I know that some of you out there really know what was actually happening in Townsend Browns life during the span of time that I mention here.... summer of 66 into the early 67. Can you add from your viewpoint? As you can see, I have presented it from the only view I had at the time......
Anyone out there from Deckers? Jersey Generators? the contacts in San Francisco? Now is the time to step forward.
Thomas Townsend Brown.com
Forum Chapter 37
When we finally finished the enormous loudspeaker unit Dad was suddenly demonstrating it by playing selections of "The Sound of Music" during lunchtime "concerts. Our audience was a small group of men who appeared from the other buildings in the complex. These "concerts"started precisely at twelve noon every day and went for precisely ten minutes. Different white coated gentlemen came every day but I always had to put a chair in exactly the center of the room for one older man that Dad introduced as "Mr. Ott"
I didn't mind setting up this little demonstration every day but I surely did get tired of hearing the same music over and over and over again. If the concerts had gone on much longer I might have been more tempted to slip in a Beatles LP just to shake things up. Of course, looking back now, its probably a good thing that I didn't.
Dad was involved in other projects besides the one at Deckers. He posted notes about them on the labs blackboard but he never told me why he had meetings scheduled at places like " Jersy Generator" nor did he ever tell me who was at the other end of the phone one late October afternoon.
The change in Dads voice made me look up. He slammed down the receiver, pushed he chair back from his desk, jumped to his feet and yelled " Fu#k!"
I was dumbfounded. I had NEVER heard him use that word! He threw his glasses down with such force that they skittered across his desk and fell to the floor. Dad wheeled around then and stormed out of the building! Spirito sat still at his desk across from mine for just a moment, and then excused himself and followed Dad. I looked at Nick. He just shrugged.
Things at work after that phone call changed immediately. Mr. Ott never returned and other than the in house tests we ended the " noon concerts"
Mr. Moyer continued his annoying visits and I could tell that Dad, like a bull with a terrier at his heels, was getting irritated with the man. When Dad issued a " weekend lockdown" there at the lab so that they could work undisturbed, apparently no one bothered to inform Mr. Moyer. On Monday morning Nick had a high old time mimicing Moyer at the gate on Saturday. " What do you mean I am not allowedI am the Vice President of this place!"
Shortly after this incident Moyer demanded that all of the people who worked " On the Hill" ( as the Decker facility was called) would be required to sign new employment contracts complete with a personal "loyalty oath" to him. The only response I heard from Building Number Four was Spiritos snort...." He can ROT!"
There was a strange shadow suddenly that seemed to concern Dad now. When an Air Conditioner repair man showed up to work on the system at Number Four none of the men said anything to each other and I could tell that they were suspicious of the " repairs". After all, we had gone all summer long without really having air conditioning. Why would the system be activated now that the summer heat was going away? I caught Spirito and Puscheck handing notes back and forth to each other on their clipboards. I also noticed that what they were saying out loud did not match what was written on the clipboards. They even handed some to me and what we were saying out loud had no relationship to what was written. It didn't take a genius to figure that they were convinced that the place was now bugged.And the plan was to leave the devices undisturbed.
And suddenly during our trips back and forth to work Dad told me to be more aware of the cars well ahead of us and even lagging behind and to also pay attention to the cars that seemed to show up constantly. It was as if someone had switched his paranoia button but I knew that there must be a good enough reason for his wariness.
I didn't have to deal with all of this for very long. Dad thanked me very much for my help that summer and suggested that now perhaps I should consider some classes at the University or maybe even a part time job during the Holiday season. He knew how much I loved being at Strawbridge and Clothier. I was puzzled by all of the mystery but relieved at the same time.
Tula had gotten a really good job as a secretary at a social services organization near the Academy of Music and I thought that I would enjoy just some simple responsibilities where I could interact with other people. I secured a position at Strabridges upscale womens dress department. The elitist attitude that I had observed from Southern Seminary projected very nicely. With my polished manner, my little black dress and lovely simple strand of pearls, I fit right in! And it would only last through the first of the year. After that I could decide what I wanted to do.
JDs last words were to me were that he would soon be moving to San Francisco, but he couldn't tell me what he was going to be doing. Suddenly " California Dreamin" became my theme song!
And strangely, within a couple of weeks Dad left for San Francisco himself. He spent some time there, came back to spend Christmas with us and then left again. Tula spent the holidays with her family in Kent. She knew that strange things were happening around us and she didn't want to miss out on anything....." Brown, if you guys split from Philadelphia.... and I am still in Ohio.... PLEASE come and get me! Wherever you are going.... I want to go with you!
Then suddenly Christmas was over. Tula was back at her job on Chestnut Street. Dad was still in California and Mother and I had no idea what our future would be. She had already packed the green teapot and now the leather case was just sitting there on the coffee table. That spoke volumes to me.
Through the years of course Mother and Dad had perfected their own, what they called " family code." And now Dads calls from California were couched in the same kind of mysterious language. It sounded innocent but all of the phrases meant something else entirely. I was catching on but I didn't have the time to learn all of it. I had caught onto the fact that the phrase " I have been thinking" meant.... pay attention to what I say next because we are going to be using the code.
After the first of the year we got one of those cryptic " I have been thinking" phone calls.
" Sweetie" he said to me suddenly " I have been thinking...."
I am worried about that leak and its going to be important to move those things in the study that might be affected. . So would you do that for me? You might have to get a couple of your friends to help you with some of the heavy items. Make sure that you show them the things that need to be moved...
I knew immediately what he was talking about the lab.... and papers that he had left in the heavy safe downstairs. The things that needed to be lifted were in that safe and my friends were JD and Carl.
But Daddy...I am not sure about the help. Most of my friends have been on vacation. " Well, whenever its convenient then. I am sure that you will hear from somebody soon" he said and then he added suddenly....Oh! and if you can find my lucky peacock feather would you please set it aside in a safe place for me? Goodnight Sweetie."
Earlier in the year I had joked that one would have to mount a major operation in order to remove the cruelly caged peacock out from under the noses of the guards there at Deckers. Dad had said "Well, we will see about that." Now I sat, staring at the phone. He wasn't talking about a single feather. He wanted the whole damn bird
