I noted over the weekend that Mark C had posed a couple of direct questions, and I will answer them before getting back to work here in the garret...
Mark Culpepper wrote:In all of this personal interaction with Townsend Browns daughter have you ever sensed from her any kind of overwhelming bitterness that her father had been " ripped off" by the military? I think that might go a long way to answering the question of " was he .... or not?"
I'd have to say the answer to that is a slightly qualified "no." The only rancor (if that's the right word) that I think I've ever heard Linda express is directed more toward the likes of Martin Decker, who failed to make a commercial product out of the fan or loudspeaker; and likewise by extension maybe Floyd Odlum, to whom her father turned when the Decker thing blew up at the end of 1966 (probably detailed in the chapter after the one I'm working on now).
And while there were military personnel weaving in and out from the periphery of their orbits, I don't think there was sufficient evidence of a direct military involvement in their lives for any of the lingering disappointment at the seeming "failure" of Brown's commercial ventures to be steered in that direction.
Remember too that Brown's overt engagement with the military ended in October 1942, when he walked away from the Navy. It does not appear (on the surface at least) that there was anything other than cursory engagement of military interests after that point.
So while there was certainly some disappointment, and maybe even a touch of animosity, directed at certain colleagues/business ventures, I don't think any of those feelings were directed straight at anything directly associated with the military. Whatever involvement Brown might have had with military interests during the years when Linda was around would have been entirely covert.
And how is she taking the development of this book? I would think that she is very proud of what has come out, the attention to detail that you have demonstrated ... I would be pleased but still all this personal rumaging around in her personal romantic history has to be difficult.
I think you've pretty much answered your own question there, Mark. Were Linda to chime in herself, I suspect she'd say just what you have said there. Difficult and gratifying at the same time.
I mean. I am enjoying the story immensely but just like Victoria said a long time ago ( I have been rereading the posts so its fresh in my mind) This relationship between Morgan and Linda has been like watching an approaching train wreck.
Yeah, brings out the voyeur in all of us, doesn't it. Especially Victoria..<g>
in your " How many Generals Does It Take" chapter .......Paul you say that sometime in the fall of 1967 Dr. Brown pulls the rug out from under her by saying something like, " The Projects Over" You can have your own life now? Well," thanks a whole frigging lot" would have been my reaction.! After moving all her life .... and then giving up the one person she actually admitted having thoughts of a future with .....the scene of them looking at that house was telling ...... a scant few months later when he is GONE then her Dad tells her everything is over? The royal caveman "WHAT?"
What can I say, you seem to have grasped that situation perfectly. Thanks for reminding me, I'll need to revisit that storyline here very soon.
I have been thinking about it enough to get up a good head of steam about this as you can see. I think that Linda was wronged.
But like I said. I see no indication that anyone here is ripping Dr. Brown off. If anything I would accuse him of doing that to his own daughter.
You make some very good points here, Mark, and as often is the case with these forums, the timing of your observations helps me to see the import of what I'm working on now and will likely have some impact on the work I'm doing over the next couple of days.
For now, I think it's fair to say, as you have, that while everybody who's vaguely familiar with the story might thing that Townsend Brown got "ripped off," he is really not the one who sacrificed the most for the way he led his life.
Beyond that is not really for me to say.
--PS