to let him know that we are missing/thinking of him, and to check that he's ok.

I feel bad that I hadn't realised that he had disappeared from electronic life, however, I had noticed that the forums hadn't seemed as busy recently, but had just put that down to it being summer time, and people being on holiday etc, and not that Pete wasn't posting as much as usual.

I hope very much that Pete is ok, and his absence is nothing more serious than an internet malfunction (or similar). Whatever the reason for his absence, I hope that he will be in a position to start posting again soon.

[Lenoir]

It is quite a long time away for someone who posted as much as he did. I also hope nothing serious is keeping him away.

[John Pickup]

In all the time I've been emailing Pete, he has always replied promptly, mostly straight away but always within a few hours.
Nigel and I have been trying to get in touch with him for quite a while now with no success at all.
It's quite out of character for Pete to ignore his messages and I fervently hope he is able to respond at some point.
A letter sent to his address may bring a result.

[Viv of Ginger Pop]

Suggestion should anyone write - address it to Mrs Pete as well - we don't want it to be not opened!

[Moonraker]

Dipping my toes carefully into the water here, it is one thing for a few people who have corresponded personally with Pete for a few years now to be really concerned, and another for admin (be it Tony or Anita - and I would imagine Tony holds the reins) to either reveal an address to a third party or write to a Society member because he hasn't posted for three or four weeks. There are any amount of reasons why someone would want to go off the radar. Marital reasons, illness - physical or mental, or simply to have a break and get away from it all. I have had lengthy periods of absence from the forum in the past, sometimes because I get so would up with people's comments and think it best for me to take a break!

We had Francisgate, a few years back. Didn't we all accept this without writing letters to him? To be honest, I can't now remember how we found out what had happened to him.

Of course, I am not suggesting that any of this necessarily refers to Pete, but when I have taken breaks in the past, I have still answered emails and so on. I am just trying to see why admin might not wish to be involved. Those of us that know him - or know him as much as it is possible in a cyber world, believe that something has happened to him.

I have always thought that we were like a family here, united in our love of our authoress. Naturally, we have falling-outs and arguments from time to time. However, like a family, I would hope that if we were deeply concerned about a family member, we would do all we could to find out what was wrong.

Just trying to show two sides of the coin.

[Katharine]

A very good post Nigel.

I think each case has to be taken on it's merits. I definitely don't think admin should give out personal information, and I think there's some difficulty in knowing what the next step should be. As you say, for many of us it feels like we are a family, and it does seem very out of character for Pete to go 'off grid' so abruptly.

The difficulty I think is whether it is acceptable for admin to try and contact his personal address. I don't know what the legal aspect of that is, as it's obviously personal data, and presumably should only be used for sending out his journals.

I think in the case of Francis, another member of the forums made contact with his wife, but I think they had that information on a personal level, or maybe even were able to look it up, I don't think they obtained it from Admin. Also, I think with Francis, his contact and postings had been decreasing over a period of time, rather than coming to an abrupt stop.

If members of the forums have Pete's e-mail address and have been unable to get a reply from him, then it suggest that for whatever reason, he is either unable to reply, or feels he doesn't want to have any contact at this time.

Hopefully he is aware that we are genuinely concerned about him, and that he doesn't feel he needs to give any reasons if he returns to the forums at some point.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I would feel comfortable about sending Pete a note if I had his address, but I'm afraid I don't know it. As others have said, it's worrying that he has so suddenly stopped posting or even replying to personal emails or messages.

[Boodi 2]

Good points Moonraker, Anita and Katherine!

I suppose my worry is coloured by the fact that when I suddenly "disappeared" from the forums in 2010 it was because I became seriously ill, but fortunately made a full recovery and eventually returned. I don't think that my sudden absence evoked much concern, probably because I had not really corresponded personally with anyone and was not as active on the forums as Pete. Had anyone questioned my absence on the forums it would have gone unnoticed as my husband and son are not familiar with my various on-line activities and it would never have occurred to them to log on to the forums. However, had a letter been sent asking about me I expect that my husband would have replied with the information (and probably a request for prayers!).

[Moonraker]

I would feel comfortable about sending Pete a note if I had his address, but I'm afraid I don't know it.

Someone must have it as he receives the Journal - or at least, I thought he did.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I don't deal with Journal subscriptions so I don't have the list of addresses.

I'm sorry we didn't question your absence at the time, Boodi. If we'd known what you were going through, people would certainly have been wishing you well.

As you say, Pete is normally very active on the forums but it's been more than four weeks now since he looked in. Like Nigel, I tend to think of us as a family of sorts. We lead varied lives and people inevitably drift in and out, but it's very unusual for Pete to have stopped all communication so abruptly. I hope we hear from him soon.

[Boatbuilder]

I would feel comfortable about sending Pete a note if I had his address, but I'm afraid I don't know it. As others have said, it's worrying that he has so suddenly stopped posting or even replying to personal emails or messages.

In that case, if nobody else actually knows it, it would be down to Tony to write as he will have his address for mailing his journal to. In theory, I doubt he would be allowed to pass it on to anybody else because of the data protection act.

[Courtenay]

I think in the case of Francis, another member of the forums made contact with his wife, but I think they had that information on a personal level, or maybe even were able to look it up, I don't think they obtained it from Admin. Also, I think with Francis, his contact and postings had been decreasing over a period of time, rather than coming to an abrupt stop.

Yes, as I recall, another forum member knew Francis and his wife personally through having met them both at some time, and therefore had Francis's real name and his contact details — I think including his home phone number, which enabled that member to ring and speak to Francis's wife and find out what had happened. After that situation had been discussed in a forum thread and the "regulars" here had all read it, admin decided to delete those posts, as it was a fairly personal matter.

I agree it's most likely not allowed under data protection laws for Tony to give out Pete's home address or to use it for anything other than sending out the Journal. Other than that, if no-one here knows Pete's full name or has any other contact details that his wife or other family members could be reached by (like a home phone number)... I really don't know that there's any more we can do except hope (and pray, if we do) that he's OK and will make contact again as soon as he's able.

[Viv of Ginger Pop]

I agree it's most likely not allowed under data protection laws for Tony to give out Pete's home address or to use it for anything other than sending out the Journal.

I don't see there being a problem with Tony sending Pete an "are you ok?" letter because he has legitimate interest. That is, if the worst has happened Pete won't be needing a journal.

[Courtenay]

Good point, yes. I suppose it's up to Tony to decide.