Haron writes:

In my online spanking life, there are things that have always been there. There’s always been Laura’s Spanking Corner; there’s always been soc.sexuality.spanking newsgroup with its many wars and stories, and on the newsgroup there’s always been Alex. He was there with his spanking fiction, sizzling hot and clever, and with his political opinions; and his debates. When the world drifted to the blogosphere, he started A Taste of the Birch: one of the first I’ve ever read. We argued and disagreed about many things, but he taught me many more.

The world wakes today without Alex in it.

I don’t know how it can be true, because his virtual presence is everywhere. It seems wrong that I can’t reach out and talk to him any more, like we always have. It’s a strange world, and sad.

Rest in peace, my mentor and friend.


Abel writes:

I’m incredibly sad this morning. I heard the news of Alex’s passing last night, just before going to bed, in an email that a friend of his kindly sent to me sharing the bad news. I’ve just been reading Mija’s wonderful, moving post on the soc.sexuality.spanking newsgroup and the various replies and tributes there. Have no doubt: the online spanking community has lost one of its foremost figures.

I’d known Alex for a long, long time: almost a decade, I’d guess. We’d swapped so many notes. His tastes in spanking erotica and mine seemed to coincide almost precisely. He was one of the first people to comment on my stories – generous in his feedback, constructive in his suggestions. I owe a lot to him as a writer, for giving me confidence and for helping me to refine and improve. Praise on a story from Alex was praise indeed!

And then there was his own writing – so many excellent stories – as well as his blog and the various forums he ran and contributed to. His “Corporal Punishment in History” series, featured in one of our annual collections of ‘The Best of the Kinky Rest’, remains one of my very favourite series of posts on any spanking blog.  He put so much into our spanking community, and in doing so must have brought so many people such pleasure.

Sadly, despite our lengthy correspondence, we never did manage to meet in person. We’d been planning to do so, despite his illness, but my last note to him with that list of dates for our long-awaited coffee will sadly never receive a reply. But online friends really are friends, just as much as those we know in person. I’ll miss you, Alex. Greatly.