I found out about the Digest in 1997 when I first
saw Miriam Moore outside the Stage Door at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. We hung
around for Ray and then spent the afternoon exchanging Kinks notes before
enjoying a brilliant show.
We kept in touch, and Miriam would print me out a
whole wadge of Digests on the back of computer paper (I think it was). I loved
reading about the fan exploits and the Kink flavours of ice cream and Ray's
hands. I still have those pages in my Kinks Kollektion.
From reading the reports I gathered that Jill
Brand was as fanatic about Ray as myself, and I got her address from Miriam and
we started corresponding. All three of us met up with Kate Hunter to celebrate
Dave's US tour in the summer of 2000.
Exactly a year after meeting Miriam I was lucky
enough to be part of a Ray song-writing course in Devon and met some fans there,
most of whom were contributing to the Digest: Geoff, Mitch, Jim, Gini, James. I
think of those mad jam evenings with great affection, especially the time that
Ray came in and listened to us singing some obscure songs and he'd forgotten
that he'd written them! I was bashing away madly on tambourine (and probably
harmonizing badly) in seventh heaven, and I saw Ray gazing at me with a big grin
on his face. AWWWW!
When I got my first computer in 1998 I was strongly
urged by Geoff Lewis to join the KPS and get writing. I took his advice, as you
can see :-)
In the old chatrooms I would ask each newcomer if
they knew of the Digest, and if they didn't, they would be sent Neil's email
address, with the command *Tell Neil that Olga sent you*!. :-)
Well Neil, the KPS is a god-send to the fans. From
the lonely times that many of us spent, thinking we were possibly the only Kinks
fan on this earth, then finding out that there were several Kinksian
kommunities, to suddenly feeling a sense of belonging. A knowing that other
people appreciated the band too, and we could discuss minutiae without boring
the socks off one another was just brilliant.
It's brought so many of us together, not only in
writing and spirit but also in actual flesh. I was received so warmly and kindly
treated by the fans I met on my two visits to the US. In turn I have taken many
fans around on my Kinks Tour of London and got to know them better. I have made
many true friends throughout the years from contributors to the
Digest.
Through the Digest we have been able to help one
another out with hard to find items, we've put together four music albums,
alerted one another to tours (and tour cancellations!), and cheered and bitched
to our hearts' content. :-) We're a great lot! We're a Kommunity!
:-)
We love your dedication to the Digest Neil, and
your fairness when dealing with the occasional disputes. We think the world of
you and hope you enjoy this tribute to your hard work and dedication to the
Kause!
