Note about Comments and Lack of Posts

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I welcome comments. You agree, you disagree, you love, you hate -- all fine. You write me threats, you say that I "better hide" because you're coming to get me... Nah, I'm not going to publish those. If you can, write your issue in reasonable, non-obscene language and I'll publish it. If not, then start your own blog called "Anonymous Threats I've Written" and you can write whatever you want.

Also a note to those who've expressed disappointment that I haven't been posting much: Sorry about that. The reason is simple, though: I don't want to feed the beast. All there is right now is speculation about Colt, and the newspapers are doing a fine job with that. Every burglary or theft in the San Juans and Island County now gets Colt's name attached to it as a possible suspect. Frankly, every rustle in the woods has people wondering if that's him -- I know he's got me thinking that way. Last night, there was a sound under my cabin at dusk. When I went to investigate, I found... a peacock. After two years of Colt being on the run around here, I would have been much less surprised to find him under my cabin then I was to find a big ol' male peacock. Apparently there are a couple running wild here on Orcas these days.

Or maybe Colt had this one as a pet and when he (possibly) took off island-hopping in stolen boats from here to San Juan Island to Lopez and then to Camano last week, he left the bird here. If so: Colt, what the hell should I feed him?

Anyway, I don't want to post Colt news every day. As I've explained, I'm totally against sensationalizing this story because I believe there's a lot of tragedy in it. If I had to write something here every day then I'd naturally have to speculate and pontificate, and that would just add to the senseless chatter that surrounds this. There is an important story here, though, and a lot of important issues that Colt's story brings to light. What I am doing every day is examining things such as child development issues, mental health issues, the school system, Child Protective Services, State versus parental versus child rights, foster parenting, the juvenile justice system, etc.

I'm not looking at these issues to make excuses for Colt. He's made his decision to run outside of society, and for that he has the law on his tail. But his tale IS important because there are plenty of other, younger, Colts out there, and unless we want more of them out here breaking into our homes and businesses, we need to make sure the systems we have in place give every kid the chance for a normal life -- and the chance to find his place IN society, even if it's on the eccentric, anti-authority, alternative fringe.

All my reporting on these issues will be in a book (yes, it's now official) for Hyperion, which will be out sometime next year. It may be titled "Taking Flight" or maybe "COLT"... not sure yet. And yes, once I have all the facts or as many as I can gather, it will tell about Colt's life and the important issues it illuminates. Of course since not enough people read books these days and the last thing I want is a boring book, it will also tell the true story behind Colt's amazing ability to boost boats, planes and to elude law enforcement for over two years, along with the reasons behind the remarkable worldwide response to his story.

Hopefully -- and most importantly -- it will also tell how this all came to a peaceful conclusion, with no one hurt (despite all the wishes from anonymous commenters rooting for the ugly death of a 19-year-old property thief).
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Hey Colt

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Your mom's worried about you and wants you to get in touch with her any way possible to let her know you're okay.
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