Pam Crane...

[fajrdrako]

An online acquaintance of mine was murdered a few weeks ago, though we just learned about it. She was a friend from the Dorothy Dunnett mailing lists. I'd never met her face to face. She was doing what so many of us want to do - travelling and visiting Dunnett sites. She was going to the monastery where Lymond met Diccon Chancellor in The Ringed Castle on the day she was killed. I don't know whether she ever got there.

I think every Dunnett fan must be thinking: "That could be me."

We learned she was missing about ten days ago, and hoped for a while that the explanation for her disappearance wasn't murder. But it was.

There's a news article about it here, and another one here.

I might as well continue to collect them.

British Tourist Killed.

Comments

[widget-alley.livejournal.com]

On the one hand: holy madre, that's insane and awful and what a world we live in, that someone would think it's a good idea to hurt, let alone kill, an elderly woman traveling alone.

On the other: I think it kicks some serious ass that she was still out there doing whatever the hell she wanted to, even if random chance wasn't so much on her side.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes. I don't think fear should stop us from doing the things we want to do, least of all a fear of taking risks, regardless of our age and situation.

Because of this event we've been reading and talking about the state of crime in Russia these days, how out of control it is. How frightening.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's terrible. Poor woman…

But no civil society has really taken root in Russia. People have become brutalised and are destroying themselves. The latest I read is that half of all deaths of men of working age are due to drinking: not just vodka, but toiletries and household products that contain alcohol. Plus the rampant gangsterism.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

That really sounds like a society that is falling apart. If people are so brutalized, how can they become unbrutalized agian? If adult men are falling apart and dying through self-abuse, then what can be happening to the women and children and the old? Scary thoughts, with no sane answer except to remind us how fragile civilizations are, and how fragile individuals are.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

It's a culture which has had unbroken centuries of oppressive rule. The main freedoms in recent years have been for a few people (often with illegal means) to make huge amounts of money. The Russian nouveau-riche are obscenely wealthy, and flaunt it; at the other end, there are pensioners whose savings were wiped out by inflation and are worse off than under the Soviet system. Racism and homophobia are blatant. And I don't know if you saw the recent reports about the police standing by while neo-fascist thugs beat up Pride marchers, including foreign diplomats and representatives.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I always think inequity causes more social problems than any other single factor except serious need.

That's scary about thugs beating up Pride marchers and the police doing nothing.

[threeringedmoon.livejournal.com]

That is truly horrible. I remember her name from my time on the list, but not too much else about her. Her poor family.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I never knew much about Pam Crane on a personal level (and never met her) but I do remember enjoying exchanges with her and appreciating her insight and wit. It's upsetting that this should happen in such a way that feels so 'close to home', not in a geographical sense but in a social sense.

Yes, it's even more awful for her family.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Damn. How many D'workers here and I didn't know. (Initials of real name bhp, @vnet.net)

I hope she didn't suffer. Sigh.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

How many D'workers here and I didn't know.

I discover more every day. Which is, of course, wonderful - to live in a world with so many wonderful Dunnett fans in it. I've made so many friends through those books - it's wonderful to think of.

And one less, with Pam gone. Not that she was here, but you know what I mean.

[kathyh]

How terrible. I knew she was missing but I was so hoping she'd be found alive.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes. I was hoping that too. But... no.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

Sadly, Russia these days has deteriorated horribly. In the late '80s-'90s, I felt pretty safe zipping about on the metro in Moscow and P'burg alone, or with friends, and then with tour groups, but I wouldn't go back now. I know Izmailovo and the Sergeyev Posad Monastery.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Such a shame; I certainly don't expect the area around Moscow to be that dangerous, but of course things change - civilizations shift due to circumstances.

How lucky you were, to see those places.

[dargie.livejournal.com]

Oh dear, how awful. The world is a dangerous place, but there are some things, like a Lymond tour, which I guess we feel should be exempt from any external danger. I'm very sorry.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

That's so very true - I really feel that travel for the sake of the Dunnett books to Dunnett locales should be somehow sacrosanct. But of course it isn't.

We've had Dunnett friends die before and it's never easy, but it's the first time it's happened in such a direct and criminal way.

[jkluge.livejournal.com]

Oh, my God, that's terrible. :-( I'm so sorry.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Thanks. It is terrible and I hope it never happens again.

[cofax7]

Oh, man. I was active on Dunnetwork for about six years. Poor Pam. And I'm so sorry for her family.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

What a great icon picture!

Yes, I feel bad for Pam and her family. So difficult, when someone just doesn't come home - and then the wondering what happened; and then the bad news.

[cofax7]

Thank you--it's actually me, on the wall of Fountains Abbey, in Yorkshire. The picture was taken and the icon made by infinitemonkeys.

And as Jonquil said above, I'm often amused by the Dunnettae I bump into in unexpected locations, like in, say, Farscape fandom... *grin*

When I get home tonight I'll have to see if I can log into the list; I only stop by every few months these days...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I love Fountains Abbey! And Yorkshire in general... I hope I can go back for a visit again some day. I remember it as one of the most beautiful places I have seen.

I think that wherever you have quality, well-written material, especially if it's fairly complex, you'll find Dunnett fans cropping up. And sometimes in places you wouldn't expect at all! I've only seen a few episodes of Farscape but what I saw, I really liked... and I hope to see it all some day.


Another great icon there!

[msilverstar]

That's very sad, but thank you for telling us.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

All week I've been hoping that we'd end up with good news about Pam, but... no.

[acampbell.livejournal.com]

That's so horrible, that her son went to pick her up and she just wasn't on the flight. That happened to me with Stephen once, and it was horrible. It would be especially horrible had it played out the way it did with your friend.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It must have been awful for him. I'm glad your Stephen was all right! Once Marcelle and Patti went to pick me up at the airport - planning to surprise me - and I wasn't on the plane; I was on the next one. I hope they didn't panic!

[(Anonymous)]

That's EXACTLY what happened with us. I was living in NYC then, and his plane was scheduled to land at 6. We were supposed to meet at a bagel store near my office. One of my co-workers talked me into surprising him at the airport, so I left Manhattan at 3:30. Turns out, his plane had arrived at 2:30! so he was in transit over to midtown while I was on my way to JFK! In this day and age with cell phones, it would only have been a minor annoyance, but back then, it was scary. All they could tell me at the airport was that he hadn't gotten on the plane in Indiana! so I figured he'd been in an accident on the way to the airport, or something. I called both our parents and his mother said she'd dropped him off at the airport. He finally made his way to my apt. in the south of Brooklyn by taking cabs and walking part of the way, but it was awful. I remember when the last person got off the flight and disappeared, and he wasn't there. I always think of that when I read about someone being murdered and not showing up when they're due to be picked up. It must be just terrible when it's a case of foul play.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes - cell phones really can cut down on that kind of confusion - though I still don't have one. If people really do go missing, how do you know?

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

I feel terrible for her family. What a nightmare.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes. It's just so terrible. The kind of thing that shouldn't happen but does.

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

Oh how awful. :( I remember the name from my time on the lists.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, I remember her talking about her planned trip. Wishing I could have gone myself.

[jaceyangel.livejournal.com]

ohh. yeah. i heard bout her. kiwi woman. so sad.... :(
isn't it strange how small the world is though.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I think the world is shrinking by the day.

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

I was quite saddened to hear this. I feel for you, and the others in Dunnett fandom, for the loss of your good friend.

About two weeks ago...? That would have been the night that I came across a crane running down the road, as I drove home from work very late at night. The very strange coincidence of the same night and the same name, with the additional extreme oddness that I had never before seen a crane running like that, nor even seen one standing on a road... offset by my stubborn dislike of letting circumstantial word similarities have any real weight.

Still, so very odd a coincidence.

(Now I'm thinking about the Dunnett Gathering that's steadily taking form in the afterlife. Talk about talking happily forever! I have to smile.)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Interesting about the crane. Symbols are interesting things... and cranes have a lot of symbolic weight.