Breaking news tonight with the passing of the founder, and only member, of the European Non Stampist Movement, Hamish 'Hamish' Smythe.
Statement from The European NSC Secretary.
“It’s a shame, but I think we’ll have all pretty much forgotten about it by this time tomorrow. Hamish was a bit of a bore."
Smythe was found immobile at his desk this morning, six days after his heart stopped beating.
Throughout this time his wife had assumed he was simply plotting on graph paper; she thought he was working out how to avoid a local Philately club meeting. So she kept on bringing him cups of coffee.
Over forty-eight cups were found precariously balanced on his desk, by his dead body.
Smythe was a pioneer of what came to be known as the 'aggressive/passive' technique of non collecting. His methodology centred around vigorously searching out stamp-collector clubs and then passively ignoring them.
I believe his defining moment came in 1979, when in a Gandhi like show of 'peaceful resistance' Smythe decided to stay at home rather than go to a stamp collector gathering, on the other side of the world, plus a hundred miles away. It was a journey which would've incurred much financial hardship and several plane transfers. For his selfish act of heroism avoiding this inconvenience, Smythe wasn't awarded any medals by anybody. No citations, blue plaques, or even a 'thank you' from distant neighbours living in Argentina. Police found Smythe's studio crammed with empty ring binders, blank scrapbooks, clear sheets of paper sent by NSC fans worldwide, and
hundreds of empty coffee cups.
Two of his books didn't make the New York Times bestseller list; Contemporary Stamp Indifference, and his magnum opus: The Chilling Fields - My Non Stamp War. This unpublished manuscript chronicled his little talked about experiences as a struggling Non Stamp Collector during the Cold War.
Contemporary Stamp Indifference explains the Smyth Index Spectrum of Indifference (SISI). This groundbreaking concept is still cruelly ignored in universities to this day.
We ask all NSC members to reflect on his legacy and refrain from posting their thoughts on how Hamish 'Hamish’ Smythe hasn't affected them in any way whatsoever.
PS,
RIP Florian Schneider. Genius.
Click here for more information on Hamish 'Hamish' Smythe....or here