The year was 1975. I had recently met Mary Ferrell.
She had introduced me into her "inner circle" of local
JFK "Warren Report CRITICS". Her circle included
Penn Jones, J.Gary Shaw, and Larry Ray Harris. They
met frequently in her cluttered old living room in near
north Dallas on Holland street (avenue?). Thereafter
I was invited to their meetings of local BUFFS when
there was something to discuss or an important visitor
was in town.
One evening (remember, this was 12 years after the
assassination) I told the group that I was disturbed by
their use of the terms CRITICS (Mary's preference) and
BUFFS (Penn's preference). In her soft southern voice,
Mary asked..."Well what would you suggest?"
I said..."Mary, both those terms are negative, designed
to put us on the defensive. I spend all my time RESEARCHING,
so I would use the term RESEARCHERS.
Mary said, "You are right. From now on we should all call
ourselves RESEARCHERS!"
And they did.
And now everyone else does too.
A modest suggestion, but I believe the cumulative effect
has been positive.
Jack
Jack White Wrote:The year was 1975. I had recently met Mary Ferrell.
She had introduced me into her "inner circle" of local
JFK "Warren Report CRITICS". Her circle included
Penn Jones, J.Gary Shaw, and Larry Ray Harris. They
met frequently in her cluttered old living room in near
north Dallas on Holland street (avenue?). Thereafter
I was invited to their meetings of local BUFFS when
there was something to discuss or an important visitor
was in town.
One evening (remember, this was 12 years after the
assassination) I told the group that I was disturbed by
their use of the terms CRITICS (Mary's preference) and
BUFFS (Penn's preference). In her soft southern voice,
Mary asked..."Well what would you suggest?"
I said..."Mary, both those terms are negative, designed
to put us on the defensive. I spend all my time RESEARCHING,
so I would use the term RESEARCHERS.
Mary said, "You are right. From now on we should all call
ourselves RESEARCHERS!"
And they did.
And now everyone else does too.
A modest suggestion, but I believe the cumulative effect
has been positive.
Jack
Researchers and historians. That's what I see here.
Myra Bronstein Wrote:Jack White Wrote:The year was 1975. I had recently met Mary Ferrell.
She had introduced me into her "inner circle" of local
JFK "Warren Report CRITICS". Her circle included
Penn Jones, J.Gary Shaw, and Larry Ray Harris. They
met frequently in her cluttered old living room in near
north Dallas on Holland street (avenue?). Thereafter
I was invited to their meetings of local BUFFS when
there was something to discuss or an important visitor
was in town.
One evening (remember, this was 12 years after the
assassination) I told the group that I was disturbed by
their use of the terms CRITICS (Mary's preference) and
BUFFS (Penn's preference). In her soft southern voice,
Mary asked..."Well what would you suggest?"
I said..."Mary, both those terms are negative, designed
to put us on the defensive. I spend all my time RESEARCHING,
so I would use the term RESEARCHERS.
Mary said, "You are right. From now on we should all call
ourselves RESEARCHERS!"
And they did.
And now everyone else does too.
A modest suggestion, but I believe the cumulative effect
has been positive.
Jack
Researchers and historians. That's what I see here.
Now, maybe. But in 1975 we were all researchers. Mary and Gary
researched documents. Penn did interviews. I researched photos.
We were not doing history. We were only doing research.
Jack
Yes, Jack, I totally agree.
Similarly, current labels meant to denigrate researchers - such as "conspiracy theorist", "truther" or even "troofer" - should never be accepted.
Jack,
I am so pleased to learn of your early acknowledgment of the dangers of self-misidentification by those of us who know the truth of how JFK was murdered.
Independently and without previous awareness of your efforts, I published an essay, "In the Blossom of Our Sins," in The Fourth Decade, Volume 4, Number 4, May 1997, pp. 3–8.
A pertinent excerpt:
"I am pleading for our reconsideration of the collective self, and for our unanimous adoption of a more contextually valid and at the same time emotion-driven self-image.
"Who are we?
"We are the Lakota—of AIM. We are the Jews—of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. We are the Viet Cong—of Tet."
Earlier, in a lengthy letter published by Jerry Rose in The Third Decade (in response to a piece by Howard Platzman; I'll try to find a copy), I made the same point by directly rejecting the "critic" label insofar as it simultaneously diminished our roles and implied that the WCR is an honest if flawed work deserving of respectful criticism.
Charles