The Stories That I Want To Know But Can't Speak Of

GREAT STORIES THAT HAVE NEVER BEEN TOLD - DUE TO FEAR OF BEING MOCKED, OR WORSE - BEING PUT IN THE STOCKADE

SOMETIMES, THERE ARE REASONS FOR HOLDING SECRETS.

THE REASON FOR WRITING THIS WEEK'S TOMES ABOUT HISTORICAL SANITIZING "FOR THE GOOD OF THE COMMUNITY," IS THAT IT VERY MUCH IMPACTS ON THE WAY THE POPULATION REACTS. WHILE IT IS PREPOSTEROUS TO THINK THAT WE'RE UNIQUE IN THIS REGARD, THE PROBLEM OVER TIME, IS THAT CITIZENS COME TO APPRECIATE WHAT CAN AND CAN NOT BE STATED PUBLICLY WITHOUT RIDICULE. EACH COMMUNITY HAS ITS COMFORT ZONE, AND ITS TABOO ITEMS, OFTEN FOR HISTORICAL REASONS. AND IT KIND OF GETS PASSED DOWN THROUGH GENERATIONS, ABOUT THE TOLERATION FOR CERTAIN ELEMENTS OF TRUTH. THERE ARE STORIES THAT I HAVE BEEN AFFORDED, AS AN HISTORIAN, THAT HAVE SHAKEN ME TO THE CORE, ABOUT WHAT HAS BEEN CONCEALED HERE FOR DECADES…..NOT SPECIFIC TO JUST ONE TOWN. MATERIAL THAT I CAN POSSESS AS HEARSAY, BUT NOT AS THE PRINTED RECORD. I WOULD ONLY BE PERPETUATING SOMETHING HURTFUL UPON COMMUNITIES, WHO SHOULDN'T BE PUNISHED BECAUSE OF WHAT SOME INDIVIDUALS DID, OR FOR SOME CRIME THAT WAS COMMITTED, THAT NEVER MADE IT TO THE COURTS.

HERE'S HOW THAT WORKS. WHEN I BEGAN WORKING AS A REPORTER FOR THE LOCAL PRESS, BACK IN THE WINTER OF 1979, I BEGAN, AT THE SAME TIME, A LENGTHY APPRENTICESHIP WITH NUMEROUS HISTORICAL TUTORS, WHO SHOWED ME THE ROPES. WHAT THEY SHARED WITH ME WAS A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN I HAD REALLY UNDERSTOOD, WHEN I THOUGHT HISTORY WAS A GOOD FIELD TO COMPANION AS A FLEDGLING WRITER. WHAT HAPPENED, ALMOST IMMEDIATELY, IS THAT I WAS ENTRUSTED WITH INFORMATION THAT I HAD TO KNOW, APPRECIATE, AND CONCEAL. WHAT MADE THIS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE, WAS THE FACT I WAS ALSO EDITOR OF SEVERAL NEWSPAPERS THROUGH THE 1980'S, AND ANY ONE OF THESE TOLD-IN-CONFIDENCE STORIES COULD HAVE NOT ONLY MADE THE FRONT PAGES, BUT QUALIFIED FOR SOME OF THE DAILIES. YUP, I HAD A LOT OF POOP, AS THEY SAY, ON THE REGION I WAS COVERING FOR THE PRESS, AND RESPONSIBLY HANDLING IN REGARDS TO HISTORICAL REPRESENTATION. IF YOU HAVE ANY KNOWLEDGE OF THE MAGICIAN'S CODE, AND THE PENALTY FOR REVEALING THE SECRETS OF TRICKS, YOU MAY APPRECIATE THAT HISTORIANS HAVE SOMEWHAT SIMILAR SECRETS, THAT THEY FREQUENTLY ARE CALLED TO LOCK AWAY FROM PUBLIC SCRUTINY. AS FAR AS BEING A REPORTER, I HAD TO GO OFF-THE-RECORD HUNDREDS OF TIMES TO GET INFORMATION FOR STORIES…..AND PROTECT SOURCES OF MAJOR STORIES. IT GOT PRETTY HARRY DOING THIS BUT IT'S PART OF THE PROFESSION.

HERE'S A SMALL EXAMPLE. I WAS TALKING TO AN OLDTIMER ONE DAY, AND WHEN HE FOUND OUT WHO I WAS, AND ADMITTED TO READING SOME OF MY LOCAL HISTORY FEATURES, HE OFFERED UP, QUITE VOLUNTARILY, THAT HE KNEW FOR FACT, THAT DECEASED PAUPERS IN HIS COMMUNITY, WHEN THERE WAS AN OUTBREAK OF SOME MAJOR ILLNESS, WERE STUFFED, IN MULTIPLES, INTO WOODEN RAIN BARRELS, AND BURIED IN "PAUPER'S FIELD," UPRIGHT, TO ALLOW FOR MORE SIDE-BY-SIDE BURIALS. NOW HE NEVER BLINKED WHEN HE TOLD ME THE STORY, AND I COULDN'T IMAGINE SOMEONE MAKING UP SUCH A TALE OUT OF THE BLUE, BUT IT DID CATCH ME OFF-GUARD. IT WAS A GREAT STORY TO FOLLOW-UP, AND THERE WAS MORE TO IT THAT I STILL CAN'T REVEAL, AND IT WOULD HAVE A POTENTIALLY NATIONAL AUDIENCE IF I DID. I WOULD GET JUICY TIDBITS LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME. NOT QUITE AS VISUALLY DRAMATIC, BUT SOME GREAT STUFF THAT THERE WAS NO WAY OF PRESENTING, WITHOUT CONSIDERABLE COLLATERAL DAMAGE. NOW LET'S BE CLEAR. THESE STORIES WERE NOT RELEVANT TO A CURRENT EVENT. THEY WEREN'T MATTERS OF "BREAKING NEWS," OR EVEN COLD CASES, WHERE I WAS INFORMED ABOUT A PERPETRATOR OF A SERIOUS CRIME. LOTS OF SUGGESTIVE CONVERSATIONS AND ALLEGATIONS BUT NO CONFESSIONALS THAT WOULD INCRIMINATE A MURDERER OR SUCH. I REMEMBER ONE YOUNG WOMAN APPROACHING ME ABOUT THE DEATH OF A FAMILY MEMBER, QUITE A FEW YEARS EARLIER, AND WHILE I SAT IN THE LIBRARY, SHE UNLOADED A HUGE BURDEN ON ME……ABOUT HER CONVICTION A MURDERER HAD ESCAPED JUSTICE. ALTHOUGH THERE WERE NO NAMES ATTACHED, IT WAS ALLUDED TO, THAT MORE THAN ONE PERSON NEW ABOUT WHAT HAD HAPPENED….BUT HAD NEVER COME FORWARD WITH THE INFORMATION. SHE DIDN'T EXPECT ME TO WRITE A STORY ABOUT IT, OR HELP HER WITH RESEARCH, BUT I DID FEEL FOR HER, AT THAT MOMENT, BECAUSE FRANKLY, I KNEW THE STORY WELL, AND I'D ALWAYS FELT THE SAME. I WAS PAST MY RABID NEWSPAPER DAYS AT THE TIME, BUT I WISH I COULD HAVE HELPED HER WITH SOME INFORMATION. ALL I HAD WERE UNFOUNDED ALLEGATIONS. GARDEN VARIETY GOSSIP. NOTHING SOLID.

When I'd get called out to research a news story, or feature article, or just pursue a matter of local history, on my own time, I got a lot of other material that was always quite unexpected, but welcome. I was sworn to secrecy a lot, in those days, and here's the thing. Some would argue, "I would rather not have known this information." I'm not of this ilk. The more I know, and can use as background information, the better I can approach difficult research, and complicated story-lines. Even though I'm not going to put these sensitive stories onto the front page of any local newspaper, or even incorporate in the features I write for several feature publications, it doesn't mean I'm not going to use what I do know, to balance my stories accordingly, and be suspicious of details that may arise from contradictory background information. We have had hundreds of people phone our home, over the years, and even tell these same stories to Suzanne, who has been my co-researcher on numerous historical jags. So she has had to take the same oath. What you tell us in confidence will be guarded, and never revealed. But if this knowledge, means that I can navigate down some murky corridor, a little more securely, without tripping over something in the way, I will use every detail to my advantage. No apology.

This may seem very contradictory, and of this, there's no way of explaining it, that it won't seem what's "good for the goose, is good for the gander." On one hand, I don't like the suppression of the truth, especially with government, but on the other, I understand the need to protect those who have provided important information…..with the idea, it will explain what, by normal course, can't be explained. Having these inside stories, which can get very cumbersome as knowledge, and worrying at times, has enabled me to better appreciate history, politics, the local economy, cultural matters, and criminal activity. I might not be able to write what I know, but it comes in awfully handy in a crisis situation. I want to understand every detail of a story. I can't afford to be confused, or half-ass about my research. I need to know that I'm bang-on, or I leave myself at risk. While I don't do much investigative reporting any more, I watch as other reporters do engage, and many times, I wish they would call, and ask my advice. Not that I would reveal deep, dark secrets or anything, but I know where the shoals are…..and that, at the very least, might stop a shipwreck. I don't get asked a lot of these questions, and there are a lot of shipwrecks, that frankly could have been prevented.

There have been times when I have offered local politicians a little sage advice. Not because I'm trying to get anything in return, or suck up to get a tax break. I had enough experience, in my own reporting heyday, to know a little bit about pitfalls and the ones they're heading for. I don't know what it is, or why it's preferable to go into things blindly, but my criticism of politicians generally, is that they look at people like me, as frightening critics, who only want blood-letting. If they were to accept help, from a citizen advisor…..hell, they'd know the locations of the shoals. I have tried so hard, to help my community representatives, know what crisis lies ahead. Not because I'm super intelligent, but because I've reported on many parallel circumstances in other municipalities, where mistakes and lost protocols have had dire consequence. Our elected officials have an attitude, that, "I'll find that fire when I touch it." The on-the-job thing. Trial and error. But it seems so redundant, to have to continually make the same mistakes, because of the stubborn perspective….."I'm pretty smart as it is." As they say, if I had a nickel for every politician who had that attitude, and then stuck his or her foot right in the middle of controversy, I could afford that long overdue retirement…..even before 67.

The question to you now, and was to me then, "Can you handle the truth?" Will it make you wiser, if you know the facts? Could it be used as a significant resource, to enable you to make better decisions. A police officer asked me that one day. Can you handle it Mr. Currie? "What," I naively asked. "There are some photographs you might be interested in seeing," which was part of a crime investigation our paper was reporting on. I knew there had to be something beyond the obvious, as crime scene photos weren't a rarity in our line of work. Well sir, I had a real eye-opening experience. It seems a murder victim was reading the page in the local newspaper, containing my weekly column….such that he landed on it, after the fatal blow…..and this is what an eventual jury would see as crime scene evidence. Yes, I was a little flabbergasted, you could say, but just the same, I'm glad I agreed to see them. There is the irony that possibly my only reader was thusly now deceased.

We all have our "secrets" we shall hold to our respective graves. The only reason I might have more than you, is that two professions I've enjoyed in my life, have inspired folks to "spill their guts," but only about ten percent of what they have confessed, can never be used because of the extreme sensitivity of the information. I don't know why these people, many of them senior citizens, have trusted me…..unless it is my kind aura (my wife says I possess), or their unfettered unloading of personal burdens, that have been weighing on the conscience; sort of like a premature "near-death-bed confessional," but like good gossip, I've been a sponge for information, good or bad, because it all has a place, well beyond the purposes of sensational stories and banked, bold headlines.

Many reporters can't tell the whole story. They want to, but the injury it would cause, must always be measured against the gain…..and there is more to life than newspaper sales and front page bylines.

Join me tomorrow for a ghost chat…..and why it can be injurious to talk about the wee beasties, hobgoblins, and assorted apparitions you've seen. Or is that scene changing these days? Find out in my next blog. Thanks for joining me today. See you soon.