I was slightly disturbed this week, after someone I know mentioned that there was some slanderous material online about my mother. And even more disturbing, based on some of the information contained in those posting it is clear who the author was, and what there true reasons were for this abuse. 

Personally I am used to abusive material on the internet. Because I have a certain level of success and notoriety due to my physics research, books and assorted projects, I am understandably a target for a lot of hate from people whose views differ. There is a war on science, and a war on intellectuals, and I fall into both categories. I can accept that. As the old saying says, they don't shoot at dead ducks. 

However the attacks on my mother are more sinister. A Google search of "Sharon Bird" yields a few very abusive and slanderous websites. And yet she does nothing to warrant it. She doesn't write controversial letters to the newspaper, or publish a controversial blog, or spew politically incorrect rants. She is a senior citizen who ekes out a very basic living on the modest pension she was left with after my father gave away their life savings, and who is doing everything she can to help my brother through his own difficulties. 

And so we get to the rest of the story...

From 2007 to 2011 my immediate and extended family suffered a number of losses, including my father and two grandparents. And unfortunately some of the estates were not as simple as others. For example as I wrote above, we discovered that my father had emptied out most of his estate and actually died owing money. Another more extended family member who died left a small bit of money to my mother and other family members believed they should have inherited some as well. (Since many innocent people could be hurt by these comments as well, I have chosen not to identify the individuals involved).

There are right ways and wrong ways to deal with such things. The right way is to retain an estate lawyer and negotiate a settlement, or in a worst case scenario to go to court and let a judge make the decision. In this case the individuals in question found that they had no legal recourse, because the law was quite clear that they did not deserve more than they had received. It doesn't matter if a person makes promises to include someone in their will, or if they promise to purchase life insurance naming someone as their beneficiary and then fail to do so, or promise to give someone assets in lieu of payments of other debts when they die. If the estate doesn't have the money to cover their gifts, or if the deceased didn't actually keep their promises, there is nothing that can be done.

And unfortunately upon learning that harsh fact of life, and feeling that they were cheated by the deceased's failure to keep their promises, some people turn to the wrong way of dealing with such things. In this case the wrong way is to slander someone who they wrongly believed caused them to lose the money they had been expecting.

However what these individuals need to understand is that my mother and I were victims as well. We did not receive anything from this deceased individual's estate either. We were also owed money by this person, and we did not receive a penny of that debt repayment from their estate.

There is no secret stash of money that my mother is hiding. And writing insulting and slanderous posts online will not magically create more estate money. It is gone. They spent it all and left everyone else to suffer for their broken promises after they died.

And as a final parting thought, remember that you are never completely anonymous online. We know who you are.