On Tuesday 20 May 2014, I gave this interview.
If you take the time to listen, I think that you'll like it.
Click here:  On Spotify

I also gave this interview to Grimerica of Canada, in 2015.
Click here:  Show # 192

I was interviewed again on 'How to Kill a Sacred Cow.'
Click here: On Spotify or Apple Podcast.

Amazing Research - Coming soon to the wallet you carry.

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Watch and cry . . . Click Here


 Autism; The next Great Depression

A word about self help.

You are free to share this document with any person that you think might need it. 
I can help some people, I can’t help everybody. I don’t take cold calls or contacts via email. I will help at no charge until that person either argues or abandons me. At that point, I will charge an extraordinary fee so outrageous that he/she will not be able to afford my advice.

I am not a medical professional (I truly don’t think that there is anything such thing). What I am is a Disabled Veteran who has done enough research to make a difference. I can tell you the vector that gave you an illness. I don’t cure . . . I suggest behavior changes to enhance the immune system. You can consider me a consultant of sorts. The only reward I seek is that of a SUCCESSFUL outcome.

Richard Diaz       pandorafiles@gmail.com

The Diaz Protocol: If a patient has been diagnosed with a disease or a condition that has no identified cause and/or no prescribed cure, the probability of being influenced by one or more of the heavy metals is severe.

© 2006 Richard Diaz

This document is best received via email. If you’re not comfortable giving me your email, that’s OK. All the links that are included you can search on via Google.

From this point on, I can be of little help to you, so any conversations will be of little value. I assume that you’re not a chit-chatter, so I won’t try wasting your time. You have my contact information so if you need to rant or need some information . . . . Feel free to contact me. If you choose to share this information, let me know who you gave it to, so that I know where they got my name. I don’t usually refuse anybody unless I have no chance of helping them. Don’t make the mistake of judging the difference between physical and mental problems. THEY ARE BOTH RELATED.

Outline of Performance

The very first steps to any recovery of your health issue are as follows:

1. Find a doctor that is versed in heavy metal poisoning at ACAM.org .

American College for Advancement in Medicine
380 Ice Center Lane, Suite C
Bozeman, MT 59718
1.800.532.3688 toll-free
406.587.2451 fax | info@acam.org

Find a doctor in your area by joining, calling or emailing. Call the individual doctors, you find in your area and ask questions. When satisfied, make an appointment to find out what metals your body is burdened with.

Find the accurate contents of your body burden of heavy metals via a doctor listed on the ACAM.org website. ( I used Doctor’s Data as a Lab ) I started with a Hair Test (see the last link) then proceeded to a Blood Test. Finally, I did a 24 hour Urine test. These should all be supervised by a qualified doctor. The ultimate test for heavy metals is an Autopsy. If you are reading this and understand the content, you're not ready for that final study.

2. 1. Find a dentist that is familiar with the problems of Root Canals and Amalgams at IAOMT.org . Make an effort to contact Dr. David Kennedy DDS. I believe he has retired and lives in San Diego, Cal. He has a YouTube channel. Learn the hazards of Root Canals. Dr. Hal Huggins has died.
   2. Once you are comfortable with a doctor and dentist you can then consider your options. I had mercury fillings. My options were as follows:  

   3. a- replace fillings at a cost of around $6000 to $8000 (1990 Dollars)  
      b- remove the teeth at a cost of $600 to $800 (again at 1990 Dollars) or 
      c- Do nothing.
   4. If I had chosen to do nothing, the decision would have been the equivalent of ‘choosing to be sick’. I felt I was dying and had no options other than removing the teeth. I saved my own life with that decision.

    If you decide to remove your teeth you need some information before you do.

First, decide or find out what organs or systems you’re having trouble with then familiarize yourself with the Chinese MERIDIANS. This will be useful information and an education for you. It will help you understand your own body.  

Second, the day you remove your teeth, wear trousers. When you find out what your teeth do to your arms and legs, you’ll be glad you did.  

Third, don’t just let your dentist make your false teeth. You need a dentist with some artistic abilities. Call around to some local dental laboratories. Don’t ask for referrals. Instead, ask a technician which of his clients has the least return work. Get two or three names and addresses. You might get some resistance here but be persistent. If you get the same name from different suppliers, you know that the Dentist is good at what he/she does at making false teeth.

3. Trouble sleeping: I have used Melatonin for years. I started with a 3mg dose and found that it gave me nightmares within one week. I have since dropped to a 1 mg dose sublingual. Even with this dose, I found it was a little too much so I dropped to ½ mg per night. I had to cut the pill in half but I am happy with the results and sleep quite well.

The following are things that I am doing, have done or going to try.

1. Consume vitamin C until I reach the maximum tolerable as a consumable. More than 3000 Mg orally, of vitamin C, will give you explosive diarrhea. You will need to build slowly to a maximum dose that you are comfortable with.
2. Other videos on Vitamin C.
3. Consume either Alka-Selzer Gold in Distilled Water with ½ Lemon or Lime or drink Essentia Water to have the body or blood reach 7.2 – 7.4 Alkalinity. This will avoid any Cancer from developing or delaying its development. Be aware that too much Alkalinity is as bad as not enough. It works, don’t laugh. In 1931 Dr. Otto Warburg won a Nobel Prize for exactly this.  Another way to increase your blood Alkalinity is to mix 'Baking Soda' with a Saline Solution nasal applicator. You can either use the solution as is or mix your own. The applicator is an important point here.
4. Consume Garlic in a variety of ways, daily. Can be food (Roasted Garlic has no odor) or supplements.
5. Take periodic baths in an Epson Salt solution. (Epson Salt can be used as a purgative.) I never take baths, only showers. It's is a personal preference.
6. Consume some of the following daily . . .
   1. Arugula
   2. Carrageenan
   3. Coconut milk, juice, oil
   4. Cruciferous vegetables, including:
      1. bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, horseradish, kale, kohlrabi, mustard leaves, radish, turnips, watercress
   5. Dairy (except butter)
   6. Dried fruits
   7. Eggs

8. Legumes and dried beans
9. Lime/lemon juice in bottles or fresh squeezed.
10. Selective Meats (I consume more Chicken than any other meat.)
11. Nuts
12. Onions (leeks, shallots, chives also)
13. Wine and grape juice

7. Read ingredients and side effects of all medications you intend to consume, including over the counter items as suggested here.
8. Minimize or remove exposure to Fluoride containing products to include:
   1. Toothpaste
   2. Mouth Wash
   3. Public Water supply
9. Begin taking a Pro-Biotic to stabilize your intestinal tract. I don’t promote any specific brand but I have been taking Ultimate Flora. I get it from Amazon. I have a Prime account and they send a 60 day supply every 2 months, automatically. You may need to try different brands but once you’re happy with one . . . stay with it.
10. Never get tattoos. The ink formula is proprietary and nobody will tell you what kind of antiseptic or preservative it contains. I suspect that they all contain a mercury solution (Thermarisol or Mercurochrome or Merthiolate).

Avoid

1. High Fructose Corn Syrup
2. All Soy products or by-products ( all Hydrogenated Oils )
3. Read “The Whole Soy Story”
4. Processed sugar
5. Mono Sodium Glutamate

When psychiatric abnormalities are mentioned or spoken about in medical literature it usually means or implies that doctors know nothing of the causes or cures. They can only help via feeding you Psychotropic Drugs and having you talk about your problems. This or these treatments are the the equivalent of “Wishful Thinking.” NO PSYCHIATRIST OR PSYCHOLOGIST HAS EVER CURED ANYBODY OF ANYTHING.!

Many psychiatric conditions involve violence. Violence is a prime symptom of Manganese either from consumption or body burden. It is an element incorporated in all Soy Products. Also, it is important to find out what metals you carry as a body burden. The combination of other metals could be a lethal mix. ERETHISM is a major symptom of Mercury and Lead.

The single symptom of many metals that produce violence is “ERETHISM.” The meaning of this word varies from one source to another. Basically, it means; THE IRRATIONAL RESPONSE TO NORMAL STIMULI. This is the same kind of rage or violence that you observed in most crime movies and shows. A good extreme example of this behavior can be understood in the crimes of Arron Hernandez.

If these doctors don’t eliminate the possibility of metal poisoning, they could and should be subject to a lawsuit. For any information about that subject, you should be asking a lawyer.

Final suggestions:

I take Low Dose Naltrexone. I believe even healthy people should take this medication. Don’t be fooled. At 50 & 100 Mg it is an antagonist to alcohol and drugs.

It’s important that you know everything about this medication. Read the history of this drug and understand the side effects at both full dose and low dose.

There is a Facebook page that other people are exchanging experiences about this medication. If you are really interested, there is a radio show on the subject.

The only side-effects that I have experienced with LDN (Low Dose Naltrexone) are very nice dreams. For me, it’s like going to the movies every night. You will probably experience the same plus some others but they will probably be minor at a lower dose. I understand at full dose the side effects can be very serious.

The downside of this medication is that you will probably have to educate your doctor about it. I’m pretty sure these intellectual dinks will offer resistance to being educated by a patient. If that’s the case, you have the wrong doctor.

If you have any questions, problems or suggestions . . . you know how to get ahold of me.

Videos about Mercury Poisoning

Eating Fish – 23 Minutes = https://youtu.be/Kd1uTLTGfNo

One Man's Experience – 1 hour 7 minutes = https://youtu.be/e2Nsy0c22R8

Mercury in Schools – 3 minutes 7 seconds = https://youtu.be/NMqMqNW_w_k

What is Mercury Poisoning – 1 min 40 s = https://youtu.be/KqNwAOTquwY

Mercury kills Scientist – 14 min 27 sec = https://youtu.be/NJ7M01jV058

Mercury History (Trailer) 4 min 35 sec = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z1j-6VawfI

(full movie) 33min 3 sec = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guO7RbArWf4

Mercury in Water – 2 min 17 sec = https://youtu.be/M_pAcgK6ttY

Removing Hg from Water – 20 min 30 sec= https://youtu.be/S4T57SFntIs

TV Anchor gets MS from Teeth – 4 min 9 s= https://youtu.be/vrtbjCxHST0

Removing Mercury from Teeth- 4 min 37s = https://youtu.be/lNDkbU6Gnuc

Gold Mining poison by Mercury- 3 min 35s = https://youtu.be/Y55OPHSEdWE

What I won’t do . . .

I will never accept another vaccine, no matter what the penalty is.

I will never accept Chemo Therapy or Radiation Therapy, even it means my death.

I will not take any drug or medication if that application produces side effects that are equal to or worse than the problem that I already have.

 

Thanks for reading this. It shows that you are at least curious. Good luck and good health.

How To Kill A Sacred Cow - Podcast Interview

This is an interview that I did just after Thanksgiving of 2019. I hope you like it.

Please listen to this podcast. It contains valuable information on illness and it's consequences. If you enjoy it or are enlightened by it, don't hesitate to share it with any of your friends no matter if they are sick or not. 

The Podcast title is named "How to Kill A Sacred Cow"

http://howtokillasacredcow.libsyn.com/02-richard-diaz

Plague by Kent Heckenlively & Judy Mikovits, Ph.D

    If you’re into medical anomalies or social collapse, you’ll be interested in this book.
    The focus of the book is the adventurous 30-year career of Dr. Judy Mikovits, Ph.D.  Spending the better part of her life learning details and developing skills that would normally make her a success, instead, she was punished for paying attention to technical, medical and social details.
    Dr. Mikovits studied and worked with HIV/AIDS, along with micro-organisms, both human and animal that happened to cause some of the more mysterious diseases and conditions of the past 75 years. Her recent problems came when dealing with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).
    Her work ethic, methods, and conclusions were scientifically sound. A multitude of problems came when she applied social judgments to benefactors, contributors, and co-workers. Her industrial naiveté came when she applied a social judgement to the sub-culture of scientific sycophants. Thinking that they had the same motivations and goals were her mistake. Economics and power altered her science and work patterns so severely that it began to destroy her.
    The book is well laid out. Each chapter is readable by itself. Almost four hundred pages will take you a while to get thru but in the end, it is worth the time invested.
    You’ll need some background in the criminal justice system, scientific jargon or a good dictionary and thesaurus. The technical verbiage might get a little overwhelming but the general ideas are digestible once you break down each thought or circumstance.
    The basic faux pas to her story is that she stepped on the third rail of science, medicine, and big pharma. When Dr. Mikovits mentioned VACCINES and AUTISM in the same breath as ME/CFS her world changed. She was no longer playing the scientific game as a team member. She became a renegade. A curmudgeon.  A bull in the china shop of the über wealthy.
    The history of extraordinary women in science is hidden but discoverable. First, there was Dr. Alice Hamilton (February 27, 1869 – September 22, 1970) and the development of Occupational Medicine. When she began asking questions that cost industrialist money, she was viewed with a suspicious eye by the establishment. Dr. Hamilton was successful in changing work habits. However, her work wasn’t appreciated during her lifetime. Laws began changing about Lead poisoning in around 1972. They are constantly being revisited.
    Second, came, Dr. Alice Stewart and her self-motivated and financed study of radioactivity and the illnesses that it causes were society altering. Her calamity came when she asked the Pentagon the results of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki studies done post-war.
    Third, is the closest scenario to Dr. Mikovits’ experience.  Dr. Bernice Eddy was a revolutionary, changing the way we look at vaccines today. This woman was truly extraordinary. She identified the SV-40 Virus in the Polio Vaccine that essentially ended her viability as a scientist. The question that no one has ever asked is, “what about the other thirty-nine Simian Viruses? Could they be reeking havoc on our society today?”  And, “could anyone of them or in symphony be recombining with XMRV (Xenotropic Murine Leukemia Virus-Related Virus) to deliver a worldwide pandemic?”
    She predicted an explosion of cancer within the ‘baby boom generation’. Today (2019) the last figures that I have heard was 1 in 4 men will have cancer and 1 in 3 women will have cancer (no references). The World Cancer Research Fund has published figures as of 2018.
    These figures are frightening enough without knowing that there might be a monkey or mouse virus causing them. The world is a scary place. What is contributing to these fears is the ‘Medical Community’s Commercial Brothel.’
    The most frightening portion of the book is the description of Dr. Ian Lipkin’s press conference on September 14, 2012. Dr. Mikovits was there to enhance her chances of regaining a reputation mired. D. Lipkin tried to do that but he did more damage to the Scientific Community than reconstitute a reputation, in my opinion.
    He began mentioning ‘man-made chimera viruses” and “H5N1 work being done in Rotterdam, Wisconsin, and Japan”. This was enough to make my blood boil. This collaboration of ‘Frankenstein’ mentalities will lead to no good ending.
    The rear cover of the book spells out why you should read this book very effectively. They are all correct, yet somehow they don’t go far enough. Not being a doctor or scientist myself, I might go even farther.
    This is a great book. It’s long but compelling in every way. If you know anything about the illnesses of ME/CFS, MS, Autism, Vaccines and even Cancer, you should be reading this book.

   

 1 Chapter 20 Pages 366 & 367

ABOUT FACE By David Haskell Hackworth

DOB: Nov 11, 1930    DOD: Mar 04, 2005

David had a miserable start to life. He was born into an intact family and lived there about five months before his parents died. His paternal grandmother assumed the parental role for David as well as his brother and sister.
The ‘Great Depression,’ was hard on this spontaneously adapted family. Life was consumed by a need to eat well and by earning spare change by shining shoes of Soldiers and Marines in their home town of Ocean Park, California (today is known as Malibu, California).

David’s early informal education was supplemented by stories from his Grandmother, of the Old West in Colorado and war stories from shoe shine clients who had seen parts of the world that must have seemed magical to this young boy. His uncle added to the romance and mystique of life in uniform with stories of being gassed during WWI, in Europe.

At an early age, David was hooked on the risks and adventure of life in the world. By age 14 he was ready to experience his own escapades.
Not having parents was hurtful and helpful at the same time. The hurt came with no guidance to prevent him from leaving school in the seventh grade and trouble with Police Authorities.

The helpfulness came when he found himself on the ‘lam’, as it was known then. In order to join the Merchant Marine Service he was forced to adapt and improvise by hiring a transient to pose as his father in order to sign permission for entry. This happened in late 1945 as WWII was closing down.

By 1946 he had returned to California with an infected cut on his foot. He recovered from the infection to join the US Army using his Merchant Marine papers to lie about his age and gaining entrance.

This entire experience taught him that he had to rely on his street and common sense to adapt and prevail thru the maze of establishment bull crap. This would be useful throughout his lifetime.

His enlistment in the US Army was for three years. After training, he served in Trieste, Italy where he earned a General Educational Development High School Equivalency. Combining this book work with the military discipline that was inflicted by combat hardened WWII Veterans, ‘Hack’ as he became known, was completing an education that few men could afford, let alone withstand.
Quietly and effectively, with the brash arrogance of a well-traveled street punk, he rose to the rank of Sergeant before arriving in Korea for the start of a brand new war.

There he distinguished himself by being awarded 3 Silver Stars and 3 Purple Hearts and being promoted with a battlefield commission to 2nd Lieutenant.

After being promoted to 1st Lieutenant he was offered the command of a new unit with special, very dangerous duties. His superiors saw the potential of his ‘take a chance’ personality. The unit was named the “27th Wolfhound Raiders.”
After his third purple heart, he volunteered for a second tour of duty in Korea. He was promoted to Captain. The Armistice of July 27, 1953 Hack left the Army to further his formal education. After 2 years of college, he was burned out and bored with the routine and mundane challenges of civilian life.

He rejoined the Army in 1956 as a Captain.

‘About Face’ went on to detail almost every assignment that was given to ‘Hack’. Each duty station turned into a learning and growing experience with a dose of adventure. He was thriving within his new family.

I don’t think he recognized the Army as a family, but in fact, it was. As long as you view the command Structure as a father (‘Authority Figure’) and the benefits as the ‘Mother Figure,’ the Army was in truth his new family.
Like the willful son of some families, he took advantage of the benefits and learned to manipulate the authority, very effectively.

After Korea, he married and had children. Domestication was not his ‘cup of tea.” His family first and foremost was the Army and a wife and children was a distraction. During his life, he married three times. He had four children and one Step-daughter.

Col. Hackworth’s focus would not be fragmented.

From 1956 thru to 1965, Hack paid his Army dues by learning and growing, all the while teaching his subordinates how to stay alive in a “Real Estate Concentric War.” The ‘Fire drills,” of the early ’60s in Germany were an exciting diversion from Occupation duties.

Little did he know that Vietnam would alter most of the rules he had learned. These changes would profoundly alter his attitudes and views of the world and politics.

During the “Cold War,” the Army had changed to become a ‘Ticket Punching” merry-go-round. Another words, the Officer Corp adapted by taking care of each other. Getting and giving the right assignment that would be considered rife for promotion. This was not the kind of reward game ‘Hack’ was accustomed to playing. He preferred reward and punishment of actions with the adrenal overload that follows.

After being refused duty in Vietnam a number of times, he was assigned in 1965 as a Major. The 101st Airborne Division was his bailiwick, so to speak. He would thrive once again.

Reproducing the environment of the ‘Wolfhounds’ of Korea, ‘Hack’ would select a very special group of men for a platoon size unit. This unit was trained by ‘Hack’ to fight Guerrilla Style, just as the enemy had been doing. He called this group of unusually talented men the “Tiger Force.”

The unit would win a “Presidential Unit Citation” before ‘Hack’ left. Once he was promoted and transferred out of the unit, the “Tigers” went “native” and morphed into something very different. They began to do some very nasty things. These things would be called “War Crimes,” then and now. This was not what ‘Hack’ had created.

After the first tour in Vietnam, he would serve at the Pentagon only to be promoted to Lt. Colonel. Taking advantage of his formal education, he was assigned to write a book and various articles about the Army and Vietnam.
This experience began to sour his taste for Vietnam. He was asked to defend the war in Vietnam. This task became more and more difficult as time went on.
In 1969 he was back in combat. Assigned to train and fine-tune a ‘hardcore’ battalion of Redondos in the Mekong Delta of South Vietnam. An area called both III and IV Corp.

Part of the training mission was to teach South Vietnam Troop to set traps for the enemy. One was unique. The idea was to pick a trail that the enemy frequented and set “Claymore Mines” to go off once tripped by enemy movement. It worked perfectly for a short while. When enemy dead fell off and requests for more Claymores came in he became suspicious. He asked and was told that the idea worked quite well. The troops were eating Boar meat much more frequently.
This experience was one of the minor disappointments of his experience in Vietnam.

He began to notice that the ‘5 o’clock follies,’ a label that was used to describe the daily press conference that was held by the Army at MACV, also known as Disneyland East, were not describing the war as it was actually being prosecuted. These Press Conferences were actually not even a shadow of any reality of combat transpiring daily.

‘Hack’ became aware that bars, whorehouses, and laundrymats were owned or controlled by the South Vietnam Army’s senior officers. Even worse, he found out that twenty percent of Vietnam’s economy was being skimmed from the US and being dispersed to European Banks.

‘Hack’s’ breaking point came in two separate stages. The first of which was the My Lai incident of March 16, 1968. He didn’t believe it until the trials in 1971. This went straight to his core. The second was his experience with the incursion of the US and South Vietnam Army’s into Cambodia via the Parrot’s Beak in 1971. He found out that a minimum of dead VC and North Vietnamese Regular Army were recovered. The Pentagon calculated that it cost $153,000.00 US to kill each enemy soldier. This drove ‘Hack’ over the edge.

His advisory duties to the South Vietnam Army and the Cambodians had ‘Hack’ feeling like “he was pissing into the wind.” The frustrations became overwhelming once the Calley / Medina trial verdicts were in, and President Nixon ordered that Lt. William L. Calley be transferred from prison to house arrest, at Ft. Benning, pending appeal.

Calley served three and a half years at Ft. Benning when the court ruled that “pre-trial publicity prejudiced his trial” and released him at that point.

This drove Col. Hackworth to the emotional breaking point. By January 1971 he could see the writing on the ‘Army’s wall’ and he made the fateful decision to do a public interview on the subject of America’s involvement in Vietnam. The interview was conducted in Vietnam on a program called “Issues & Answers.” The broadcast of the program effectively ended his 25-year career with the Army.

‘Hack’ had spent a total of 4 years in Vietnam and was the most decorated soldier the Army had serving or had served. Many compared him to Colonel Billy Mitchel and Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. Some say ‘Hack’ was depicted in the movie "Apocalypse Now" as Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore, played by Robert Duvall.

‘Hack’ had no use or respect for medals or ribbons that he called “Been There Awards.” His value was in the action, adventure and valor of combat. This is very apparent when you see the list of his awards to include 10 Silver Stars, 8 Bronze Stars with Valor and 4 Army Commendations with Valor. In addition, he was given 8 Purple Hearts (that included twice to the head).

Colonel David Haskell Hackworth retired on September 28, 1971, after 25 years of honorable service. The resignation began a short period of ‘Cloak & Dagger behavior’ to avoid the Army brass that was making a gallant effort to destroy ‘Hack’s’ military career.

He was aware that his public interview of ‘bad mouthing’ the Army, Politicians, and Vietnam would create a ‘blowback.’ Perhaps he didn’t consider that he was denigrating an organization that was considered expert at killing in a war environment. Needless to say, ‘Hack’ kept his head down and didn’t advise anyone of his whereabouts for several months after he had retired.

During this period he was divorced from his second wife. He found a stable girlfriend he reconstructed his life with a move to Australia. It took 18 years of separation from the Institution of the Army but he finally recognized the difference between “the Industry of War and Service to his Country.” Nostalgia had kicked into his psyche. He called each little war we’ve been involved in “A Street without Joy,” and any CIA involvements in war, “Nazi Policies.”

After various occupations, he returned to his roots and began writing of War, Combat, Country, Valor and inept Politicians.

“About Face,” was a good read or listen (audiobook) for a good long time. Being over 800 pages long it’s not a book you bring to the beach. The details of each duty station were themselves by thrilling. Each assignment in its own special way, given time period, would have the Hackworth mark of adventure and challenge. A book or movie could be made of each assignment or experience.

The book contained too many acronyms and he used the word “Stud” so often. I began to wonder if he knew any other word to describe his counterparts. All the acronyms were explained within the index of the book.

‘Hack’s’ most profound observations were directed toward the “Military Industrial Complex.” He observed that the Industry would perform better if they hired less former ‘Star Officers’ and were held responsible for their weapon failures. I would call this “an Industrial relationship with commercial Incest characteristics.”

He also called the Military’s qualification requirements of higher education, “Sheepskin Hysteria.”

Combat experience could not be learned in any classroom.
After reading I can tell you that it was a very good book.

Take your time. It won’t be read in a weekend or a month.

Ernest Hemingway A Biography - Book Review

Ernest Hemingway, a Biography

By Mary V. Dearborn

          I purchased this book as soon as I found out that it had been published. For years I have made a point of reading or watching everything about the man. By my late forties I had decided that there were parallel threads to both our histories. Not that I was as abusive or as talented as ‘Papa.’ It was something more vital than that.

          I’ll have more to say about that toward the end of this book review.

          I was anxious to read this book since it was the first biography of Hemingway that had been written by a woman. Finally, a different view of manufactured “machismo”. This version details a man who defined a lifestyle in the 20^th century from a female insight. Others have done similar work with the same basic research materials. They were all men. Ms. Dearborn had the added advantage of the Cuban materials, articles and exposes. His home in Cuba, Finca Vigia, has been a museum since 1961, with plenty of research materials stored and cared for. Now that Cuba has been opened by the Obama Administration, they should have been available.

          It has been my experience that when men speak or write about Hemingway, it is always with a level of hero worship. There is always the sense that the authors were establishing a pecking order or as Papa might put it, “a pissing contest.” There is always an envy factor involved when it comes to Ernest Hemingway. Not with Ms. Dearborn.

          ‘Papa Hemingway,’ written by A. E. Hotchner, for me, was the perfect example. Mr. Hotchner was his biggest admirer, protégé and best friend for fourteen years. Naturally he wasn’t going to expose any deep dark secrets, especially about his sex life with proclivities.

          That said Ms. Dearborn’s version of Hemingway’s biography was an excellent read with plenty of the new perspectives not previously mentioned or written about.

          The early years of family life was very detailed, setting the foundation for later life. The ‘Alpha’ of the family was his mother, Grace, yet he continually made efforts to please his father.

          Maybe understated by Ms. Dearborn and most others was that his mother Grace dressed Ernest and his sister in female clothing. Not stopping there, she called him her ‘Dutch Doll’.

          One of the most influential incidents of his young life was not attending college. He blamed his mother for this. Evidently she opted to build a summer cottage rather then send him off to be enriched.

          The combination of being socially, therefore emotionally abused and neglected when it came to college, created a lifelong attitude toward his mother. He never failed to call her “that bitch.”

The seminal event of his life occurred on the Austrian Front in Italy during World War I. He was an ambulance driver with the International Red Cross.

While he moved from one position to another, distributing chocolates and cigarettes, he was violently interrupted by an Austrian Mortar Shell that landed only a few feet away from him. The burst of energy knocked Ernest unconscious. Once he regained awareness he observed two Italian Soldiers. One had expired. The other had his legs traumatically amputated.

          A third soldier caught his attention. The man had survivable wounds. Not being aware of his own wounds, he proceeded to pick the soldier up with intention of delivering him to a First Aid Station. This happened with over two hundred shrapnel wounds in both legs.

          Stumbling toward to the First Aid Station, Ernest was hit again in the legs. This time it came from an Austrian machine gun. This second injury terminated his heroic effort to help the soldier. Now, they both needed help.

          Whether he was able to carry the soldier at all, let alone any further, has been debated and speculated about ever since. This was the pivotal event of Mr. Hemingway’s history. The events as recorded happened. Whether the facts were expanded upon by Hemingway is inconsequential. He was awarded the Italian Silver Medal of Valor with the official citation reading as follows: “Gravely wounded by numerous pieces of shrapnel from an enemy shell, with an admirable spirit of brotherhood, before taking care of himself, he rendered generous assistance to the Italian soldiers more seriously wounded by the same explosion and did not allow himself to be carried elsewhere until after they had been evacuated.”

From that point on Ernest Miller Hemingway would begin his long bitter/sweet passage into American History. The journey was assisted and enhanced by his talents for writing and self-promotion.

          In 1923 Mr. Hemingway made his first trip to Pamplona, Spain. It was a secondary experience of a lifetime. I’m sure it brought back all the adrenal fluids that had evaded him since July 8, 1918. The ideas of death, avoiding it and bravery all came flooding back like the shock of hysteria, into his psyche.

          This episode was the impetus for “The Sun Also Rises.” An exciting work highlighting drinking, fighting, running with the bulls, love, love lost and betrayal.

          I personally believe the experience, of 1923, cemented a formula for Hemingway. I think he found that if he wrote about life in the extreme, death dying, love and loss, he could not avoid success.

          He was correct.

My impression of Ms. Dearborn’s descriptions of his marriages is that his first wife, Hadley Richardson, was his true love and the one he felt guiltiest of divorcing. His fourth and last wife, Mary Welsh, was his care taker and the one he verbally abused and socially embarrassed the most. She probably loved him more then he loved himself.

          According to Ms. Dearborn, World War II was the beginning of the end for Mr. Hemingway. He became ‘Papa’ in Cuba in the 1940’s and remained with that moniker for the duration of his life.

Ms. Dearborn describes his auto accident in London which concussed ‘Papa’ severely enough to put him into the hospital. His irreverence and complete disregard for his condition in combination with his overinflated ego driven desire to be involved in the largest invasion of all time, took him out of his hospital bed and into the action. This was the dumbest and most impetuous act of his life. He was still suffering from the concussion and needed weeks to recover. He chose to enhance is stature among men and the literary society.

Ms. Dearborn identified five major head traumas. Without question, they were severe and would lead anyone to believe that ‘Papa’ was affected by ‘CTE’ or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, as we know it today.

I would add that severe head trauma was sufficient enough to cause his mental deterioration of the 1940’s and 50’s. In addition to the recorded events, there were supplemental explosions during his hotel stay in Madrid during the Spanish Civil War. Not to mention, the running with the bulls in Pamplona of 1923, World War II experiences that involved any number of explosions and his boxing experiences, including a sparring match with Gene Tunney, and others.

In order to demonstrate his “Machismo” and leave no doubt of his endurance, he developed the trait of self-destruction. Perhaps he always was self-destructive. From his decision to “join the War in Europe,” to the aircraft accidents in Africa, he demonstrated, effectively, that his safety was secondary to his public image.

The winning of the Nobel Prize for Literature must have been a surprise to him and everyone around him. It wasn’t a planned stand-alone book. It was in fact, a piece of a larger work that he delayed out of mental and emotional indecision.

If you take the time to read “The Old Man and The Sea,” and you have the imagination to read between the lines, you can envision the story is a metaphor of his life.

The Old Man was “Papa.” The boy was all of his friends that he ignored from time to time. The “Big Fish” was the title of “Writer or Author.” And the Sharks were the critics, publishers, public and friends that all wanted a piece of him. The Old Man’s reading of the Dolphins, currents, weather and eating was his description of his struggle to become what he wanted to be . . . Author.

He even writes what he felt in the text of “The Old Man and The Sea.”

Preparing to go to sea, “It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact. Then when luck comes you are ready.”

After he hooked the fish and began the fight to bring him in. “Let him think I am more man than I am and I will be so.”

Once he killed the fish. “I am only better than him through trickery and he meant me no harm.”

From his involvement in World War II thru to his suicide was the worst period in time of his unraveling, mentally, physically, socially and professionally.

According to Ms. Dearborn’s well chronicling “Papa” fit a number of diagnosis’s as described in the ‘DSM’ or The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The worst of which was mentioned but not officially made by any doctor was ‘Psychosis’ or ‘Psychotic’.

Ms. Dearborn plainly indicates that many mentioned or suggested but nobody wanted to paint ‘Papa’ into that kind of social straight jacket.

‘Papa’ took about twenty years to pay for his impulsive, cavalier, “devil may care” decisions and behavior. The same youthful behavior that made him larger than life, would eventually destroy him.

To sum up, Ms. Dearborn has written an insightful chronology of Ernest Miller Hemingway’s travails thru life. From her perspective I thoroughly enjoyed and learned, maybe more than I wanted, surely more than I expected.

I’m not a writer or businessman. As a consequence she lost me during ‘Papa’s’ early years while he maneuvered himself into being published consistently. I personally would not have been able to deal with him as a publisher or editor. I certainly would not have been able to deal with any his frustration of being rejected.

Two points that were not touched on in this mammoth undertaking and a third remains controversial. They were his activities as an Intelligence Agent, the contents of his FBI File and the weapon that he committed suicide with.

It seems that he not only worked for the US Government but also for the Soviets. The US involvement was complicated and more enduring then the Soviets, reaching from the Spanish Civil War, World War II in Cuba and Europe, extending into China with his third wife Marth Gellhorn. These adventures are better investigated in “Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy: Ernest Hemingway’s Secret Adventures,” by Nicholas Reynolds.  

          The FBI Files are a different story. J. Edgar Hoover was a strange man. He kept a file on ‘Papa’ (FBI # 64-23312) and his final entry into the file was as follows; “Knowing Hemingway as I did, I doubt he had any Communist leanings. He was a rough, tough guy and always for the underdog.”

          The controversy of the weapon is convoluted. Mary Hemingway ordered the shot gun destroyed by a local machinist, once ‘Papa’ was buried. It seems the craftsman followed instructions and cut it up, buried the remains in a field. However, he kept some identifying parts as “souvenirs”. The whole episode is documented in “Hemingway's Guns: The Sporting Arms of Ernest Hemingway” by Silvio Calabi, Steve Helsley, and Roger Sanger.   (Review)

          Ms. Dearborn’s work should open a series of other works, for years to come. A man’s life, simple or complex, doesn’t get explained away, unless done by a multitude of perspectives. With her effort, she has opened eyes and minds.

          Well done, Ms. Mary Dearborn.

Addendum:

          As I mentioned earlier, there were common events and attitudes that paralleled my life to that of ‘Papa’ Hemingway’s life.

          I enlisted in the US Navy as a junior in High School. I was seventeen years old. I went to war in my 19^th year. I returned home with no extra holes in my body, however, something was amiss. In fact, I had been poisoned with “Agent Orange,” and a number of the “Rainbow Barrels of Defoliant,” used throughout the war. I also worked in an environment that was painted with “Lead Based Paint,” and used munitions and explosives containing “Mercury Fulminate.”

          Hemingway’s drama came in fits and starts. If they weren’t spontaneous, he created the circumstances that would have lead to drama.

          My drama came so slowly it was essentially imperceptible. I got no metals that would get me gratuitous attentions, nor did I ever speak or write of my experiences.

          I did have relationships with a number of exceptional women. I married only one and remained loyal to her until her death, forty two years later.

          I now spend my life in a community of veterans of different wars, from World War II thru to present day. Each veteran has lived with the same intensity that Hemingway lived during June and July 1918. Some more intense, others less.

          The differences are profound. Most, if not all the veterans I live with are willing to talk only to other veterans. Hemingway would talk to and wrote about the torrents of his life to anybody and everybody.

          My self-destructive behavior was limited to smoking tobacco and the occasional over indulgence of alcohol. Hemingway’s self-destructiveness bordered on euthanasic behavior extending to everyone he knew, loved or admired. He reserved the ultimate act for himself.

          I have endured twelve years beyond his tenure and continue to flourish. I never needed the idol worship that he seemed to thrive on.

         

Hemingway’s Lesson

“If you are going to ride a trolley, you must expect to pay the fare.”

                                      Richard Diaz