This book exists because of the generosity of L. Fletcher Prouty. I am indebted to him for sharing many, many hours of time, both during my five-day visit with him in 1989, as well as during the long process of editing the original audio recordings. I am especially grateful for Fletcher's patience with my many questions and willingness to provide a broad historical perspective. I deeply value the friendship that has grown up between us.
Chris Everett has been my "master typography mechanic", teaching me much about the specific software used to lay out this book, and the dynamic world of printing. Without Chris' great patience and knowledge I could not have created this book.
Special thanks to Len Osanic and the people who worked with him to create the original on-line form of Fletcher's 1997 version of The Secret Team[1] , from which I fashioned the hypertext version[2] referenced in footnote citations throughout Chapter 2.
Tom Davis and John Judge were also instrumental in making this book possible. Both friends have given me many critical insights by sharing their knowledge and experience of history, how it is made, and guiding me to books that provided essential background to formulate well-conceived questions. Tom also provided me with copies of the Freedom articles and John introduced me to Fletcher.
And then there is Mae Brusell. I am indebted to the indefatigable spirit of this first-generation JFK assassination researcher. In 1963, a housewife in Carmel, California, Mae was stunned to see Lee Harvey Oswald executed on live television -- just as her daughter was packing up her teddy bear to send to Lee because she felt sorry for him. "What is happening to this country of ours?!" This question led Mae to pursue decades of research seeking to unravel the meaning of this seminal post-WWII event which so shaped succeeding decades. Mae's World Watchers radio program eventually led me to Tom and John and thus to Fletcher.
Finally I am especially grateful to my parents who raised me with a deep curiosity about what the nature of being human means and who encouraged in me a deep desire to understand the inner and outer worlds as clearly and honestly as possible.
- See http://www.prouty.org/cdrom.html
- Available at http://www.ratical.org/ratville/JFK/ST/