Third Time's A Charm For Hero?

June 8, 2007 9:02 PM

Hero Joy Nightingale: we posted on the blue about her, I posted on the green about her, but she seems to have left no trace for years...anyone want to help find out what happened?
posted by StrikeTheViol to MetaFilter-related at 9:02 PM (22 comments total)

Previously, here and here.
posted by StrikeTheViol at 9:07 PM on June 8, 2007

"Hero is a sporadically in-touch friend of mine, from a young disabled people's group many years ago.

She will, I think, be turning 20 this year and has not yet gone to Oxford, although she's still pursuing the possibility.

I'll drop her an email and prod her in the general direction of this post...

Posted by: Rebecca at March 25, 2006 07:07 AM"

[link]
posted by Liosliath at 10:00 PM on June 8, 2007

Thank you, Liosliath!
posted by StrikeTheViol at 10:08 PM on June 8, 2007

any more? (pardon me, I get so excited tapping into the hivemind.)
posted by StrikeTheViol at 10:09 PM on June 8, 2007

I also emailed Magdalen College - will see if I get a response and/or more info on her delayed admission. It's a fascinating story, I'd like to know what happened to her as well.
posted by Liosliath at 10:10 PM on June 8, 2007

Her father, David Nightingale, is still the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kent, he might be willing to give us an update.
posted by Liosliath at 10:24 PM on June 8, 2007

And her brother Alaric is now a journalist in London.

Byline from May 31, 2007

posted by Liosliath at 10:29 PM on June 8, 2007

Can I be the wet blanket here and express some skepticism about how much of her brilliant creative output is hers and how much is her mother's wishful thinking?

I know, I"m a horrible person, but I can't help it.
posted by empath at 11:38 PM on June 8, 2007

I actually wondered that too, so you're not alone - I suppose we can be horrible together!

"Peter Giles, her art tutor until last year, said she has a genuine talent for art. 'She is ferociously gifted. We would sit together and her mother would grab her daughter's hand and then we would begin work,' he said.

Together, they built several modern sculptures from plaster and metal. 'The instructions would take a while to decipher. But eventually, they would come, and eventually make sense.' "
posted by Liosliath at 11:47 PM on June 8, 2007

I hadn't come across this story before - thanks for the links. She sounds like the kind of person who, at the point she started university, would have made headlines in the Oxford student papers. (By way of comparison, I went to college with someone who was severely dyslexic to the point of only being able to write 2 words a minute - and 15 when they started their degree. They were brilliant. And got widely reported both in the student press and the national press). Neither Cherwell or the Oxford Student have any record so I'm guessing she still hasn't started there yet.
posted by greycap at 1:19 AM on June 9, 2007

Um, please don't post total strangers' email addresses here, thanks.
posted by jessamyn at 7:56 AM on June 9, 2007

Liosliath, it's not cool to post people's email addresses on MeFi.
posted by Manhasset at 8:31 AM on June 9, 2007

Oops, sorry, didn't see Jess's post.
posted by Manhasset at 8:32 AM on June 9, 2007

That email address is posted in every single one of his publicly available bylines, that's why I didn't think it was a big deal!
posted by Liosliath at 8:53 AM on June 9, 2007

Like this -

"To contact the reporter on this story: Alaric Nightingale in London at [e-mail]."
posted by Liosliath at 8:54 AM on June 9, 2007

that's why I didn't think it was a big deal!

It's not a big deal, but people flag email addresses, and not everyone will click through to realize that it's already public elsewhere (I know I didn't) so removing it it easier than having to explain it to all the future flaggers.
posted by jessamyn at 9:18 AM on June 9, 2007

Stalkers.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 9:24 AM on June 9, 2007 [1 favorite]

Oh, shut up, monchichi.
posted by Liosliath at 10:52 AM on June 9, 2007

And since you obviously work in some sort of legal capacity -

"...legal definition of harassment, according to Black’s Law Dictionary is:

“A course of conduct directed at a specific person that causes substantial emotional distress in such person and serves no legitimate purpose; or words, gestures, and actions which tend to alarm and abuse (verbally) another person.”

Not even remotely the case here.
posted by Liosliath at 11:11 AM on June 9, 2007

Also, Jessamyn, thanks for the clarification. I'll avoid doing that in the future.
posted by Liosliath at 11:12 AM on June 9, 2007

Who exactly are you raving at?
posted by monju_bosatsu at 12:39 PM on June 9, 2007

This is getting kind of weird and personal, and the askme was really the better venue for it, even if it struck out.

I think we're better off closing up shop; anybody who wants to keep up the research can go ahead and contact StrikeTheViol directly.
posted by cortex at 12:53 PM on June 9, 2007