Penguin may be a baby chick on-line, but Penguin is a creative and creatives are as rare among birds, as they are among humans or giraffes.

Unfortunately, this Colby Hess sort of thing is a common experience among creatives, who tend to get somewhere before the crowd. For example, Raffey has been in existence since 1972 (it’s my company’s nickname). In 1992, Raffey started writing on-line. As a result, more people, in real life and on-line, know me as Raffey than my real name. When I came to Medium, I used Raffey.

In public life, creatives tend to push the envelope and get ourselves in hot water with the parochialists. Long before anyone here, had ever heard of on-line harassment and death threats of elected officials, I got myself in that kind of fix. I was elected to our school board and when I went after racism, I ended up the target of violence, which included my home being set on fire. Scary times.

Asking me to write under my real name is to invite violence so I won’t do it. So far, the effort it takes to find out who Raffey is, has kept the crazy lazies at bay.

Good piece Penguin and thanks for the space to register my thoughts too.

PS. I like my au natural spots better than your formal attire.