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lake district canary

Old English teacher and staunch supporter

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Just found out that John Balls, a staunch Norwich supporter and English teacher at Thorpe St Andrew School passed away recently.  A really affable guy who I remember as a likeable and fair teacher at school and always ready to talk about NCFC and who I used to see at matches when I was young.  Condolences to his family and friends.

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[quote user="Jimmy Bone - Superstar"]He is the uncle of Ed Balls and as far as I''m aware he hasn''t passed away?[/quote]My mum had a letter from a near neighbour about him.  Could only have a happened a few days ago.

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Nothing in the EDP death announcements, and I''m sure someone of that stature would have been listedchecked back a couple of years and nothingEDP

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[quote user="lake district canary"]I''ve asked her again and although she keeps telling me it''s Mr. Balls, she could be referring to Mr Ball the headteacher, although he passed away some time ago.  Sincere apologies if incorrect.

[/quote]
Lakey, before this thread slips into obscurity, I think you have a responsibility to bring it to an appropriate and accurate conclusion. Nothing posted by anyone else was absolutely conclusive and, as you originated the thread announcing someone''s death based upon on third hand information ( particularly given that you did not indicate that point at the outset ), you should be the one to determine the fact. It is not enough to say, as you have, "sincere apologies if incorrect", because that leaves the matter in doubt.
When you are starting other threads you are zealous in repeatedly responding and drawing a thread out, often unnecessarily so. In this case, when dealing with a much more serious claim, your follow up seems to be lacking when nine or ten days have passed since your post. 

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Thank you for raising this again. As people questioned it at first, it made me doubt the information I was given and was hoping someone would be able to clarify it and I have been in touch with people to try and confirm it.  The information I was given was told through a relation who received a letter from a near neighbour of  Mr. Balls.  On visiting that relation over Christmas, I have now read the letter it does indeed say "Mr. Balls, the English teacher and relation of Ed Balls" not "Mr. Ball the headteacher" (who passed away in 2015), so the information does appear accurate.   I have no way of coroborating it other than what I was told and what I have seen, but the information I have given is what I have been told and now seen and passed on with good faith.  If it transpires the original letter was wrong, then once again, I have no other recourse but to apologise for putting it out there, but it appears it is correct.  Please let us not turn this thread into a slanging match, because if this is correct - and I have no reason to think otherwise - Mr. Balls was a respected teacher and an avid NCFC supporter and deserves respect and condolences to his family. It would still be good if someone could confrm this, I''ve done what I can to do to do so.

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This thread was started around the same time lakey was starting to get stick in his numpties thread.

A cynical person could say it was started for distraction purposes.....

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How would you describe someone who hinted at it, but didn''t feel able just to come out and say it straight Morty?

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Lakey, just so you''re clear, my input was not to support a "slanging match."
I was simply pointing out to you the length of time that you had allowed to lapse on a serious statement you made that was not conclusive in fact. The lesson here, I believe, is not to start such a post unless you have either 1) seen an official newspaper report or 2) have a direct contact with a family member of the deceased person. Then, in addition, having made the statement you certainly don''t leave the matter hanging because that compounds the first mistake. I offer this input to you ( and others ) in good faith as to when it is appropriate to start a thread advising of someone''s demise. 
With respect to your comment that "you have done all you can do", I can only tell you that if I had made the mistake you made in the first instance, i would have picked up the phone and traced back to a family member to confirm if what I was told was correct and, if so, offer condolences. You see, the way each of us deals with such matters is entirely about character.
 

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Just to add to the confusion the mention of him being the uncle of Ed Balls who in turn is the cousin of Richard Balls a big City fan and former reporter had me looking on Facebook as Richard is a friend of mine and up pops a picture taken on Christmas Day of him with his father. His name is John Balls which would make him Ed Balls uncle.Reference is made on Facebook by Richard of his father being a staunch City supporter and has photos of them both at games.Obviously if this is the man in question he is very much alive and kicking.

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[quote user="morty"]This thread was started around the same time lakey was starting to get stick in his numpties thread.

A cynical person could say it was started for distraction purposes.....[/quote]Do we know any cynics on here?

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Thank you Yankee, I wasn''t referring to you, but could see the danger in this thread, as shown in the very next post after my reply to you - the e-vultures are never far away.  Put simply, though, and in answer to your forensic analysis of my posting and character - if I hadn''t posted,  I - and others - would not have found out the truth of this information as I received it - and when it is someone who others people may know, not just me, then to find out the truth of the matter means that we all benefit from the knowledge.  That is the good side of the internet. It can enable people to find out things that matter. I''m hoping that Til is correct, but I''ve made further enquiries and will reply if/when I find out any more.

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[quote user="lake district canary"]Thank you Yankee, I wasn''t referring to you, but could see the danger in this thread, as shown in the very next post after my reply to you - the e-vultures are never far away.  Put simply, though, and in answer to your forensic analysis of my posting and character - if I hadn''t posted,  I - and others - would not have found out the truth of this information as I received it - and when it is someone who others people may know, not just me, then to find out the truth of the matter means that we all benefit from the knowledge.  That is the good side of the internet. It can enable people to find out things that matter. I''m hoping that Til is correct, but I''ve made further enquiries and will reply if/when I find out any more. [/quote]
My input here, Lakey, was not forensic analysis of your post but good old common sense. When initiating a post stating someone has died you get the facts before you post, not after. 
Nobody is disputing your "good intentions", however, you are claiming merit based upon "good intentions" when, even now, there is still a lack of clarity as to the facts of the matter. The appropriate thing to do was as I previously suggested, either  base your input upon an official newspaper report or personal knowledge from a relative or close friend of the individual involved. Imagine that it turns out that the information you posted was false and there are friends of the individual who read this forum. How do you imagine you would you feel if you were in their place and read such a statement only to find out it was false? That''s why any individual should be cautious when it comes to posting about the death of another on social media. You would do well to simply acknowledge the wisdom of that rather than give the response that you did above.    

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I wish you the very best of luck with that Yankee. I have attempted to point him in the right direction as i am sure you saw.

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[quote user="Faded Jaded Semi Plastic SOB"]I had a look on the Thorpe Grammar School Association website, nothing on there to suggest this gentleman has passed away. There is mention of the former head passing away in 2015......[/quote]

Indeed and I have found out the person who sent us the recent letter regarding Mr Balls, was mistaken as I have had it confirmed that happily, Mr. Balls is very much still with us.  Very pleased about this, of course and my apologies for not having double checked the information before posting. Have found out in this process that Mr Balls is the author of a book about the Norfolk survivors of the Titanic, which may be of interest to some. Anyhow, I''m pleased to hear Mr. Balls is well and apologise to him for posting this thread erronously and am well and truly humbled at posting wrong information on something like this. Lesson learned.

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''''Hopefully the lesson is not to be a colossal bell..... ''''Morty

''''The lesson surely is not to post anything that vindictive losers who spend half the year at sea can use against you. ''''........EfB

As usual the truth lies somewhere in between the two.

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Come on Eccles, starting a thread announcing someone''s death, and it being entirely wrong is a pretty ridiculous clanger.

Especially as the reason for doing it was to distract from his numpties thread.

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[quote user="morty"]Come on Eccles, starting a thread announcing someone''s death, and it being entirely wrong is a pretty ridiculous clanger.

Especially as the reason for doing it was to distract from his numpties thread.[/quote]

You''re sick.

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I would imagine the affable Mr Balls has had a good old chuckle if he has come across this thread. if I had read that I had passed, I would feel quite relieved to know I was still alive and kicking and see the funny side. Hopefully he is in good health. I am sure he must be quite flattered by the nice things said about him - I know I would be.

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Glad that this has been sorted and thanks for responding in the manner applicable Lakey so now just maybe this thread can drop off the page ?

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I''m perfectly well thanks lakey, and saw through your stupid games here a long time ago.

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[quote user="morty"]Come on Eccles, starting a thread announcing someone''s death, and it being entirely wrong is a pretty ridiculous clanger.

Especially as the reason for doing it was to distract from his numpties thread.[/quote]Surely it would have worked better if the man had indeed died?!

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