FROM THE DESK OF LINDA BROWN:
Thomas
Townsend Brown was one of the most brilliant and mysterious figures of
the 20th century. He was also my father. From childhood on, I served as
his virtual shadow, working first as his lab assistant and then as his
secretary, on and off, until his death on Catalina Island , October 27,
1985.
At
the end of his life, Dad organized his material, shut down his
recorders, and saw to the final dispersal of his special papers. I
wondered if he was accepting defeat after a lifelong struggle to obtain
recognition for his work, but there was no sadness in his actions. He
set about a purposeful completion of these final tasks and, with
everything in order, he slipped away from us a few days later. It
was left to me to gather up his notebooks and papers, and pack them in
his well-worn black steamer trunk. Seventeen years passed before I
opened that trunk again.
When
author Paul Schatzkin approached me with a proposal for writing the
definitive T. Townsend Brown biography, I agreed, but with some
reluctance. My perspective on my father was so intensely personal that
I didn't believe I'd be much help in developing the bigger picture, and
both my brother and my mother had passed away in the intervening years.
With Mother’s passing, the greatest storehouse of information on my
Dad’s life was lost to us, and there was no one else left to help tell
Dad's story. Or so I thought.
It took Paul six years to complete Defying Gravity, The Parallel Universe of T. Townsend Brown.
He owes much of his epic 600-page work to the assistance of two
surprising sources. And I owe them my undying gratitude. Their
contributions have caused me to rethink almost all of my original
assumptions about my father and his lifetime accomplishments.
First
and foremost, I realize now that Dad actually saw a great many of his
most cherished dreams put into action and, through them, he did indeed
reach the stars. Because he was a pioneering scientist for an agency so
secret that its existence was not acknowledged until 1992, much of his
work remains classified even today. Nevertheless, as more Black
programs are brought into the light, I am certain that we will see his
distinct fingerprints in the science behind them.
Perhaps
the most startling realization, though, was that my scholarly father
ALSO had a long and successful career as an intelligence operative and,
as such, earned the enduring respect and devotion of those who were
junior to him. Seeing him through the eyes of two such men has been a
most moving experience for me and has influenced my decision to
continue writing the story that the previous author uncovered.
The way I know to tell it is as it has unfolded after I first heard of Mr. Schatzkin’s interest in my father’s life. My book, The Goodbye Man,
is currently a work in progress, but from time to time, I will post
selected chapters in the Reading Room at the Quonset Hut. Please drop
in and see what's new there. If you are not familiar with the work of
Thomas Townsend Brown, may I invite you to visit any of the links on
this site.
Enjoy your stay!
