VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA (CANADA) – After more than four decades since he was the victim of homophobic bullies, a British Columbia man has finally received an apology.

Last Monday, Robin Tomlin received an apology in person from North Vancouver school district Superintendent John Lewis, who offered his regrets that officials had allowed the word “fag” to appear next to his name in the 1970 Argyle Secondary School yearbook.

“They just said how sorry they were and how it slipped through the cracks,” said Tomlin, who is now 60. “And they’ll institute remedies so that it won’t happen again.” Originally, officials had offered to reprint the offensive yearbook page, but had refused to make an official apology.

Tomlin, who has been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer, said he was regularly bullied in high school, usually by a group of student athletes who called him “You little faggot,” as they physically pushed him “out of the way.”

Tomlin acknowledged that the bullying was so severe he was afraid to attend his high school. In recognition of this, Tomlin’s friends held a “graduation ceremony” in front of the Argyle School—complete with cap and gown.

The newly-vindicated man says that he satisfied with the formal apology, but said that he has not from any of his former harassers, or from the yearbook editor. “I hope it bothers them,” Tomlin admitted, adding, “It doesn’t bother me.”