Millea fury at letter asking mother, 84, if he was dead

Aug 2 2007 by Larry Neild, Liverpool Daily Post

CITY councillor Peter Millea has reassured University of Liverpool officials he is alive and kicking, after his elderly mother was asked if he was dead.

The veteran politician has made an angry protest to the university’s alumni office after the letter was sent to his boyhood home in Garston.

His mother, 84, was told the university wanted to update its record on graduates and she was asked to return a form with the appropriate box ticked.

Most of the questions were inoffensive – such as asking whether he still lived at the address.

But it was the stark: “I regret to inform you that Peter Millea has died” option box that stunned his mother.

The Liberal Democrat executive board member sent an immediate email to the alumni office and left a phone message on an answer machine, but he heard nothing.

Last night, Cllr Millea said: “I wanted the university to know – borrowing some immortal words from Mark Twain – that reports of my death were premature.

“I presume the alumni office want to update their records so they can invite former students to help raise cash for them. But the wording of the question was crass and insensitive.

“I graduated in politics in 1984 and at the time my address was the family home in Garston. I don't have a problem with a letter arriving asking for help in tracing graduates, but I am sure there is no need for the wording to be so blunt. It really did cause upset in the family home, particularly as one of my brothers died some years ago.

“As a politician, I am in regular contact with the university, so they must be aware I am still breathing. It is not as though my name is Smith or Jones. I hope the university will recognise this was not the best approach to make and will immediately adjust the wording on its forms.”

Last night, a spokeswoman at the university said: “The University of Liverpool is updating its alumni database and is seeking to regain contact with graduates whom it may have lost contact with over the years.

“Currently, there are some 90,000 alumni in touch with the institution. We have been mailing 'missing' graduates at their last-known address in order to be able to keep them in touch with news from their alma mater.

“We are obviously very sorry if a relative of one of our graduates has been upset by the way we have attempted to update our records.”

larryneild