Eulogy For Harvey Schatzkin

May 8, 2024
Paul Schatzkin
Harvey & Ellen
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Arthur Harvey Paul

Arthur, Harvey and Paul ca. 1953.  The kid on the right is the only one still living.
Not shown: mother Ellen, sister Dorothy aka Dotsie

_________________________________

September 30, 1958

Ellen has asked me to say a few words today because Harvey would have wished it. Harvey knew me well enough to know that I could not speak beautiful, flowery words. I think he would be pleased with what I shall say, for I only can speak the truth, in simple and heartfelt language. Anyone knowing Harvey would know that he would only want the truth. His honesty was shown throughout all his relationships and throughout all his dealings with his fellow men.  I only wish I had Harvey’s gift for writing to help me express myself.

Unfortunately, it is my role as a doctor to be with people in times of suffering and crises. Many times, while in hospital training, in the Army, and in private practice, I have seen courage in the face of pain and death, but never have I had a patient like Harvey Schatzkin. And I say this from the bottom of my heart. 

For three years Harvey knew he had a fatal disease – never once did he bemoan his fate. Never did he complain or cry out “why did this happen to me?” He did not waste time in self-pity. Instead he planned for the future – for his wife and children and for his employees. During these last months, when he was bed-ridden and suffering, I would find business magazines on his bed. He was reading current literature and planning so that he could go back to work with fresh ideas.

Those of you who work for Harvey know what a fair man Harvey was. Although president of a company he was nevertheless, on the side of labor. I had heard them discuss this often. The supervisors of the Architectural Tiling Company loved him as I did – I have talked to them and I know.

What strength of mind – what faith – to go on planning for his future at such a time. And what pride! With a temperature of over 105°, Harvey shaved himself the day before he passed away. Literally in his dying moments, he put out his hand to shake hands with me and say, “how’m I doing, Coach?” I think this gesture, more than anything, broke my heart.

At times when I went to visit Harvey, I believe he did more for me than I did for him. With his sense of humor and his literary gift, he would write a poem or some short commentary on hospital life or medicines. I shall always cherish those memento’s. I would feel the strength of this man who, unable to even sit up, could find the warmth and humor in himself to compose a few verses to make his doctor and his family and nurses smile.

Not only did I love and respect Harvey, but the nurses in the hospital loved him, too. They could not do enough for him – not because he demanded it but only out of the desire to help this man who never raised his voice to them or anyone.

Harvey’s parents, his sister Elinor, his wife Ellen, and Arthur, Paul, and Dotsie, know Harvey’s kindness and love. He was an ever dutiful and loving son  and brother – never causing his parents anxiety or worry. Always showing respect and affection. Mr. and Mrs. Schatzkin will find comfort at this sad time in knowing that they produced such a son – beloved by all who knew him. 

To Ellen Harvey gave himself. No woman could have a more devoted and thoughtful husband. No children can have a more patient and loving and understanding father. The relationship between Ellen and Harvey was beautiful and enduring. Just as Harvey had comforted and aided Ellen during the years of their marriage so did Ellen aid and comfort Harvey when he needed her so much these last months. 

For a moment I must speak of Ellen’s courage. Ellen knew Harvey’s condition but never did she falter, never did she break down. God was good to Ellen for he gave her Harvey. And God was good to Harvey for having given him Ellen. Tragic that this relation should have ended in such a short time – but how much better than if it had never existed.

Not often in a lifetime does one meet such a person as Harvey Schatzkin. His many friends feel is passing deeply. Harvey was a true friend. He did no one ill because he wished no one ill. He practiced no guile because he was incapable of guile.

And so, Harvey, the good, the kind, the gentle, sensitive, intelligent young man is gone from us. And yet not altogether and entirely. He who touches what is warm and luminous must carry away with him something of warmth and light.

 In the hearts and minds of all who knew and loved Harvey something of his goodness will remain forever. All of us are, I am sure, somehow better gentler mature people for having had the privilege of his companionship, so brief, yet so wonderful.

__________________

(This eulogy was delivered by… Dr. Rubin? I don’t know his full name nor in what capacity he treated Harvey – oncologist?  general practitioner/internest?   I  have no recollection of the occasion because… I was not there.  None of the kids were included in the funeral.)

Coming Soon: TBWIT – The Audiobook!

May 3, 2024
Paul Schatzkin
Digest, farnovision, Writing
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Coming Soon: TBWIT - The Audiobook!

More than fifty years after I first heard of Philo T. Farnsworth (in the summer if 1973)…

More than twenty years after The Boy Who Invented Television was first published…

And a year after it was re-published (after the release of The Man Who Mastered Gravity)…

There is finally going to be an audiobook edition!

Once the book was re-released last year, I considered several options for converting it to an audiobook.  I auditioned several narrators via the Audible platform at Amazon, but finally opted to do the reading myself after enlisting the production assistance of Robert Lane, the creator of a program called “Your Book, Your Voice.”

I started working with Robert back in January. It has taken the better part of the past four months to get the project done.  Each week I would read and record several chapters.  I sent the files to Robert, he edited and mastered them and uploaded them to Audible.

I found the experience of reading and recording the text quite gratifying*, to hear how the way I write sounds like the way I talk and vice-versa.

We finished all the uploads this week and have submitted the project to Audible for review.  I expect the production to go ‘live’ before the middle of May.

Keep an eye on the Amazon sales page, the audiobook will show up there the minute it’s approved.

_________

*when I wasn’t wondering “why am I still grinding on this material, much of which I first wrote more than 50 years ago!” ‍♂️

My Family Thinks I’m Crazy

April 4, 2024
Paul Schatzkin
Digest
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As you all know by now, it has been my privilege to be interviewed on several podcasts over the past few months, finally fulfilling my lifelong delusion that someday, somebody might think I have something interesting to say.

Well, now I am pleased to say that I have finally been featured on a podcast for reasons entirely other than my vast education, training, or experience.

This one I’m entirely qualified to be on this one just because of what it’s called:

My Family Thinks I’m Crazy. 

Here’s a link to listen via Apple Podcasts:

And here’s a link to Spotify:

This is a long one – more than two hours!  But it’s one of my favorites so far, because we cut straight to some of the broad themes that tie these mysteries together. Here’s a summary of some of the ground we covered:

Paul Schatzkin, Author and Researcher, joins me to discuss the amazing breakthroughs achieved by the Inventor of the electronic television, Philo T. Farnsworth, The Mysterious T. Townsend Brown and his revolutionary discoveries in the realm of electro-gravitics, space travel and even time travel, Paul reveals how the movie Back To The Future was directly inspired by T. Townsend Brown, with Oppenheimer doing so well in the box offices this conversation echoes Einstein’s remorse, and draws forth the possibility of dozens of other unsung marvels of technological innovation that have never had the chance to develop within our inherently destructive scientific culture of industry.

As long as I’m here, I may as well post the video clip that offers up the connections between these stories and the Back to the Future movies.  This is the very last scene in the first of the trilogy:

There are at least three elements of this scene that connect to the books I’ve written:

  1. “Mr. Fusion” – Philo Farnsworth spend the last half of his life developing a nuclear fusion process;
  2. The ‘flux capacitor’ that makes time travel possible: Townsend Brown’s ‘gravitator‘ devices were all based on capacitor technology;
  3. The ‘Doc Brown’ in the films… his full name is…. EmeTT Brown.

I’m sure it’s all just a coincidence.

Finally, if you have any lingering doubt that we are all living in the wrong timeline, consider this: Bob Gale, the screenwriter of all the Back to the Future movies, has gone on the record saying that the villain in the films, Biff Tanner, is actually based on…. Donald F’ing Trump.

Now all we have to do is figure out how to get ourselves jiggered into the correct timeline, where we get the keys to the Cosmic Ferrari.

Put Mr. Fusion and a Flux Capacitor in that.

Put Mr. Fusion and a Flux Capacitor in that.

Joe and Nick and… Me!

March 4, 2024
Paul Schatzkin
Digest, Writing
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B2 Bomber

Thanks to Jesse Michels (@AlchemyAmerican) for my first “joint appearance” with @joerogan and @iamnickcook as we all speculate about the deployment of the Biefeld-Brown effect in the B2 Stealth Bomber.

 

The freeze frame that YouTube delivered with the embed above would not have been my fist choice, but I do think the word ‘plausible’ is incredibly apt.

I know Joe Rogan is a controversial figure for some, but I certainly have no quarrel with the man and would dearly love to spend some time talking with him, so I hope this catches his eye.

I am a long time admirer of Nick Cook and relied heavily on his deeply researched 2001 book The Hunt For Zero Point when I was trying to make sense of the Townsend Brown saga back in the ‘aughts.  Nick and I have somewhat different methodologies: he comes at this material as a hardened aviation journalist and I’m more the whimsical story teller. But we agree that there is far more to the #TTBrown narrative than meets the eye.

It is gratifying to see all these clips cut together in a way that lends some credibility to the allegation that the Biefeld-Brown effect is at work in the B2, despite the government’s frequent denials.

‘Tis the (new) Season ?

March 4, 2024
Paul Schatzkin
Digest, photography
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Winter: it’s the season that goes on as long as you can possibly endure it* … and then it goes on a while longer.

Apparently the Bradford Pear trees up the street from me have not gotten the memo and there is going to a spring after all.

_________

*apologies to anybody in California digging out from under twelve feet of snow, it hasn’t been nearly that bad here in middle Tennessee)

My 15 Minutes Is Has Arrived

February 22, 2024
Paul Schatzkin
Digest, Writing
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OK, this might actually be some kind of big deal.

A  few months ago, I wrote about going out to Los Angeles to spend an afternoon with Jesse Michels about the Townsend Brown bio.

This evening, Jesse announced the video on YouTube with this:

I spent six years researching this story between 2003 and 2009, and another dozen-plus years just thinking about it until the book was published last year.  But Jesse Michels has been deep-diving into the larger, longer story of unexplained phenomena, unorthodox science and invisible frontiers for a quite a while.  I am duly impressed (if not downright in awe) of how he explores the connections between my work and the countless layers of coverup and conspiracy theories that have hovered on the edge of human consciousness and popular culture for decades if not centuries and millennia.

The whole epic production runs almost two hours, but if you’ve got even the slightest interest in “WTF is going on out there?” then by all means, avail yourself to the entire thing:

Also, hats off to Jan Lunquist, who latched on to the Townsend Brown saga near the end of what we call “The Before Times,” the period from 2003-2009 before I set the book aside for more than a dozen years.  Jan has kept the bit between her teeth, has doggedly stayed on top of the TTB story and reports on countless connections she has found between Brown and other off-the-books tales.  She is featured quite prominently in Jesse’s video and fills a lot of the gaps in my own investigations.

"Townsend Brown is Nikola Tesla meets the Dos Equis guy."

Money shot (well, for my money):  “Townsend Brown is Nikola Tesla meets the Dos Equis guy.”

With the release of this video – even more than the book – I think Townsend Brown is about to find a place in the discussion, and I am pleased that it’s about to become more of a ‘crowd’ effort than my solitary, two-decades pilgrimage.

In the unlikely event that you are seeing all this for the first time, you can find The Man Who Mastered Gravity on Amazon.com.

And I’ll leave you with this quote from Jesse near the end of the video:

“The smartest people are working on the dumbest problems.”

Ya think?

Hey Kids, That’s Me Up On the Pod-Box (Again)

January 18, 2024
Paul Schatzkin
Digest
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Well kids, I’m at it again.

It’s actually been a couple of months since I recorded this.  The producers took their time adding some visual effects to the YouTube version above, and it was finally unleashed on the world today (Thurs Jan 18 ’24).

FWIW, I’m working on with a ‘virtual assistant’ – would you believed based in Pakistan? – who is pitching me for more podcast conversations like this.  If you care to read the pitch, find it here.

Better yet, if you host a podcast, contact us here. 

And if you just want to listen to the audio-only version of the podcast, you can find that here:

Thank you for your time and attention.