06-10-2010, 06:01 AM
I had the distinct pleasure of attending the event in Worcester tonight, meeting the man in person, buying a new edition of the book by Simon and Schuster (with a guide for discussion and reading groups), getting it autographed, and more.
It was a small gathering on a rainy fall evening (not more than 35 in the audience), in a cold library room with an at-times overpowering mike and the interruptions on two occasions by the internal library PA system. There might have been one reporter there, and a retired radio man I met, and a wriiter for the Catholic Worker newsletter (local edition). Mr. Douglass had injured his Achilles tendon and so sat at the table in the front with a hand-held microphone reading from prepared notes and telling the story you are all familiar with, especially if you have read his book. There are still parts, even though I have heard them, that send shivers down my soul.
Questions were, unfortunately, limited; I went armed with eight and got to ask one. I took some notes, met some interesting people (aside from the main focus on the night), heard of new groups and efforts, and left with even more questions than I went with. I shall do a write-up of it all in good time.
In theory, the new edition contains new material which Douglass was supposed to have explained, but it might be the "bits" about Obama. [There appears also to be a new afterword written in January 2010 with information about Douglass' activities and correspondence since the original edition was published which I shall annotate for you soon.] I did manage to ask where people might ask further questions of him, and he indicated that people should feel to write to him at Mary's House in Birmingham, AL.
A note of caution: On introducing myself, he repeated my name as if he knew me and said he remembered the name, and I told him I wrote to him right after reading the Orbis edition.
"Where?", he asked.
"At Mary's House..." "
"I did answer you, didn't I?" "
"No..."
He is a busy man, on a speaking tour, and presumably also writing further books about other assassinations, so I'd be patient.
The one question I did ask was whether he knew of James Carse and/or David Ray Griffin, or corresponded with them. (I think it would be a fascinating evening to have the three of them on the same podium talking about Christian morality versus an unspeakable evil.) He obviously didn't know or recognize the name of Carse (a retired professor from NYU), but did ask if I meant the author of the books on 9/11. When I indicated 'yes', he said he'd just recently had dinner with him, that Griffin was on the mend (good news), and that Griffin recommended his "new" book on the collapse of WTC7. This opened up a lovely exchange, which I will talk about later, along with notes on my unanswered questions, his unwavering focus, and the questions it and some of his remarks raised for me.
The evening was too short.
It was a small gathering on a rainy fall evening (not more than 35 in the audience), in a cold library room with an at-times overpowering mike and the interruptions on two occasions by the internal library PA system. There might have been one reporter there, and a retired radio man I met, and a wriiter for the Catholic Worker newsletter (local edition). Mr. Douglass had injured his Achilles tendon and so sat at the table in the front with a hand-held microphone reading from prepared notes and telling the story you are all familiar with, especially if you have read his book. There are still parts, even though I have heard them, that send shivers down my soul.
Questions were, unfortunately, limited; I went armed with eight and got to ask one. I took some notes, met some interesting people (aside from the main focus on the night), heard of new groups and efforts, and left with even more questions than I went with. I shall do a write-up of it all in good time.
In theory, the new edition contains new material which Douglass was supposed to have explained, but it might be the "bits" about Obama. [There appears also to be a new afterword written in January 2010 with information about Douglass' activities and correspondence since the original edition was published which I shall annotate for you soon.] I did manage to ask where people might ask further questions of him, and he indicated that people should feel to write to him at Mary's House in Birmingham, AL.
A note of caution: On introducing myself, he repeated my name as if he knew me and said he remembered the name, and I told him I wrote to him right after reading the Orbis edition.
"Where?", he asked.
"At Mary's House..." "
"I did answer you, didn't I?" "
"No..."
He is a busy man, on a speaking tour, and presumably also writing further books about other assassinations, so I'd be patient.
The one question I did ask was whether he knew of James Carse and/or David Ray Griffin, or corresponded with them. (I think it would be a fascinating evening to have the three of them on the same podium talking about Christian morality versus an unspeakable evil.) He obviously didn't know or recognize the name of Carse (a retired professor from NYU), but did ask if I meant the author of the books on 9/11. When I indicated 'yes', he said he'd just recently had dinner with him, that Griffin was on the mend (good news), and that Griffin recommended his "new" book on the collapse of WTC7. This opened up a lovely exchange, which I will talk about later, along with notes on my unanswered questions, his unwavering focus, and the questions it and some of his remarks raised for me.
The evening was too short.
"Where is the intersection between the world's deep hunger and your deep gladness?"