Not to be morbid...

[sherrold]

But I've been thinking about dying a little, recently -- mostly because I've been doing Fanlore articles on fans that have moved on. And I realize that I talked to wickedwords years ago about taking care of my stuff when I died (I have 20 linear feet of zines, still), but she doesn't have my passwords.

Poll #3999 Fannish Executor

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 108

View Respondents

Have you heard of the idea of a Fannish Executor?

View Answers

Yes
85 (78.7%)

No
23 (21.3%)

What do think your Fannish Executor would do?

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Have your LJ/DW/AOO password
98 (91.6%)

Have your fannish website(s) info
81 (75.7%)

Go through your zines and fannish toys
62 (57.9%)

Be mentioned in your actual will as taking care of your fannish stuff
60 (56.1%)

More that I'll put in comments
13 (12.1%)

Do you have a Fannish Executor?

View Answers

Yes
24 (22.6%)

No
49 (46.2%)

Dammit, Sandy, I'm thinking about it; don't be so pushy
33 (31.1%)

Comments

do any of those friends have your passwords?

[sherrold]

Part of what I hate is when no one can get into someone's LJ and post memorial information...

[corilannam]

My best friend and I were talking about this just the other day, as we were sorting through fannish stuff from a friend of ours who passed away. I do think it's important not just to have a "porn buddy" to clear out the dirty stuff, but also to make sure fannish stuff gets to a good home and not just dumped in the garbage because our mundane families didn't know what to do with it (which is why we went up to help clean out our friend's house, taking a lot of stress off the actual executor who didn't know what half this stuff was).

I'm pretty sure she knows most of my passwords already, but now that you mention it, making a list is probably a pretty good idea. Heck, I'm not even sure I know all my passwords anymore!

Re: do any of those friends have your passwords?

[cereta]

No, but they're saved on my computer, and spouse knows to post, and also would let one of the locals on to work with my stuff.

[sherrold]

You know, just recently I was wondering if you'd found a future home for all of those gorgeous kaleidoscopes.

Yeah, a will is a good thing -- but more and more, I just want fans to make sure *someone* has their LJ/DW password and can post if something happens (doesn't even have to be death -- just sudden hospitalization, loss of internet, whatever). Physical things...it'd be nice if they find a new home, but it's more the connection that I hate losing.

BTW, I'm glad to see you posting more these days; it's nice!

[sherrold]

Yay -- my work here is done.

[birggitt]

Oh, yes! We have done that (exchange passwords) and we both know which are our wishes regarding... well, everything. But I still have set a Will of Life, when I clearly set the point when I want the plug pulled off. I don't want anybody else having to deal with that kind of decisions.
We are both very... online-ers? And we both value a lot those friendships we have with all these people whose faces we don't know, but their hearts, oh, yes! Their hearts we really know *smiles*

[sherrold]

Congrats on the will -- our generation (I'm 49 too, at least this week) has been v. reluctant to face facts that way.

Yeah, I think there's two parts to this -- someone with your passwords who can update your LJ/DW and let people know what's happening (who can live anywhere), and someone local (or willing to fly in, if something seriously enough happens) who knows what you'd like done with your stuff.

[sherrold]

One of my old friends died a couple of years ago and I have no clue how (I hadn't spoken to Kevin in years and his folks didn't know me) and I still wonder what actually happened. None of the obituaries online mention how and that is... frustrating.

Yup -- that's part of what started this for me; people dying and their LJ doesn't even have a final post, or it has a final post, but it's by (obvious) mundanes and they don't provide real answers...

So, does Jackie have your passwords?

[sherrold]

Hugs, back! Yeah, if we can just make sure that the 'fannish exec' gets our laptops, for most of us with modern browsers, that takes care of the passwords problem, too. But I bet you, most mundane families wouldn't assume that of course, the laptop goes to fandom/your closest fannish friend.

But yes, a will is a good thing, if only because it makes you think interesting thoughts about the future.

[sherrold]

It definitely is.

Good for you for giving someone your passwords!

Hey you said, "i don't have any fannish friends who live really nearby." For something serious (you immobilized; you...deceased), you know, people would travel.

[sherrold]

> make sure fannish stuff gets to a good home and not just dumped in
> the garbage

Yes, definitely! The loss of the old stuff saddens me.

>I'm pretty sure she knows most of my passwords already, but now that
>you mention it, making a list is probably a pretty good idea. Heck,
>I'm not even sure I know all my passwords anymore!

Oh *god* I know that feeling...

[lys]

I really need to do that one of these days. My brothers and I have been dealing with my folks' estate (they formed their living trust in 2004, and never put anything in it!!!) while they're still around to bitch about it. So it's obviously been fresh in my mind, but I just never get around to doing it for myself. And lord knows I've got some stuff I don't want my uber-religious brothers to find!!1!

[jae]

I'm not sure this is something those of us who don't own zines need...is it? What am I missing?

-J

[hederahelix]

So, true story from Escapade that has just driven home how much I need to set something up follows after the part of the reason I don't have an executor yet is that I need a dual duty fannish executor realization.

I live alone. My mother, my only surviving parent, knows I'm fannish and knows about slash, so I'm not worried about her finding any number of things in my house. Okay, truth be told, I should also have a dyke executor, because, really, leaving that second tool box of items for your mom to find after your death, maybe not a great idea now that I think about it. I mean, if there's an afterlife, and I get to watch that response, I'm sure I'll find it highly amusing, but probably best to avoid it, right?

Okay, so your post has convinced me that I need a "Spare My Mother's Embarrassment" Executor to de-dyke and de-fan the house which should probably be combined with the fannish executor. And I admit that since I came into fandom online first, I don't really have zines, so I've let this slide.

But I had honestly never thought about the password issue. I mean, yeesh.

Those of you who perused the art show at Escapade may remember the undies with Chris Kirkpatrick's face on them that belonged to Minotaur that were featured in the art show with the whole "Does anyone know what these are?" note next to them.

Well, I did know. I already had a pair myself, although mine were on women's undies. Giogio made those in advance of Chris's performance in Dallas, and she offered to send them out to folks. I was able to tell elke what they were, but if elke hadn't taken them to Escapade, since her fandoms didn't overlap with Minotaur's, well--Minotaur's Chris Kirkpatrick cyanotype undies (he framed his! how smart and awesome is that!) might have been tossed.

(They're currently residing in the frame under my bed. I figure I'll get my pair framed and put them up, well, I don't know--somewhere. I think even for me the living room may be a bit much. None of my friends would bat an eye, but now that my landlord lives on site, and given my cable troubles and the frequency with which cable folks ahve been in my apartment, maybe that's not a great plan.)

But, since I saved those from being unceremoniously dumped, I guess I need to make sure that if I died, both pair didn't get unceremoniously dumped.

So, yes. I'll have to get on that. Hmm.

[dira]

I've verbally agreed with iulia that she's my fannish executor--and as she lives closer to me than any of my family, has keys to my apartment and car, and has been adopted by my family as my Hetero Life Mate since roughly the age of fourteen, I foresee no difficulty for her in getting hold of my laptop and doing whatever needs doing In The Event. Plus my website is hosted by friends of mine who are jointly friends of hers, so they can negotiate anything that needs doing there among them, including the resetting and reassigning of logins. I suppose I shouldn't test my faith in our ability to pass the broccoli test from beyond the grave, though, and should talk to her about what I would actually want her to do. (When I was posting Missing Persons serially she had the complete final draft and explicit instructions to continue the posting schedule if I died or was otherwise deterred from finishing. *g*)

I do need to set her up as my official AO3 fannish executor so she can control my stuff there, though. And I should write down all my passwords somewhere. Hmm...

[yonmeidw]

Part of my thinking is the honest assessment that I'd just as soon not give someone the temptation to access private files of mine until I'm gone. (Um, it's not that I don't trust my fannish executor: I do. It's just that, I can imagine moments when she's like: I could log on and get to read THAT story, the one I know she's working on, and I'll just read THAT and only that... and then... er... It's like handing someone your diary and saying "Hey, loads of stuff about you in here, don't read it till I'm dead, thanks.")

I suppose one way would be a yahoo mailing list (unlisted, access by invite only) that has only one member: me. Then she only needs the password to that list, and I can keep updating the passwords by posting to the list - posts which only I can access.

And if she forgets the password, I can make the Secret Questions ones that she'd be able to answer.

...hey, this could work.

[lapillus]

She has a couple (we share the vid site, for instance) and most of the rest are stored in my computer, however I still haven't gotten around to making a list. At the moment VVC and the last couple of weeks in this temp job are taking my focus.

I think there are two main parts

[sherrold]

The physical toys/zines whatever (getting less common with younger fans, maybe) and the online presence -- can someone post to your LJ/DW/whatever and say you're in the hospital, or that something has happened to you. Is there a way for someone to give your fannish friends a place to have a fannish memorial? (And for people who pay for their web space -- is it all going to go away without warning when someone doesn't pay the bill -- could there be a warning?)

[montanaharper]

Well, I used to have an official will that addressed all my mundane and fannish concerns, but then I got divorced and I've totally slacked on making a new one. I did destroy the old one, because if I were to die intestate the result would be closer to my current wishes than my old will would; Offspring 1.0 would end up handling it all.

I expect she'd go to y'all to identify any fannish stuff she didn't recognize, though since she's been with me through most of the fandoms I think it's unlikely that anything would really stump her. And my passwords are all on my computer already, so I just need something pointing her there and she'll be good.

Still, I really need to make a new official will, if only to deal with custody issues wrt Offspring 2.0.

[fox]

I don't have anyone lined up to deal with Stuff, and I don't think I've got any Stuff that would break my folks' hearts (more than they'd be broken by the fact that I'd just died), so I'm not that concerned about the local-person issue; except that the password matter would probably have to be local, for my own purposes. I can't have someone knowing my passwords if I'm still using them - but writing them down and putting them in a drawer, or some digital equivalent, could be a solution.

[jackiekjono]

I didn't call it fannish executor but, last year, I did put together some trust documentation that puts Carol in charge of disposing of my computer equipment, books and video collections.

[jackiekjono]

Guilty. Will put stuff in trust when I come back from VVC.

EEp.

[jackiekjono]

I would be sad to see you go, Carol. As soon as I finished crying, I would make sure I have Killa's current address and ship out the Highlander picture.

I know that much!

[melina]

I actually decided to get my stuff in order before I had surgery in May. I drafted and signed a proper will, and also filled out an "Instructions for Survivors" form, which is a detailed list of everything the people who survive you need to know, from a list of all your credit cards and insurance policies to the name of your vet, and a list of everyone who should be notified.

Doing this, while a pain, was a pretty useful exercise in making sure my own address book was up to date. Now that it's done, it will be relatively simple to update, and unlike your actual will, it doesn't need to be re-executed. It just accompanies your will, but IMO, anyone who lives on their own should do one of these, even if they don't have a will.

In the same manila file (my dad knows where it is) is a sealed letter to my fannish executor, asking her to do a few things (like transfer the mediafans domain name to wickedwords), post to LJ/DW, and let some people know. Also in the envelope is a USB thumb drive with a copy of the password management program I use (it's eWallet, I recommend), and instructions how to get the actual password file (it's stored online so it stays updated). So once she installed the program and downloaded the file, she will have all my passwords. I will probably have to update this every few years, as software and operating systems change, but the basics are done. In the letter to my actual executor, I included a line that says, "I've asked [fannish executor] to handle certain things for me. Please give her whatever help she asks for." Fortunately, none of this was needed for this particular surgery!

I will be thinking of you at VVC this week, Sandy! We'll miss you so much.

Re: I think there are two main parts

[jae]

Oh, the webspace is a point. Hmm.

I guess my fannish executor would just be my partner, though--she's fannish, too. :)

-J