This post is obviously unrelated to hair loss cures or hair loss science and research. After the recent demise of Bryan Shelton, I could not help but wonder: whatever happened to Ernie Primeau and Arfy?

Ernie Primeau

From when I first started reading hair loss forums in the early 2000s, I remember ten or so people (usernames) quite vividly. Ernie Primeau was probably the craziest person ever seen on hair loss message boards, and no-one will surpass or even match him in that regard. Hair loss forum veterans are unlikely to ever forget that name, especially considering that he probably holds the world record for most number of hair loss forum/discussion group posts. Ernie was obsessed with his theory that permanently removing all your body hair via plucking would grow back scalp hair.

Update: April 2015 — It seems like Ernie may have had a point. A new study finds that strategic plucking induces new hair growth in mice. Via something called quorum sensing.

Update: April 2015 — Ernie is still alive and replied in the comments section to this post, and he actually even sounds sane! There is also a picture of him here, but I can’t vouch for its veracity.

Arfy

Arfy was damaged by a hair transplant surgeon during the time when they used pluggy grafts and older surgical techniques. He was quite an advocate for those who had been disfigured, and went out of his way to help people about to get surgery.

He was probably as prolific a hair loss forum poster as Bryan Shelton for a few years. I have not read any posts by Arfy in many years it seems, although my frequency of visits to hair loss message boards has varied significantly over the past decade.

Update: Arfy is also still alive and has been posting on various hair loss forums again as of 2016.