I hope my mate Jaybee doesn't mind me putting this here. It's his post on NESA from last night.

I learnt of this on Tuesday. It made me think again how pathetic I was wasting my time with the troublemakers on this site. The big picture is so much more important.

I echo Jaybee's thoughts:

It's with deep regret that the angling industry lost one of the "nice" guys yesterday. Alan Caufield, whom I spoke to for the first time the day before yesterday after working with Penn on the internet and other projects for some 3 years, died in a car accident.
My contact was always with son David and I will regret not having the opportunity to ever get to know Alan better.
Alan built Penn UK, a family run business, into a very sucessful and leading force in the UK angling sector with his forward looking ideas and business skills.
I would like to offer my heart felt condolences to Alans wife and family in
this time of great sorrow. His loss to the angling world is immense, the loss to his family is devasting.
God bless."



[This message has been edited by Elton (edited 31 January 2002).]

Guests - this sponsored link will vanish when you log-in. Click here to register for free.

Here Here !!

If anyone feels 'ashamed' to express their true feelings on this thread, then please don't.

Let me share an experience with you...

A few nights ago, I was chatting with my mate Jaybee. If you don't know Jaybee, he's the guy who built http://sea-angler.org

He's been a mate for a long time. The kind I can ring at 3am when I'm feeling down.

To put things in perspective..

Me and Jaybee swap a lot of banter. Jaybee does some commercial work for me, but most of what we do is as mates.

A few days ago, Jaybee emailed me with some images - he was working on a job that meant a lot to him. I expressed my opinion and that was that.

His tone the next day said it all. Jaybee and I have a frank relationship and I told him what I liked and what I didn't. He played around with his work and we spoke again. He was working on the Penn UK catalogue.

Now, Jaybee and I speak every day, but today was different. Today, the owner had expressed his admiration and his expectation - he viewed the site as 'outstanding'.

Now, when I say I speak to Jaybee, I don't mean on a weekly basis. We speak daily.
The old northern sod helps this soft southern pratt no-end! Jaybee was over the moon at the reaction he got for his work.

This week, angling suffered a real blow. Perhaps it wasn't as 'bad' as some might think, but to those behind the scenes, it was as bad as it gets....a good bloke, a bloke in his prime and a family bloke at that.

I didn't know Alan, and I make no excuses for that - he excelled in his field and I plodded along in mine. However, I know what effect his death had on a respected mate of mine and that has made me realise what a tragedy his death was.

If any of Alan's family are reading this and are wondering what the hell life is about, then I'd like to reassure you that many are thinking of your lost one. Already, Alan is missed.

Words fail me right now, but I'm sure that all of NESA are with you at this sorrowful time.

Elton

Any loss such as this is a tragedy. I have a feeling this is the same Alan who contacted me a while back, when I was atempting to get some information on Penn Europe. I cant't find the email now, so can't say for sure, but the first name was the same, and he indicated that he was responsible for product development. I was struck by the fact the the head of the company would take the time to email a lost yank, and answer my questions
If it is him, this hits a bit home.
If not, it does not lessen the tragedy of it all one bit.
My heart and thoughts go out to his family, and those of you here who have been efected by his loss.