WHAT TO DO WITH THE PORNOGRAPHY? DAVE BROWN GOT CAUGHT SHORT OF TIME
THIS STORY MADE IT INTO A BOOK - GADS
"THOUGH FEARFUL EACH TIME SHE DUSTED HIS TREASURES, MME. DE VOLPI WAS NEVER AS CLOSE TO BREAKDOWN AS THE WIFE OF DAVID BROWN, A WELL KNOWN ONTARIO BOOK COLLECTOR. HAVING FILLED ALL AVAILABLE SPACE, HE STACKED SO MANY OF HIS RECENT PURCHASES UNDER AND EVEN UPON THE NUPTIAL BED, THAT A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP BECAME IMPOSSIBLE. FINALLY, SHE HAD ENOUGH. 'MAKE UP YOUR MIND,' SHE TOLD HIM. 'EITHER THE BOOKS GO, OR I DO.' DAVID BROWN DIED IN 1997, LEAVING OVER 100,000 BOOKS IN A VERY SMALL HOUSE ALONG WITH MANY OTHER RELICS AND COLLECTIBLES. THESE ITEMS WERE LEFT TO THIS TWO CLOSEST FRIENDS, BOTH FORMER TEACHERS. ONE FRIEND WAS GIVEN ALL THE BOOKS, THE OTHER FRIEND WAS GIVEN THE HOUSE PLUS OTHER COLLECTIBLES. THE BOOKS WERE A MIXED BLESSING, BECAUSE MANY HAD NOT BEEN LOOKED AFTER, WERE NOT INVENTORIED, AND CREATED PROBLEMS IN THEIR DISPOSAL," WROTE HIS FRIEND AND MINE, HUGH MACMILLAN, IN HIS BOOK, "ADVENTURES OF A PAPER SLEUTH," PUBLISHED IN 2004 BY PENUMBRA PRESS.
IF HUGH HAD ASKED ME, I WOULD HAVE GLADLY PROVIDED A MORE THOROUGH OVERVIEW OF DAVE BROWN, AS MY BIOGRAPHY OF HIM WAS PUBLISHED IN 2000, AND I KNOW HE HAD A COPY……BECAUSE I SENT HIM ONE FREE. WHAT HUGH ADDED, HOWEVER, WAS A DETAIL I WAS AWARE OF, BUT I HAD THE EXPLANATION; AND WELL…..HE DIDN'T. INSTEAD OF ASKING ME ABOUT IT, HE WENT AHEAD AND PUBLISHED THIS RATHER UNFORTUNATE PARAGRAPH:
"DAVID BROWN WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR HAVING WHAT IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE LARGEST AND MOST ECLECTIC COLLECTIONS IMAGINABLE, FROM VOLUMES ABOUT THE COSSACKS, THROUGH OVER 100 BOOKS ON THE CRUSADES, TO HARDCORE PORNOGRAPHY." AS A LONG TIME WRITER AND EDITOR, I WOULD HAVE DONE EVERYTHING IN MY POWER, TO HAVE INFLUENCED HUGH FROM USING IT AS HE DID……BECAUSE THERE WAS AN EXPLANATION REGARDING HIS POSSESSION OF PORNOGRAPHY. IT WAS PRETTY BAD STUFF. DAVE HAD TOLD ME ALL ABOUT IT. BY NOT TALKING TO ME REGARDING THE DISCOVERY OF THE CACHE FOUND IN HIS ESTATE, HOWEVER, THE READERS OF HUGH'S HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT BIOGRAPHY, GOT A LITTLE UNANTICIPATED NEWS FLASH. THEY FOUND OUT SOMETHING ODD, MORE THAN JUST THE SACRIFICE OF DAVE BROWN'S MARRIAGE TO HIS BIBLIOMANIA. SO IT WOULD APPEAR, HE WAS AN ADMIRER OF HARDCORE PORNOGRAPHY. PORNOGRAPHY CARRIES ENOUGH NEGATIVES BY ITS DEFINITION. HARDCORE WAS HAMMERING A TACK INTO A BOARD WITH A PILE DRIVER.
WHEN I TALKED TO HUGH AFTER THE BOOK WAS PUBLISHED, I DID MENTION THIS CONCERN THAT HE HAD USED THIS UNFORTUNATE INFORMATION, BUT HONESTLY, WHAT CAN YOU DO WHEN THE INK IS DRY, AND A HELL OF A LOT OF COPIES HAVE ALREADY BEEN SOLD…..AND READ? RATHER LATE TO BE CALLING FOR A RETRACTION, AND THERE REALLY WASN'T ANYWHERE TO TAKE A PROTEST ABOUT THE WORDING, ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE WAS NO DENYING DAVE HAD A STASH OF DIRTY BOOKS AND MAGAZINES. I WOULD HAVE GLADLY EXPLAINED WHY DAVE HAD THOSE BOOKS AND MAGAZINES, BUT I HAD LITTLE IDEA THIS WAS GOING TO BE MENTIONED IN HUGH'S BIOGRAPHY. HUGH HAD BROUGHT THIS UP BEFORE, SHORTLY AFTER DAVE PASSED AWAY, AND I REMEMBER GIVING HIM A SUMMARY OF THE STORY DAVE HAD TOLD ME, REGARDING THE OCCASION WHEN HE MISTAKENLY ACQUIRED THE CONTROVERSIAL MATERIAL. OBVIOUSLY, HUGH WENT WITH THE ACTUALITY OF THE SITUATION, AND THIS OBVIOUSLY CAME FROM A SOURCE CLOSER TO THE ESTATE THAN I WAS. MY ROLE WAS A BIOGRAPHER AND IT WAS PUBLISHED ON MY DIME.
AS I'VE MENTIONED ABOUT MY BOOK COLLECTOR MENTOR, DAVE BROWN WAS ECCENTRIC IN EVERY WAY, ACCEPT AS A TEACHER. HE HAD MOOD SWINGS THAT'S FOR SURE, AND HE DIDN'T LIKE ANYONE BEING TOO INTRUSIVE, AND THAT COULD INCLUDE EVEN CLOSE FRIENDS LIKE ME. HE GOT MAD AT ME ON A VARIETY OF OCCASIONS, BECAUSE HE HATED THAT I MISSED THE POINT ON SOME HEATED ARGUMENT, AND WOULD JUST DISMISS ME AS A WEAK STUDENT. I WOULD HAVE GOT MAD RIGHT BACK, BUT TRUTHFULLY, I"D ALWAYS BEEN A WEAK STUDENT.
I UNDERSTOOD THAT DAVE WAS SMART…… TO THE POINT OF BEING WAY TOO FAR AHEAD, OF MOST OF US, HE CALLED HIS CHUMS….AND THAT OFTEN FRUSTRATED HIM. HE LOOKED LIKE A PATIENT MAN, BUT HE WASN'T. AS FOR HIS LIKES AND DISLIKES, HE COULD MAKE A SNIT "AN HISTORIC EVENT," ESPECIALLY WITH THE PEOPLE HE WAS ASSOCIATED. HE WAS AT A LEVEL AS A COLLECTOR, ESPECIALLY WITH CANADIANA, THAT HE WOULD HAVE BEEN A RIVAL OF PAPER SLEUTHS AND COLLECTORS LIKE HUGH MACMILLAN. IT WAS THE HIGH LEVEL OF HIS COLLECTION, THAT OF COURSE, A PRO LIKE HUGH MACMILLAN, KEENLY APPRECIATED. HE WOULD HAVE LIKED TO ACQUIRE SOME TITLES DAVE HAD, BUT THERE WAS NO CHANCE OF THIS HAPPENING. HE KNEW WHAT HISTORICALLY AND NATIONALLY IMPORTANT PIECES DAVE HAD IN HIS POSSESSION. THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN A LOT OF HISTORIANS, AND BOOK COLLECTORS, KEENLY AWARE WHAT COUPS DAVE HAD PULLED OFF, TO SECURE RARE BOOKS FROM ESTATES. DAVE WAS A COMPETITOR WITH ANYONE WHO OPERATED ALONG THE SAME LINES, EITHER AS A PROFESSION OR HOBBY. IN THE HEAT OF BATTLE, FOR CERTAIN RARE TEXTS, DOCUMENTS AND ESTATES, THERE WAS NO LOVE LOST WITH EITHER HUGH OR MANY OTHER WELL KNOWN COLLECTORS. DAVE BROWN CARRIED ON A SPAT WITH CANOE HISTORIAN KIRK WIPPER TO THE END, TAKING IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS THAT ARE SAID TO HAVE BELONGED TO THE HISTORIAN, TO THE GRAVE. HE APPARENTLY DID THE SAME THING TO HISTORIAN ED PHELPS, AND WHETHER IT IS TRUE OR NOT, THERE WAS NOT PEACE BETWEEN COLLECTORS AT THAT POINT…….INCLUDING WITH HUGH. ALTHOUGH THEY WERE COLLEAGUES IN MANY REGARDS…..ASSOCIATES, AND CORDIAL ACQUAINTANCES, EVEN TO SUGGEST THERE WAS A FRIENDSHIP BOND, WAS TAKING CONSIDERABLE LIBERTY. IF DAVE HAD KNOWN THE FOLKS WHO WERE GOING TO BE COMPETING FOR HIS POSSESSIONS AT THE END, I HONESTLY THINK HE MIGHT HAVE TRIED TO MAKE A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL…..TO LIVE JUST A LITTLE LONGER. IT WAS HIS GREAT FEAR, THAT SOME OF HIS ARCH RIVALS WOULD INTRUDE UPON HIM ONE DAY……AND IN THIS REGARD HE DID FORSEE THE FUTURE. IT DID HAPPEN.
BACK TO THE PORNOGRAPHY
If Dave was embarrassed about the fact he possessed a considerable amount of pornography, discovered when his estate was being sold-off, he wouldn't have told Suzanne and I about it, probably as far back as 1995 or so. Now, consider the fact, he was a teacher. A teacher with considerable tenure, who operated one of the best known outdoor education centers in the country, affiliated with the Hamilton Board of Education. He would have known the very real consequence of being caught with pornography (hardcore or not) in his possession. It would have created huge doubt about his moral stature? Well, that's what you'd ponder, if you heard this about anyone you knew, who was caught red-handed with a stash of skin magazines. So quite voluntarily, Dave told Suzanne and I about his most embarrassing misadventure, involving boxes of pornography, an adult book shop, and the fuzz. We were sitting out on the deck here at Birch Hollow, after a nice lunch, and he started chortling to himself, when thinking about what had happened earlier that same week. I'm sure he wondered if we could handle this kind of story, but we'd been friends long enough to deal with each others moods and inconsistencies. So he went on to tell us about the auction sale that he attended, and about the boxes of pornography he purchased as part of the major book and paper lot. So here goes. I can imagine how this might have looked on film, if it had been recorded. Dave looking embarrassed coming and going, boxes in arms.
It was commonplace for Dave to buy ten to fifty boxes of books at an auction if the price was right; and the titles were of interest to him…..including books he could trade to folks like us, for resale in our Bracebridge shop. On this particular occasion, he bought a similarly large volume, and as was his habit, loaded them into his Ford pickup without sorting through the collection on the site of the sale. He did not appreciate anyone poking through the boxes once he had made the purchase, and he could get ugly, let me tell you, with anyone intruding upon his space. So he made a habit of loading them on his truck, moments after making the purchase, and sorting them when he got home. He told us, on this afternoon, he was completely blown away, to have purchased about six or so boxes of pornographic magazines, that had been covered over by run of the mill books and antique magazines. He was upset because he understood the consequences of having this kind of material, and the ramifications if this got out into the public domain. "Teacher found with large collection of dirty books." With Dave, who sometimes acted like one of the Three Stooges, and not Moe, he mistakenly thought it would be a workable no-fuss plan, to just load them back onto the truck and take them to a fellow he knew, who had a book shop with an adult section, presumably with reading material this sexually explicit. What you need to know about Dave Brown, is that he was a well known citizen of Hamilton, as had been his family, in their day, and it was almost impossible for him to be incognito at any time.
He pulled up to the shop, went in and talked to the owner, and presumably the agreement was, that he would take them in for a look-see. The deal was going to be….."take them please." Well sir, on this day, the stars were not aligned for the good Mr. Brown. Even as he was pulling these boxes out of the back of the truck, people he knew were waving at him, stopping him for a chat, box in hand, and even in the shop itself, he was bumping into neighbors and associate book fanciers he knew. I'm not sure how he had them disguised, but probably a few of his book buddies, wanted to have a look inside. He said he had to keep moving, and weaving and darting like a Tiger Cat, (football club in Hamilton, Ontario) running toward the end-zone, to the back room of the shop. Of course in so doing, he had to cross the threshold of "Adult books," so if his mates didn't know what he had, after a quick glance, they knew by the fact he entered the special room, that his load was a little risque for family viewing. Now imagine him having to carry multiple boxes. "Then, what happens, is that with my arms full of pornography, I run into two police officers who I knew, and this time there was no cover on the material in the box. 'Nice to see you officers. I'm just dropping some material off to my friend." In his words, they responded, "Always nice to see you Mr. Brown…..interesting reading material'."
The problem was, in this situation, the book shop owner wouldn't accept a large portion of the pornography, and sent Dave back to this truck with at least half the boxes full of X-rated material. "I had to bring it back home, and I certainly couldn't put it out in recycling. A lot of people watched what I was getting rid of," he said. "I didn't need my neighbors poking through the bins and finding this stuff…..which I think is even illegal to recycle. I'm going to put it all in the garbage……this week." To find out then, that Dave Brown hadn't got rid of the skin magazines, by the time he passed away, isn't surprising, because he was a procrastinator. The way the paragraph reads in Hugh's book, it does give the reader the opinion that Dave had this material by choice…..by mail order, or special delivery. He wasn't like that, believe me, and we got as close to Dave as even his closest friends in Hamilton. He didn't have to tell us about the pornography, but it just happened to be a hilarious story the way he told it. Few auction bidders at any sale, would have purchased more books than Dave Brown in his day, and the same kind of situation has happened to us as well…..when we were buying large collections back around this vintage of the mid 1990's. We would just throw them out. Dave had thought of an easy way to unload them, but that was definitely not a one hundred percent solution. I just cringe to think that any one, especially the thousands of students and parents who trusted and loved him, for his exceptional contributions to education, would come to think of him as a shadowy, sex-obsessed, dirty minded guy in his off-hours. I'm sure if he suspected that this "found" collection, in his house, would be noted in a well read book, in the future, he wouldn't have had any problem hauling them to the local landfill site and paying the tipping fee for disposal. Dave was a little cheap, so he wouldn't have liked paying to dispose of anything. He hated taxes, and would have a huge reaction, if someone charged him tax on almost anything including fast food. He was not big on government stealing off hard working citizens. So the only way he would have put those books in the garbage, is if he could feel confident, the neighborhood dogs, wouldn't tear apart the bags before pickup, revealing the steamy contents. He obviously decided to "do it tomorrow," and that day never came while he was alive. This is why it made it to print, and why after all these years, I feel, as his close friend and biographer, it entirely necessary to set the record straight.
Dave, through his will, donated a large number of his books for the benefit of McMaster University……but not the pornography. I understood Dave as a teacher. I went on nature walks with his students, who he had on a special trip here in Muskoka, and he was brilliant as an instructor. Those kids hung off his every word. He introduced these city kids to nature in the most gentle, caring way, and they were spellbound. His life was teaching. His mania was collecting. Books and paper heritage specifically. In this case, I suppose he was a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Yet Suzanne and I had so many wonderful hours with Dave talking about books, and even when we were out on the hustings together, his competition for big book finds, was no more than I had practiced most of my life on the hockey rink. I was a goalie and by God, you didn't step into my crease unless you were wearing the same jersey. So during my recreational play, I was a bastard. So I can find justification for Dave's aggression in the hobby he truly cared about, and excelled in. Let's just say, he was a better, more accomplished and proficient book collector, than I was, as a goalie. But as a pervert, no sir. It just wasn't in his character. But he did get himself in this mess, by not being more careful about the job-lots he was buying. I think he was more prudent after this incident. Honestly, I don't think this really needed to be addressed in the book. He did so much good for the students of the Hamilton Board of Education, that a reference like this, could have shaved a lot of accomplishment from the memory of a dedicated teacher. The only reason I mention it now, is to give Dave's side. I think he deserved at least this much.
Thanks for joining me today. As you know, I'm always delighted to have guests visit here, and share some stories of out-and-about……regarding the whacky comings and goings of antique hunter-gatherers. Please come back for another visit soon. Drive safely out there. The weather has been a little frightful this evening, for motorists around here, and I always hate hearing the sounds of sirens coming from the area of our regional highways. See you again soon.
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