ADAMSON, PETER (1953 - ), Philanderer, Sexual obsessive, Rotarian. While his actions caused great unhappiness to those closest to him, it would be fatuous to describe Adamson as ‘evil'. Who can reflect on his life and deny ever acting on a base instinct? We should be wary of stigmatising someone so categorically without sufficient evidence. By my own definition, based on years of peering into the abyss, an evil mind is one that takes pleasure in the creation of mischief. Otherwise benign individuals can be destroyed a personality flaws which, in other circumstances, might seem insignificant or even comical. Many people lose their way, some blunder onto the wrong track, others wilfully take to the wilderness and encourage others to follow. The successful investigator doesn't judge, he merely observes and makes his assessment accordingly, without prejudice.
Essentially a shallow individual, Adamson was afflicted by the yearning common to many middle-aged men whose aspirations have been limited to the physical realm. His life started to unravel when 20 year old trainee Janet Kelly joined his department at Stirling council. Within a week, Adamson and three of his colleagues had declared themselves ‘father figures' to Ms Kelly. While his colleagues, cowed by self-knowledge, limited themselves to overly solicitous behaviour, Adamson, openly proclaiming the onset of mid life crisis to anyone who'd listen, left no-one in any doubt that any fatherly instincts he possessed were incestuous. Spontaneously adopting a new wardrobe more appropriate to a ‘younger brother figure', he started turning up at bars frequented by Ms Kelly and lurking outside her flat for hours in the hope of manoeuvring a ‘chance' meeting. When this tactic failed, he declared a previously unsuspected enthusiasm for amateur theatricals. Joining the Aberfoyle Players, he successfully auditioned for the role of Fagin in a production of the musical ‘Oliver'. Ms Kelly, co-incidentally, was cast as Nancy. After a promising start, in which Adamson exhibited genuine theatrical flair, his crisis was exacerbated by Ms Kelly's obvious attraction to Bruce Struthers, the actor playing Bill Sikes. Stricken by jealousy, Adamson's performance became stilted. Pre-occupied by the chemistry between Adams and Struthers, he missed cues and stammered over his lines. The poverty of his performance was touched upon by one of Hugh Walker 's withering reviews, though, in fairness, the Examiner critic was equally unimpressed by both Kelly and Struthers.
Adamson was eventually forced to accept a redundancy package after Ms Kelly's actual father, a notorious individual with connections to various criminal elements, turned up at the office demanding an explanation as to the ‘fan-site' that had appeared on the internet devoted to his daughter. After a brief investigation, Adamson acknowledged responsibility. Disowned by his family, he suffered a breakdown and spent three months learning rudimentary pottery in private residential facility. Returning to Aberfoyle in 2003, he created a niche for himself with the Natural Heritage Society, leaping from undergrowth and startling school parties with the exclamation, “Hello, children! My name is the ghost of John Muir!” He was removed from this position after forming an inappropriate fixation on 23 year old horticulturalist Sally Reynolds. Three of Adamson's letters to Ms Reynolds are included in the Hamilton Coe archive.
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