Well.. back to work for me on Monday. Yay. So, if I'm not posting quite so often you'll know why. Thank you all for putting up with me thus far - I've done a lot of searching, a lot of self-expressing and have enjoyed the board, overall. I feel a lot saner and feel as though I know my mind and heart a lot better. Have to finish getting things in order on the home front - hopefully a bit of inspiration will hit me while I'm doing it or something. Love you all.
Chances
I received this email earlier today, and I just wanted to share with everyone else here, both this email and the response to save anyone else from having to hear the same lies:
--------------- email starts ---------------
"Dearest Deevaa,
Just wanted to send you an email that I just received after inquiring about a prolific poet that was on
Blender of Love for at least a year that I know of. You
are more known at the Blender with all of your wonderful
submissions...
(segment deleted about my poetry/paintings)
... If you wouldn't mind making the annoucement about Terry and breaking the news to BK and the other
who have been with Blender for awhile. He will be sorely
missed. I just adored his poems and he was so generous
in offering some great advice ... (personal info delete)
He should be remembered with a poem or a painting of
some sort for the good deeds this man did in his life time.
If you could read below my email and if you wish to get
in touch with me at (deleted). I use the name zabette on Blender.
... (More personal info deleted) ...
Thanks for any help you can send regarding
making the annoucement of Terry's death. Please write back when your not so busy dear!
My best regards,
xxx
From: Terry W Leonard <mailto:terry39@juno.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2003 6:02 PM
Subject: Re: I miss your writings!
Dear Elizabeth, I am sorry to inform you that Terry passed away 11/11/02. I am his stepson and I have been trying to close out his affairs,we will miss him very much.
On Tue, 14 Jan 2003 08:29:29 -0500 <xxxx@xxxx> writes:
Terry Hi!
It's been a long time since I've seen your work on
Blender of Love? I was wondering what you've been up to?
As your still writing your beautiful poetry?
Best Regards,
xxxx
--------------- end of email ---------------
This is MY response. I know Gala has written something already, if anyone else has anything else to share, lets all purge now. :)
Hi,
I'm really very sorry to have to be the one to tell you, but Terry Leonard was nothing but a fraud. The man behind Terry Leonard more than likely isn't dead — but the character he played, is long dead. He cheated and lied and drew several woman into his web of deceit.
Many people from the blender spoke to "Terry" via phone, AIM and email. We thought that our friend had cancer, we worried as he said he was undergoing chemo, we begged for him to let us visit to comfort him in his 'sickness' - but it didn't take long for the truth to come out. Terry wasn't ill with cancer, what he was/is, is a fraud.
I'll post this response as well as your email on the blender, I am sure that many people from there would be willing to share with you what they know about this so called 'death'.
Once again, I'm sorry that I had to pass this news on.
Take care of your heart,
Davena.
--------------- end of email ---------------
anyways, that's it really.....
take care,
Davena/deevaa/dee
The sad thing is, people like Terry/Hank Christian are like cockroaches. They never die. I'm sure he'll be deceiving and manipulating well into his eighties.
Let’s just say… for the sake of knowing… that I turned up the past 500 days of messages… and found on the 8th September, 2001 a very interesting post from Zabette? I think you’re all quite correct.
About to have a read of the September 11 posts.
Yeah, I'm a busybody. But I wanted to know - people close to me have died of cancer, and I was curious. I guess I tend to take possible injustices to heart.
The man is dead and now is not the time to dump hate upon sorrow. Forgiveness is everything and I am sure that if the true story were told of his life it would be a sad one indeed. I will remember the man for his writing and yes he did inspire mine and others as well here. I was only a beginning writer and he was encouraging and taught cinquain and other forms of poetry here. I am sorry to hear of his passing. I hope he finds peace.
bk
BK he isn't dead, it is more of the same lies.
Or did I misinterpret the whole email thing?? Never mind… I just don’t like not knowing the truth of these things. Is zabette here now Zabette from back then? And WHO is the Z/zabette on the email???
So confusing! I'll know better than to look next time! Another lesson learned (yeah, right).
gonna go do housework now... I promise. *sigh*
*rolls her eyes*
Zabette emailed me and asked me to inform everyone at the blender that she'd gotten an email saying that someone who'd been around the blender alot a few years back.
She asked me to break the news because I was one of his friends.
Like many other people who thought he was their friend, I was lied to and told that he was actually dying of cancer and undergoing chemo. He then moved onto other websites and the same story was told....
These friends, sickened with concern started talking to each other, and it turned out that several different versions of the story was being told by Terry/Hank.
As more people swapped stories the more that people got suspious, and so, Terry/Hank went underground.
There is much more to the story, but i really don't think it needs to be told.
Basically what needs to be told, is that Terry never had cancer, and the 'Terry is dead' email sent to Zabette by his 'stepson' is more than likely sent by Terry's own hand... for what ever reason he gets off on this kind of thing.
Although I can' t prove it, I'd bet that Terry is alive and well, and more than happy to see that he's being discussed on the blender.
dee
... anyways chances it is 11.30pm Friday night here, what the hell are you doing housework for?
HAhahahahaha are you serious!!! Well maybe that part is dead and he's reinvented himself to something better. We can only hope. I do miss his writing but not the deceit and hurt that he delt to friends here. He's not dead huh, well that's a whale of a different tale.
bk
BK, well, I can't be 100 percent sure, but Terry sure never mentioned having a 'stepson' in any of my dealings with him... it seems odd to me now, that a stepson is checking/responding to his email.
So someone should e-mail the step-son and ask if there was an obituary that we can see and read or the exact date and where he was. There has to be a newspaper with it printed in it if it's true. How awful.
bk
Dee - Thanks. This one’s close to home, as you may know from previous posts. It happens that people live a lie. Generally I think they are covering their own feelings of inadequacy and seeking attention and love.
The end result is they damage their own lives and others, which they generally don’t even consider.
deevaa - Because it the house is quietly asleep and I can get stuff done... not that I am!
right, I'm off to bed, catch you all later.... (tis after midnight here in the the land where the kangaroos go boing boing boing and the wombats go wobba wobba wobba...)
dee
dang it, i will get back and repost the challenge Gala...gotta run right now, remind me if you don't see something by tomorrow morning...
It's horrible to think that anyone would mess with people's minds by claiming to be dying.
It's worse to think they would gain your confidence and trust by claiming to have been molested as a child.
"Terry" did both.
Dee and I agonized together about his "disease". The sick bastard was a control junkie. I have no idea how many women he hurt---but the fact that he sent an email from his own account shows how sloppy he was getting. When you deal with a pathological liar, the problem is that they lie about EVERYTHING. Eventually, they can't help but trip over their stories.
I don't know a single human being who had not loss someone dear to cancer. To PRETEND you have such a disease is sick.
You put people through hell---and why? So you can feel loved for a few moments?
The stepson part is interesting on a few counts. Like Dee, to my knowledge, he didn't have one. Terry also swore he was unattached. We later heard he was married. Guess That much was true...but the rest?
A very sick tissue of lies---invented to invoke strong feelings in the vulnerable. BK? He isn't dead. We're not that fortunate.
When you post online, you leave something called an IP...it's a code of origin. Terry posted under a whole bunch of new names...but his IP remained the same. Twice he tried to post to my private board---and twice he gave himself away. Since one of his aliases posted to a board I know of last week, I'd say that he is now "someone else" on line.
Codes don't lie. But he sure did.
deevaa - for when you return - you're an hour ahead of me (not that you couldn't have seen I was a bit bananarish) ; )
I haven't been here for quite a while and I just thought I'd stick my head back in and see if anyone familiar was still around.
Dee, the singer from the Androids looks a hell of a lot like the guy that used to be the guitarist for the Superjesus.
And how about Terry. Whew, is that the Blender's very first serial psycho cyber predator? If so it's quite an unfortunate honour.
I'm heartened to see a few familiar names still hanging round and I hope to post some work soon. I spent a good few months dying a nice creative death but things seem to be righting themselves.
Ta.
Riggs!
Get back HERE!
Dee, hold him down so we can hug him good and proper!
Where have you been?
Riggs,
You have been sorely missed. Please,please,please post some work and don't disappear on us again!
Riggs! What's crackin'?!
I am sorry, but I came to Blender in 1997. I HAVE been dealing with cancer for the past twelve years. I just don't remember this "Terry" fella, but was gone from Blender for a couple of years as I recovered from chemo and a near fatal amount of over-radiation. I feel terrible in seeing someone lie about cancer since the real thing is horrible. My healing process was greatly helped by both off and online friends. A great amount of my time had to be spent in isolation because of extremely low immunity. I have survived by the hardest. I think it low for someone to invent a disease for themselves, but the abnormal takes all forms. The need to invent a personna like this is troubling when we already live in a written world here. There are some people who have to get so deep into role-playing they cannot come out. Unfortunately, they hurt folks who trust them. For everyone we learn to distrust here, I believe we also find others to trust as real friends. My friends saw me nearly dead, and have watched me regroup. There are red flags to watch out for in role-players. Those who take it too far need help ... all the anger and hurt from those involved and caught up in this type of mess only gives the role-player more excitement. Most have no social skills to make real friendships and only prey on others. I've written under a number of pen names over the years, but close friends know those names. Hopefully, this role-player is only creating a life for themselves because their life is too miserable to bear. Stalking, preying on folks, stealing real identities is illegal. Becoming real community here helps weed out problems and creates the ability to write and be accepted. If this "Terry" was good at teaching a bit about poetry, then he needs to be encouraged to get attention that direction. I am sorry IF he has had the hell of real cancer ... even the scare of it makes some folks go a bit off the deep end. I've spent enough time seeing this in cancer clinics over the years. It wrecks families, relationships and more. However, it also lets the patient realize who real friends are. I am so glad to see the writers on this site stay close community. It is a diverse group, never boring, always entertaining and intelligent in comments no matter the heat of discussion ... in short, Blender is inspiring. I spent weeks in ICCU (critical care) in hospitals and not allowed online. I realized how much I enjoyed the freedom of expression here. Losing trust in this community must be devastating for any normal person. I've seen an apology work here. I hope nothing tears this bunch apart. I certainly value the outlet it has been for me ..... Rennie
Riggs! Hi! *smile* Good to see ya again! :)
Love and silver promise, Ali
Galadrial,
REST IN PIECES! YOU AMUSE AND AMAZE ME...I ALSO LIKED THE VALENTINE'S SUBMISSION....YOU ARE AWESOME...I NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU WILL WRITE NEXT...SO KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!
CryingShame
Gala - valentine ridge - lovely.
Ok, you can see I've decided to put a bit more of a spotlight on Gala's poem challenges...suggestions welcome.
Teej!
God luv ya!
I Love that song, too. Oddly, it's seemed rather appropriate to me, too, of late.
Let the record show that it's actually the late, great Townes VanZandt penn'd those words.
Don't get me wrong, I love'em both!
Ya might wanna check out Guy Clark's version, along with the Cowboy Junkies covering "Highway Kind" on the TVZ tribute disc, "Poet: A tribute to Townes VanZandt."
Thanks for posting those lyrics! I think it says a great deal about a song writers word when just about anybody can perform them and still they ring true.
~tc
B.K.~ Hope you made it out and back in with groceries in this weather. 7.5 inches of snow here and temps going down around zero. Family members spent many extra hours on the road ... AND we've got more of the same coming in from what I understand. No gas in many gas stations ... stay safe ..... Rennie
Thanks Kirk...wow...that was so cool of you!
And I took some time tonight to check out the entries...HOLY CANNOLI! YOU folks simply rock!
WIll be reading more this weekend...Desi has a broken foot, so we are cabin bound!
And thanks for the comments people, truly...
Whitney.....WHEW!
Rennie; It's the worst winter snow we have had in years. I just wanted to see how the roads were this afternoon and the grocery is close so I took off. The roads are solid ice and wow there are lots of cars off in ditches. Glad I have front wheel drive and a bit of know how with winter weather. Keep warm yourself. Hope you are taking care and keeping warm as well.
bk
His Little Fullback -- By Candle-light was just so nice. I absolutely adored the imagery. My favorite line was when you personified candle light by calling it 'angels dancing on the walls'. Magical piece. I can sense that it is truly from the heart.
As always I remain,
~~{@ Max-Rom @}~~