I always remember a page in a fanzine that I bought in the 1980s for the lines it reprinted from a letter the fanzine's author had received. It said, in big bright red letters: 'don't give in! - There are those who understand…' That fanzine, and those words in particular always meant a lot to me, were ones I could always come back to and gain strength from. I've since considered myself immeasurably lucky to have received communications from individuals which have said much the same, or at least have made me feel that at least some of the words that I have written down the years have connected with people, have maybe made some sort of a difference to people. And as I say, I feel immeasurably lucky to be able to say that.

Of course, as is the way of the world, I have also occasionally received words from people who have singularly failed to connect, or agree with whatever I have written/said. This I accept as part of the process of putting my opinions in the public arena, open for interpretation and to perhaps instigate debate. And although I know that for the most part I ought to simply leave those critics to go on their merry ways, sometimes the sense of being totally misunderstood and misinterpreted is just too great, and I fall foul of the need to try and make things clearer. Such is the drive behind The Last Word, a piece that attempts at least in part, to respond to the torrents of abuse I have had (publicly on the guestbook) and even more so privately (through emails) in the past few weeks from Morrissey/Smiths fans responding to the Miserable Lie article I wrote way back in June. Feel free to ignore the article if the idea of more discussion on the subject bores you to tears.

• Alistair Fitchett on Morrissey's fans at Tangents.co.uk - Aug. 6, 2001
• "Miserable Lie" by Alistair Fitchett at Tangents.co.uk - July 28, 2001