Is this genuine?

Goodness me, that is terrible news. Condolences to his family.

Absolutely. What will we do without him ?

I'm just lost for words

RIP Avant

Shocked, never ever thought that would happen. Condolences to all his family and close friends. I hope the OP is able to pass on all the messages of sympathy and gratitude for his years of service here to his family. He will be sorely missed. RIP Avant

I wonder what will happen with the site moderation now? Without dear Avant, I hope the spamsters don't take over.

Edited by brum on 11/03/2021 at 13:04

As a regular reader & sometime poster on here you build up a mental picture of people. Avant was always fair & consistent with his moderation & seemed to be a nice guy. Looks like l was close to the mark.

Condolences to his family.

This is very sad news.

Avant was an exceptionally good moderator and always came across as polite even when dealing with difficult posters. If the two proposed moderators are half as good, this forum will be ok.

What shocking news. Avant was indeed a wise and fair moderator. He will be sorely missed and leaves some very large shoes to step into. I hope someone with closer knowledge of him than I will cut and paste this thread so that his nearest and dearest can be aware of our appreciation.

Very sad news indeed.

Avant was the cornerstone of this forum. Fair, balanced and full of knowledge.

RIP.

That's just shocking and sad news...,,so awful.

My sympathies go to his friends and family.

I'm really sorry to hear that too. I've been a forum moderator elsewhere - I didn't find it much fun and didn't stick it for long. Therefore I was a great admirer of Avant's skill in that respect.

Is this genuine?

If its genuine why on earth have the Forum owners not been on here with some form of announcement? Seem very uncaring considering the time he has put into the forum.

If it is genuine very sad news.

What shocking news. He was outstanding, it feels as if an old friend has passed away.
Condolences to his family.

Very sad news.

I hope his family will be aware of our appreciation for his good work on this forum.

He will be missed.

Very saddened to read this news, such a gentleman, and a very fair moderator. I know who he was, although I was never fortunate enough to meet him. A fine man gone too early.

Condolences to his family and friends. He'll be greatly missed on this forum too.

I'm very saddened to hear this news.

Avant worked very hard for this forum over a period of a great many years often dealing with difficult matters in a sympathetic and professional manner. He always was very helpful to me in the relatively few dealings I've had with him during his time as moderator and I always found him very knowledgable and supportive. He was always a true gentleman.

I only ever knew him as Avant, I never knew his real name, but in spite of this I always considered him to be a friend.

His sad passing will, I believe, be a great loss to the HJ Forum. I just cannot believe that he is no longer with us.

My sincere condolences to all his friends and family.

R.I.P Avant

Haven't posted for years but still a regular reader. It's a great surprise and sadness to hear of Avant. He moderated the site beautifully and could be likened to the Speaker of the House. His tone and demeanour on the site suggested he was a lovely bloke.

Condolences to family and friends.

Sad news indeed - RIP Avant

Very saddened to hear. Can't add to all the comments and sentiments expressed above, but nice to know that our thoughts have been conveyed to his family, deepest condolences to his family too, he was obviously a great guy, will be greatly missed by all.

So sad to hear, I liked him, a truly unique kind person. Although I never met him,

RIP Avant.

RIP. I'm not a member, but checked out of curiosity and they also have a thread on the splinter forum (c*******) too.

What is the splinter?

and the splintered splinter?

Really saddened to read this news - I've not been around much since early 2000s and the days of THe Growler and the like, but Avant was a stalwart then and it's clear his support has kept the backroom to the nice place it still seems to be.

Rest in Peace Avant

He died peacefully in his sleep. Thought people would like to know that. I can also confirm he had a brilliant sense of humour.

That is good to know, presumably at home in his own bed then?.

Anyone reading this weeks Autocar might like to peruse the letters page.

I am sure he would have been quite chuffed to have been awarded letter of the week.

I've just been in contact with one of Avant's daughters. Should anyone wish to make a donation in memory of him (and of course the immense work he did as moderator for over ten years), then a charity he did a lot of work for was the RNLI.

For those who expressed an interest in his car magazines the family kindly offered, I will arrange to go and collect them sometime after the end of June.

I have also been a member of the forum for many years but have become an infrequent visitor in recent times.

I would like to pass on my sincere condolences to Avant's family. He always retained such a courteous approach to his moderating, and having read the tribute to him, it is clear he came across online exactly as in "real life".

RIP.