All I can say, Frostbite, is check with your ISP/email provider.
Some will let you leave an "automated message" so you can set that to tell everyone that sends you an email to contact you at your "new" email address. The good thing is, the spam can't follow that....
Of course, you do tell those contacts who are important that you have changed your addy, and the right people will tell the company/other contacts/yada yada