[IRCA] Maybe they'll find some QSL cards that never got delivered

[JPOGUE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Mailman's death shrouded in mystery of mail he left behind 

BROOKLINE, Mass. - For 20 years, Alan Gagne delivered mail to a tree-
lined neighborhood here - but not all of it.

The postal service said Tuesday he tucked away thousands of circulars 
and hundreds of letters in drawers and closets in his apartment.

The authorities discovered the mail Friday when a supervisor, who 
worried when Gagne did not show up for work, found him dead in his 
apartment on the same street where he made his rounds in this affluent 
suburb. The Boston Globe reported the discovery Tuesday. 

Some of the mail dates from the 1980s, said Robert Cannon, a spokesman 
for the postal service, and about 90 percent of it was circulars 
flagged as undeliverable because of an address change. The postal 
service is trying to deliver the first-class letters and cards, none 
of which were opened, to their rightful recipients, but is having 
trouble because the letters are so old.

Cannon said officials do not know why Gagne kept the mail, and 
probably never would.

"There appeared to be no rhyme or reason as to how, when, or where he 
took the mail or why he was holding onto it," Cannon said. Stealing 
mail is a federal offense, but the death voids all charges, he 
said. "It's tragic, unfortunate and bizarre."

Gagne, 54, lived on the bottom floor of a yellow duplex on a quiet 
tree-lined street filled with parents pushing strollers. A bachelor, 
he moved from an apartment around the corner a few years ago, 
neighbors said, and apparently took the mail with him. He was 
occasionally spotted at a nearby coffee shop and the grocery store, 
but he and his habits were as much of a mystery in life as they are in 
death.

Neighbors said Gagne was somewhat of an enigma, barely looking people 
in the eye but seemingly obsessed with getting the mail to them 
properly and on time, leaving them all the more baffled as to how and 
why he took the mail.

"When you went away on vacation he would leave photocopied notes in 
his unusual, hard-to-read scrawl that you should check your mail 
carefully because there might be a problem," said Jonathan Sandler, 
35, who was walking by Gagne's Linden Street apartment with his wife 
and 20-month-old son. He said Gagne was the best, most thorough 
mailman he had ever had. "Al was the mail."

Gagne was, by many accounts, socially awkward and had problems 
striking up even casual conversations. He was often heard mumbling to 
himself along the route and complained about how heavy the mailbag was.

"Being social was extremely difficult for him, said Jeff Kline, who 
lives on the street. "He would answer if I spoke to him, but he 
wouldn't strike up a conversation."

"It was even difficult to tip him," Kline added. "I would sort of 
press a twenty into his hand and he'd look away. It was very hard for 
him to look you in the eye."

Rebecca Scudiere, 25, a medical student who lives in the street's only 
large apartment building, said she and her roommates often found their 
mail was late and, Thursday, received a large bundle of unsorted mail. 
She said she had been "creeped out" by a conversation with Gagne, whom 
she saw every day but only acknowledged her once.

"I was getting my mail at the same time he came and he said, Who's 
your mail from, your boyfriend? I'd take you out,'" she said. "Aside 
from that he was never friendly."

Neighbors said they are more sad than angry about the situation.

"I should be rightfully angry, but I'm surprised. I'd be surprised if 
anything of value was taken," Kline said. "I find myself being much 
more sad that he could have done this and his life had to be that way 
than mad that he took circulars." 
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