THE WORLDPEACE ADVOCACY
Novel One - Phoenix Rising

by Dr John WorldPeace JD

The WorldPeace Advocacy - Prologue
The WorldPeace Advocacy Novel One - Phoenix Rising
The WorldPeace Advocacy Novel Two - Paris 2009
are actually one novel that introduces the primary characters and lays the
foundation for a evolving series of political suspense novels.

The main character in the novels, John WorldPeace, has a factual history in
the Autobiography 1948-2007 of the author, whose legal name since 1988 has been
John WorldPeace, and a Prison Journal 2008 when the author was a political prisioner
of the United States of America and earned his bona fides as a real life Peace Activist.

JohnWorldPeace.com
Email: JohnWorldPeace@gmail.com

Copyright 2010 John WorldPeace All Rights Reserved

THE WORLDPEACE ADVOCACY – NOVEL ONE
Chapters 19-36

NINETEEN

When Cathy returned, I was in the shower taking a nice long soak and enjoying the heat. I heard the shower door open and felt Cathy step inside.

“I did not have time to shower before I left,” she said as she moved in front of me, pressed her body to mine and kissed me. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” I said.

“I am going to have to keep real busy until you come back or I am going to be extremely lonely,” Cathy said.

“It will be the same with me,” I said.

TWENTY

When Cathy and I walked into the kitchen, it was about 1300. Francois had ordered a very nice light lunch and was standing in the corner of the kitchen with a glass of red wine deep in thought.

“This looks really great, Francois,” I said as I walked over and kissed her lightly on the lips. “Thank you.”

“John, I hope you are not upset but Jeremy called and insisted on bringing some more friends of ours to see you off at the airport. I told him we would be there about 1430. I told him we would meet at the Flyway Café in the airport. We will have about forty-five minutes before you have to be at the security gate for your flight,” Francois said.

“No problem,” I said. “The only things I am taking with me are my briefcase with my laptop in it so I have nothing to check. Otherwise, I already checked in as much as I could through the internet. I may have an hour to meet with everyone.”

I sat down at the table to have a sandwich and a glass of wine.

“John, I do not know what we all are going to do to help you but you already have a lot of people ready to do all they can. In fact, they are eager to help and excited to become involved. We can communicate by email daily and by phone calls. I want to put an office in this apartment for you,” Francois said. “There is already one here but it needs a new computer, fax and so on. I am going to take care of that.”

“Thank you, Francois. You are way more than generous. I feel fortunate to have met you and Jeremy and all the others. Things seem to be moving very fast. I am months ahead of where I thought I would be at this point in time,” I said.

“Everyone has been reading your books and they are very excited about this project. But we are all amazed with regards to what you have done with your life. And we agree that Paris is where you should be and we are going to do everything we can to keep you here. We want Paris to be the home of the WorldPeace Advocacy,” Francois said.

“Francois, I am speechless,” I said.

“My mind has been totally occupied with you ever since we met. I believe you are very special, John” Francois said.

“I love you too, Francois,” I said.

For the next thirty minutes we all chatted about frivolous things and then Francois called a taxi and the three of us left for the airport. I was already missing Paris and I had not even left.

TWENTY-ONE

Jeremy was pacing in front of the café when I saw him. When he spotted me, he quickly moved toward us and gave me a big hug and one of those French ‘man-to-man’ kisses on the cheek. He then kissed Francois and Cathy. He was very excited.

As we moved toward the café, I could see about twenty people that seemed to be with Jeremy because they all stood up as we approached. I was a little embarrassed about such a send off. I had left Houston alone with no fanfare. I had told Rose and Linda there was no need for them to come to the airport.

As we approached the crowd, I was quickly introduced to about fifteen people I had not met before. Again, I felt the same as with the group at Jeremy’s home: these people were all extremely wealthy and very well connected. In some ways though, I thought they had come to see the freak and I am he.

“John,” Jeremy said. “Would you take a few minutes to talk to my friends? Just make a short presentation and then allow them to ask some questions if you please.”

“Sure,” I replied. “And thank you, Jeremy.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, John is going to speak to us for a moment and then he will answer some of your questions. He only has about forty-five minutes before he must leave for the departing gate,” Jeremy said.

There was a light sound of applause respectful of the fact that we were having an impromptu gathering in a public café at the airport.

“Hello, my name is John WorldPeace and I would like to thank you for this nice surprise,” I said.

“When I arrived in Paris last week, I had no idea what I would find here. I just knew that for almost a year I intuitively believed that I should go to Paris. Not on a vacation but I should go and look for a place to live. I love America, she is my mother, but I was suffocating there in the overall conservative environment. I needed to find my own kind gathered in large numbers. And I needed to find some true liberals as opposed to the left wing of the right wing of American politics. There has been no left wing of the left in America for many decades. All the hippies and pseudo hippies sold out and became just like their parents. I feel I am the only true liberal left from the sixties and I was not even politically active then. So here I am in Paris. From the first moment I arrived, I felt like I was home.”

There was light applause.

“I was in Paris on January 1, 1972, with my first ex wife and five month old daughter on vacation while serving in the US Army in Vicenza, Italy. I knew I would come back here one day but I did not think at the time that it would be three and a half decades later.

“I have lived an interesting life. I have taken many roads less traveled and the time has come for me to tell my stories as I continue on my journey.

“I do not know if anyone really cares about peace or if I will hit a responsive note with what I have to say. But that is not as important as my being satisfied at the end of my days, that I tried to make a positive difference in an attempt to increase the level of peace in the world human society.

“In January 2007, my whole life began to come apart like cheap watch. It began with my youngest son destroying our web design business that myself, my wife and he and one other person began in October 2004. Then my wife of nineteen years who I had come to worship, left me, followed by many other trials and tribulations. My world by all standards simply collapsed. In December 2007, I engineered my inevitable arrest to rid myself of some legal problems I had. I needed these matters resolved before I attempted to restart my business; not to mention my life.

“That arrest led to my incarceration for all of 2008. I was charged with a Federal misdemeanor crime of resisting arrest. I pled guilty. I had no prior criminal history; the arrest was regarding a civil bench warrant, not a criminal one. The judge who I had a history with and who was assigned to my case, gave me the max sentence of one year.

“As always, I refused to allow my imprisonment to defeat me. So I began to write my autobiography mainly to have closure with the first sixty years of my life. That went on to become an ongoing epic novel I titled ‘The WorldPeace Advocacy’. My time in jail was very productive. Due to the lack of outside distractions, I was able to write my books, read, study, meditate and pray; in a lot of ways like a monk in a monastery.

“I believed that God had stripped me of everything and put me in jail for a purpose. I have never lost my absolute faith in God. I could not help but see the hand of God in my life because what happened to me was so dramatic and really unexplainable.

“In prison, I came to feel that after I was released, I was to come to Paris to be among my own kind and continue my mission of peace. That is why I am here and I will tell you that my experience over the last ten days has been beyond my expectation. My joy is great. My peace is increasing. My excitement is growing.”

Another light applause grew among Jeremy’s friends and a few others in the café.

“Friends, my life is about WorldPeace. I made a commitment to advocate peace and to change my name on April 1, 1988, as a statement of that commitment. April 1, 1988, was after my first divorce in 1987 and just before I turned forty years old on April 24, 1988. Forty is a time of transition generally in the life of most human beings.

“By coincidence that day was both April Fools Day and Good Friday. One tradition indicating that I was a fool and another greater tradition indicating a transformation; a metamorphosis.

“And as the Robert Frost poem says, ‘Two roads diverged in a yellowed wood; and I took the one less traveled by; and that has made all the difference.’

“Ten days ago, I embarked on the left branch of the greatest fork in the road of my life. And already it has made a great difference.”

There was light applause.

“I must return to Houston to finish closing out my life there. I want you to know my heartfelt appreciation and gratefulness for your support today. Together we can make a difference in the world human society by increasing the peace. Increasing the peace is a possible dream.”

There was a loud applause and more and more people outside Jeremy’s group were listening to me.

“Now I have a few minutes to answer some questions. Does anyone have a question?” I asked.

“Yes,” a lady who was not a part of Jeremy’s group asked. “Are you the messiah?”

The group was irritated at the question and grumbled.

“No ma’am,” I said. “Jesus is supposed to return by descending from the clouds without the aid of a mechanical device like a helicopter,” I said. “I arrived the old-fashioned way through my mother’s womb. And her name is Joyce not Mary.”

There were a few chuckles and a few laughs in the crowd. This eased the tension. It was not the first time I had been confronted with this question.

“And I might add, I am not the antichrist either. I have no organization, disciples, adherents, etc. There is nothing to join and never will be. So I do not fit the description of the bureaucratic antichrist in the Book Revelation at the end of the Christian Bible.

“I am just one simple man with one simple message; WorldPeace. Everything else is just my commentary regarding increasing the peace in the world human society.”

“When will you return?” someone from the group asked.

“I will be back in about five weeks. I will be in touch with Jeremy regarding the specific date. And my web site at www.johnworldpeace.com will be updated often,” I said.

Jeremy said, “John, we are out of time. You have a plane to catch. Thank you for speaking with us.”

Everyone clapped and I thanked them. After shaking everyone’s hand and hugging Jeremy, I headed for the security check-in with Cathy and Francois by my side.

When we arrived at the gate, I hugged and kissed Francois and turned to Cathy who was crying. I said nothing as I wiped her tears with my handkerchief. I then hugged her tightly and kissed her lovingly on the lips. I am sure people who were watching wondered about a sixty year old man kissing a twenty-four year old young lady in the manner I kissed Cathy…but who knows what anyone was thinking. I was in Paris; the city of love.

As I turned with Cathy still holding my hand, Francois handed me a white business envelope.

“Jeremy asked me to give you this,” she said.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Open it on the plane,” she said. “You have to go now.”

“I kissed her lightly on the lips and hugged and kissed Cathy again and turned to go through the metal detectors.

“Later,” I said. I seldom use the word goodbye.

After exiting the metal detectors and putting on my boots and gathering my briefcase with my laptop, I turned and waved a final good-bye to Cathy and Francois and began to walk toward my gate turning once more before going out of sight. I waved and smiled and headed toward the plane that would take me back to America.

TWENTY-TWO

When I was seated on the airplane, I reached into my briefcase and retrieved the white envelope that Francois had given to me.

Inside the envelope was another envelope and a hand written note.

“Dear John,

Enclosed is $10,000 America dollars. The bank receipt is there so you should not have any trouble in customs over the cash.

This is a little token of our support for the cause of WorldPeace. Use it as you see fit.

I have already begun to prepare for your return. I am so glad to have met you.

Bon Voyage my friend,

Jeremy”

My eyes filled with water. I felt certain that I had in fact found my true family.

I put the note back into the envelope and zipped up my briefcase. What an amazing ten days. I stared out the window thinking of all the many wonderful experiences I had had and the many nice people I had met. Yes, Paris would be my new home. I would always be an American but Paris would be my home for the rest of my life.

TWENTY-THREE

To save money, my flight home was not non-stop from Paris to Houston. I had a short layover and plane change in New York.

As I disembarked from the plane into the lobby, I saw my son Marshall. I immediately was concerned and he saw it reflected on my face. He motioned me that everything was OK. I relaxed a bit and covered the thirty feet to him with apprehension. This meeting was not planned.

When I reached him, he hugged me and told me to say nothing but to just respond to his conversation and then he said, “How was the trip, Dad?”

“ I am tired but feel good if that makes any sense,” I said.

“I understand,” he said.

We approached the metal detectors and were checked through customs. Marshall had a pass that he gave to customs.

“I have a car,” he said.

“Fine,” I said, as if that had always been the plan.

We spoke little as we went to where he had parked. When we got into the car, he motioned me to be quiet and handed me a note that he took out of his inside coat pocket.

“Dad,
Do not be alarmed. We are going to Washington, DC.
Keep our conversation casual,
Marshall.”

He took the note from me and put it back into his pocket and then we began to discuss my trip to Paris as if it were a sightseeing vacation. I could not imagine why he was here or why we were going to Washington. I asked about my very senior parents and he said they were fine. This information relaxed me a bit.

As we drove, I came to the conclusion that there was something the Feds did not like about my books or one or more of the people I came into contact with in Paris. Maybe someone I met was a spy or terrorist and the CIA or the FBI wanted to talk to me. They knew I had a bad attitude about cops and so they needed my son Marshall to help keep me cordial. The fact that I had been diverted from my flight to Houston meant that whatever the matter was, it had a priority and could not wait.

Marshall zigzagged through several neighborhoods. I thought he was trying to make sure we were not being followed. After about forty-five minutes he pulled into the parking lot under a mundane office building about four stories tall. He drove around the small underground parking garage and pulled into a space next to a delivery van with no windows to the rear of the front seat. Even the panels on the back door were without a window.

Marshall motioned me out of the SUV we were in and we entered the side door of the van. There was only one driver but two other men were in the very back of the van. Both had earpieces to keep in touch with whoever was running this show.

Marshall put his finger to his lips, communicating that I was to say nothing and then he motioned for me to buckle my seat belt, which I seldom did. The driver then started the van and exited the parking area under the building onto the street. He then seemed to be heading back to the airport as he zigzagged much the same way that Marshall had on our drive from the airport; except through a different area of the city.

In about forty-five minutes, we were back at the airport but in the area where the private jets were kept in hangars. We entered a gate guarded by two Marines and then drove into one of the hangars that had a delivery van entrance.

There was one jet in the hangar, painted black, that looked like it would seat about twelve passengers. There were three men that I could see around the jet and all had automatic pistols.

The van pulled right up to the extended steps into the jet. Marshall and I got out of the van and I was motioned to enter the jet. I walked up the stairs and was shown to a seat right over the wing on the right side. Marshall sat next to me in the aisle. Two men came aboard. I had seen the pilot and copilot going over their checklist when I boarded.

The stairs were pulled up by the man in the doorway. The hatch was sealed and the plane began to move from the hangar. The two men took seats directly across from Marshall and I. I thought I might be headed to prison; maybe in a foreign country.

As the plane moved out of the hangar, the two men introduced themselves to me as Jack and Dale. I doubted those were there real names.

Jack said, “Dr. WorldPeace, you can relax. You are not in any trouble.”

“Really,” I said.

“We apologize for all this but I can assure you it is very necessary.”

“Where are we going,” I said.

Dale said, “Dr. WorldPeace, we are going to Washington, DC where you and your son will meet with the directors of the CIA and the FBI and the chief of the NSA. After the meeting, you will be taken back to New York and put on a later flight to Houston. That is all I can tell you right now. When we get to Washington in about forty-five minutes, you can call your lady friends and tell them you have been delayed. You will call them back later and tell them when you will be arriving in Houston. Tell them nothing is wrong; just typical airline problems.”

“OK,” I said.

Marshall had said nothing. When Jack saw me look at Marshall, he said, “Your son has been told a bit more than you. He is here to assure you that everything is OK and you have nothing to worry about. You are not going to jail or to court. So just relax and enjoy the ride. Can I get you anything?”

“I would like a diet coke and some peanuts,” I said.

“We can do that,” Dale said.

The jet had to wait before being cleared for take off.

I said nothing during the flight. I just kept thinking about what might have happened in Paris that brought all this on. Then I thought maybe it was just the ongoing observation of John WorldPeace that began when I changed my name in 1988. But I had no doubt that whatever it was, it was serious.

The jet landed in Washington about forty-minutes after take off as promised and we exited the jet inside another hangar and entered another van except this one was black instead of white. There was a driver and another two men in the van with earpieces in their ears.

We were instructed to buckle our seat belts and the ride would be about thirty minutes. We were also asked not to talk. I could see that Marshall was not aware of exactly what was happening. I am sure they told him we would be traveling but did not tell him exactly where.

We left the airport and drove through DC traffic. I could see out the front windshield. I could see various street signs and billboards affirming that we were in fact in Washington, DC. It reminded me of being transported from place to place while I was in prison.

I then saw that we drove into the underground of a large office building. We parked and Marshall and I were told to step out of the van and to go with four men in suits. They all looked like young athletes in expensive suits.

We went through several back hallways until we reached an elevator. It reminded me of the back corridors of the Federal court house in Houston that I visited as a prisoner; chained hand and foot like a wild animal. We stepped into the elevator and it went up about fifteen floors. There were no buttons. It was like the jail elevators. It had a remote operator. Somehow the men we were with communicated to the operator which floor he wanted or the operator already knew which floor.

We exited the elevator, traveled down a few more back hallways and then entered into an office reception area. There were nice paintings on the walls but no indication of what government agency or business belonged to this place. We were then put into a conference room with no windows.

The conference table was very nice and had about twenty chairs around it. There was a secretary there who asked if we wanted anything to eat or drink. Marshall asked for water and I asked for a diet Coke. There was a tray of sandwiches next to a coffee bar which also had water and soft drinks. I took two ham sandwiches and sat down where the secretary asked me to; on the side and in the middle of the long table.

After she returned from the refrigerator, she said that the meeting would begin in about fifteen minutes when everyone would arrive.

Marshall and I said nothing. We just looked at each other searching to see if the other was picking up any vibes about what was going on.

In about ten minutes, eight men and four women came into the room. Six sat on my left and six to my right. The two men in charge of each group sat directly across from John and I.

“Dr. WorldPeace and Sergeant Wolter (referring to Marshal by his rank as a police officer), I am Tom Wentworth, the Director of the CIA and this is Oren Hensley the Director of the FBI. The chief of the NSA, Eric Warden, will not be able to make this meeting but will look at a video recording later today.”

Director Wentworth then introduced his people and Director Hensley introduced his. No one shook hands. I recognized the Directors from the pictures I had seen periodically in the newspapers and on TV.

Director Wentworth began.

“Dr. WorldPeace,” he said, “we have been monitoring your book submissions to Harper Collins as well as your trip to Paris. And to be quite frank, you have created a huge ripple effect at the CIA and the FBI and the NSA. We know that you do not understand what you have done to get our attention. Let me say because you do not know what you have done, and even if you did, I want to assure you that you have done nothing criminal.

“What you have done is made some connects in Paris that we have been trying to establish for decades. And you have caught us off guard. So much so that we do not know how exactly to precede.

“I am aware that you do not like cops, Feds, judges, or most people in authority.”

I could not help but smile and that made my very conservative son nervous. These were top cops and part of my son’s reality. But they were just cowboys to me.

“We also know you have shown no tendency to create a terroristic act. But you are the kind of person who makes everyone in government very nervous because we do not know what you are capable of doing and we cannot begin to predict what you have planned. We acknowledge and respect that you are a very intelligent if not brilliant individual.

“So we have set up this meeting today to tell you a few things and to ask you a few things so we can better devise a plan to deal with your WorldPeace Advocacy and your book tours among other things.

“Do you have any questions so far?” he asked.

“Actually, I do have some comments and some questions,” I said.

“First, it appears to me that I have caught you people off guard and you do not know what to do but you had to make contact with me immediately. Maybe you are going to tell me to shut up until you have time to assess the situation and come up with a strategy. Then we will have a second meeting.

“Two, it is obvious by your refusal to extend your hand to my son and I that you have contempt or a strong dislike of me and you are having a hard time hiding it. I do not think you have anything against my son except that he is my son. If you have seen his employment file, you know he is more in sync with you than he is with me.

“Three, I assume that at least one of the people I met in Paris is an undercover agent or mole, probably with the CIA because of the restrictions that keep the FBI generally operating in the USA. But I believe there are some agents on the other side in that group as well as a double agent or someone who appears to the other side as a double agent. The other side is always Russian but I feel the Chinese are in this too. It must be frustrating for them to have to recruit Caucasians in order not to make it obvious that they are in the game.

“Four, I assume that I have not broken the law but you are concerned about what I might really be up to. Especially if you have read the manuscripts of my books, which I assume your people have.

“My immediate questions are: 1) What do you want? 2) Where do we go from here? 3) Which of those people I met in Paris belong to you? and 4) Did you have me followed in Europe from the time I got off the plane in Paris?”

Director Wentworth of the CIA was the most agitated. I felt that was because he had received a reprimand for not being more on top of what I was doing and me. And that verified that they had been following me since before I left for Paris; the FBI following me stateside and the CIA in Europe. Regardless, I realized that I had to be even more careful in the future and I needed to establish a network to keep track of me in order to sound the alarm if I disappeared.

Director Wentworth stood up and reached across the table to shake Marshall’s hand and asked him if he had any questions to which he replied, “No.”

I was sure Marshall could not believe that we were talking to the head of the CIA and the FBI. I thought he would now take time to read my manuscripts. I laughed to myself.

“OK, Dr. WorldPeace, I see you are a man who has no problem speaking his mind.” Director Wentworth was unable to hide his contempt for WorldPeace. “Yes we are concerned with you interfering with the foreign policy of the USA. That is it in a nutshell.

“We recognize that you have little fear of anything. We feel like you are a troublemaker but we see no evidence of you growing some kind of anti government organization. That is what has kept you out of trouble to date,” he said; frustrated it seemed to me at even having to talk to me.

“Yes, I think you are a potential threat to America’s interests around the world,” he emphasized.

“No, I do not like what you are doing or what you represent,” he added.

“Yes, we have two agents in the group you met with. We will discuss who later.

“What we want is a couple of weeks to evaluate this matter and then have another meeting here in DC. Eric Warden, chief of NSA will be present at that time.

“The main purpose of today’s meeting is to inform you that we are involved in this matter. The WorldPeace Advocacy is now at the top of the pile of things to deal with on my desk,” he said.

I responded, “I am no terrorist and no traitor. And I am user friendly and will work with you. But I will not be your dog. And I doubt I will work for free. You want something, you will have to give me something; sometimes money, sometimes favors and help.”

I could tell Marshall could not believe I was talking to this guy like this.

“To sum up, your opinion of me is wrong. It is just a knee jerk reaction based on innate conservative fears regarding free thinkers. Cops and judges have screwed me. I do not trust any of them. I am sure you can add politicians in there as well.

“But the reality is that I know I can further my WorldPeace Advocacy in many ways without effecting any interests of the USA,” I said.

“And lastly,” I said, “I am here because someone with the President’s ear said out loud that I was in a unique position to further US interests, not just interfere with them. The case in point is that I seem to have a connection with people you have been trying to recruit for a long time. I am a potential conduit for information. So short of you killing me, it looks like we are going to be partners, like it or not.”

“Let me make it clear, if I think what you are attempting to do will promote peace, your will have my help,” Director Wentworth said.

“And let me make this perfectly clear,” I responded. “You get one as in only ONE chance to lie to me. After that, then you have set the rules. So after you lie to me, I will feel justified in lying to you. I hope that is clear.

“I am going to be on my path for the rest of my life. You will be director as long as the current president is in office. That is the reality of our lives.

“Other than that, if you want my trust you will have to earn it. That being said, you start out with a 100% rating with regards to telling the truth to me. That is all I have to say for now.”

“Well you have said quite a lot actually. Overall it seems that you are saying you are a reasonable person. We will see,” Director Wentworth said.

“Dr. WorldPeace, Jeremy St. Laurant and Francois Dubois are connected to us. Jeremy is a very valuable asset and Francois will be your main contact. I will say that Francois is very much in your fan club and has been intimate with you. So we will work mainly through her,” he continued.

“Interesting,” I said.

“I assume you know better than to out our contacts,” Wentworth said.

“It goes without saying,” I said.

“Dr. WorldPeace, I am very cautious and have significant anxieties about working with you. You said I have to earn your trust and confidence. If this relationship proceeds we will commence training you covertly.”

“What role will my son play in all this?” I asked.

“He has an excellent record with HPD and he is obviously driven and smart as evidenced by his pursuit of a Ph.D. He is the easiest, least obvious way of contacting you. Our agents in Houston who know him, say he is one of us. He understands the police game and plays by its rules. We hope he will choose to work with us.”

Marshall said nothing.

“As I said earlier, there is no free lunch. I do not expect any undeserved favors but I would expect that he would have mentors in high places and I am sure I would like for him to go through all the training I go through. It will make communication between us on these matters easier,” I said.

“We agree,” Wentworth said. “I must be moving along to other matters. You will be taken back to New York and fly out on a later flight. Your son needs to stay with us for a few days. So we would like you to return to New York alone. Marshall will be your contact for now.”

Marshall nodded to me that everything was OK.

“All right,” I said getting up.

Directors Wentworth and Hensley moved to my side of the table and each shook my hand and then left the room with their posses following.

I turned to Marshall and said, “I will see you in Houston,” and hugged him.

Two agents appeared at my side and escorted me back to the van we arrived in. Marshall stayed in the conference room and I saw the secretary who greeted us return with some binders she gave to Marshall as I was leaving.

I was asked not to use my cell phone until I was back in the airport. I was told to go to my airline ticket counter and hand the agent my ticket and to say that my flight had been changed. The rest would be taken care of.

After I received my new ticket, I went to my gate and called Houston.

“Hello Linda,” I said.

“John, where have you been?’ she asked.

“I told you to just hang on until I called. Nothing is wrong. Just typical travel foul ups and all the security regulations, delays and so on,” I said.

“How are you?” Linda asked.

“Better now that I am talking to you,” I said.

Rose is here with me at your apartment. We were just waiting for the call to come and get you,” Linda said.

“I am due to arrive at Bush at 2037, Flight 437 on Continental. I will get some sleep on the plane so I am sure I will be good to go when I get there. You both go ahead and eat and order me something. I will eat when we get back to the apartment. I do not really want to make any stops between the airport and home,” I said.

“OK,” she said.

“Any problems?” I asked.

“No,” she responded.

“We have a lot to talk about. I feel like I have been gone a month. Everything is moving ahead very fast now. We will talk when I get there,” I said.

“OK,” she said. “I missed you a lot.”

“And I missed you,” I said.

“Here is Rose,” Linda said, “I will talk to you in a few hours.”

“Hi, John,” Rose said. “We thought some of those Parisian girls kidnapped you.”

“They did,” I said, “but they let me go after I gave them what they wanted. I met their demands,” I said with a chuckle.

“I am sure you did,” Rose said. “Linda and I have some demands of our own.”

“And I am ready to meet all demands and take on all comers. Your wish is my command,” I said.

“Have a safe trip home, John,” she said. “We will see you shortly. Love you.”

“I love you too,” I said and closed my phone.

I then found a chair in the boarding area and sat down and closed my eyes for what seemed like a minute before I heard the call to board the plane.

I boarded, found my seat, sat down, buckled up and went back to sleep.

TWENTY-FOUR

The flight to Houston seemed like minutes because I fell asleep as soon as I sat down in my seat. I had no luggage and so I walked through the terminal and out to the pick up area. Rose and Linda were there in Rose’s BMW. Linda was in the backseat. I got in the front passenger seat and Rose pulled out and headed for home after I kissed both of them.

“What happened in New York,” Rose asked.

“I do not know,” I said. “The plane was on time but they would not let us disembark. Then they had a computer problem and my ticket to Houston was screwed up. Just airline stuff is all it was. I should have called sooner but there was also a problem with customs. I am always paranoid that they want to harass WorldPeace,” I said. “But here I am now. I slept through the entire flight.”

“What has been going on here since yesterday?” I asked.

I had called Rose or Linda every day for a short conversation.

“Nothing really. SSDD; Same stuff, different day,” Linda said.

“I will say you do not look like Paris changed you much,” Rose said.

“Well it did and it didn’t,” I said. “There are some really good things going on and some things I have to reconsider like moving into a second residence there; a lot to think about. Gathering information about Paris was the plan and I accomplished that goal. I will not go back for five weeks so I will have plenty of time to process everything I learned and experienced.

“For now, I have to get back to work on all these clean up projects I started when I got out of prison. I hope Kay looked up all those taxes so we can resolve that. I hope to hear from the publisher within a week or so. And I have got to go through all my things that Kay and mother packed when the house on Heights sold while I was in jail.”

“Truthfully, I have got to get my business going again immediately. I need a cash flow. It was a good trip and I did not spend that much time thinking about the things I have to do here. I concentrated on the feel of Paris. Setting up a home base in Paris is going to be a big change in my life. And major change is sometimes hard even for me .” I said.

“So how were the little French women?” Linda asked.

“The truth is they are just like women here except they speak French,” I said with a laugh.

“So did you find someone to keep you warm at night?” Rose asked.

“Yes, I found a few bed warmers,” I laughed.

“As good as Rose and I?” smiled Linda.

“No my dear,” I smiled back. “I think the sooner we get home the better I am going to like it. I missed you both.”

“I hope you do not intend to continue your nap when you get home,” Rose said.

“I don’t. Have you two eaten?” I asked.

“No,” said Rose.

“OK,” I said. “We will order in Chinese after we renew our acquaintances. A little Chinese food and wine sounds good to me if it’s OK with the two of you.”

“Fine,” Rose and Linda said in unison.

For the next thirty minutes, I told them about the sights in Paris; mostly tourist information.

“Here we are,” Rose said as we pulled into the driveway.

“Home sweet home,” I said.

As soon as we entered the front door, both women attacked me like two starving tigresses.

“Hold on,” I said as I reached into my brief case and brought out two small presents; one for each of them.

“A little something for my Dixie Chicks,” I said, “from Paris.”

“Each was excited. They could smell the perfume through the exquisite wrapping paper.”

“I liked both perfumes,” I said. “You can trade with each other or both use the same one. You know how bad my ability to smell is. I doubt the way it smells to me is how it smells to you. But I liked both of these.”

They each took a bit on their finger tips and applied it to their necks which I sniffed and then kissed.

“Exquisite,” I said.

They had my clothes off within seconds and I insisted on a quick shower to wash off the dirt and negativity from the trip home. When I emerged from the bathroom, my little tigresses were both naked on the bed with the sheets and covers on the floor. I crawled between them and said with a big smile, “Let the games begin.”

Both of these women made me feel loved and I loved them as well. My sex life had certainly evolved from that of a married man. My sexual, emotional and intimate with the opposite sex were now satisfied for the first time in my life. I was glad to be home in my bed. We all consumed each other.

I woke about midnight and realized that Rose and Linda had ordered the Chinese food and apparently eaten without me and then returned to bed. I must have really slept hard; unusual for me.

I slid down to the end of the bed and went quietly to the bathroom. Then I started for the kitchen to have something to eat. Rose got out of bed but Linda motioned me over for a kiss and then closed her eyes to go back to sleep. Rose put on her robe and handed mine to me as she gave me a loving hug and kiss. We closed the bedroom door so as not to disturb Linda and went into the kitchen.

I sat down at my grandmother’s antique table and Rose went to the refrigerator and retrieved a box of spring rolls and peanut sauce, one of my favorite foods, and placed it on the table. Then she got a salad plate and small wine goblet and put it on the table as well. She took a bottle of wine from the refrigerator and filled my goblet.

“Thank you my love,” I said.

Rose sat down with a goblet and poured herself some wine and said, “So what really happened in New York?”

Rose was never one to be intimidated by me and was always one to cut to the chase; not to mention her persistence. I liked those personality traits.

“Rosie, I have not processed it all yet, but just let me sum it up by saying ‘The Feds’. I really do not want to talk about it until I fully understand what they want. I will be meeting with them again soon. For now, I have to continue to deal with closing out all the things I was working on when I left.

“Do you think you will move to Paris?” She asked.

“I think I will have a second home in Paris, yes. But I will continue to have one here too,” I said. “Also, I feel I will be traveling more in Europe and the world from Paris.”

“What about me?” she asked.

“Rosie, I am not abandoning you if that is what concerns you,” I said as I touched her hand. “You mean too much to me.”

“I am scared of losing you,” she said.

“Rosie, my two wives left me. I did not leave them. So do not worry about it. When I got out of jail, I knew my life had many potential paths. I still do not know which one will be the most significant and dominate. I just know that I will be traveling for the rest of my life and you will be able to come along if you want. There are just too many variables for me to see very far into the future right now. I know I have at least three more months of clean up here if not more and that is my number one priority. “I cannot feel free to go forward with my life until these matters are taken care of,” I said.

I scooted back my chair and opened my robe and motioned Rose to come to me. She opened her robe and sat in my lap facing me and we began to kiss. I had missed her a lot and I could tell she missed me to. We had not been apart for this long since we met.

“You make me feel at peace and whole, Rosie,” I said as she began to move back and forth and look into my eyes and kiss me.

“After about twenty minutes she got up and sat back in her chair. I washed my hands and began to eat my spring rolls. When I finished eating, we went back to bed. Linda woke up and I lay on my back as both of them pulled as close to me as possible. I closed my eyes and was asleep in minutes.

Linda and Rosie left early for their apartments to get ready for work. I got up to see them off and then went to the kitchen to drink some coffee and reflect on all that had happened in Paris and in Washington DC.

My life had certainly moved forward in a flash. I wondered about the pace of the rest of my life.

TWENTY-FIVE

I was moving around the apartment after Linda and Rose left for work when my phone rang. It was an old friend of mine David Gotschall. Dave said that a friend of his who had a small talk show on Pacifica Radio in Houston needed a guest for his show at 1900 and he wanted to know if I wanted to appear. Apparently the scheduled guest had some kind of emergency and could not make the show. Pacifica was a left wing old hippie station. I told Dave I would be there.

Radio talk shows were much more high tech these days and many had streaming audio through the internet which extended their audience globally as opposed to being confined within the local broadcasting range.

There are so many web sties that live broadcast and rebroadcast shows from all over the world. Because of the low cost of internet broadcasting, there were probably tens of thousands internet stations. Whatever your philosophy, you could find a station that fit your mindset. But more than that, if you did not like the program airing at your favorite net station, you could open the time slot and insert another net broadcast.

It is nothing to set up some net capture software to pull talk shows into a folder for later listening or viewing. So there was no way to know how often or how far any broadcast would propagate around the world. What is also interesting is that some programs may lay in a folder for years and then be opened and further propagated. There is no way you can purge the net of anything that has been broadcast or published; too many people copying, bookmarking, forwarding information. The reality of internet information and communication propagation was simply astounding.

No one could really tell how many people would listen to a broadcast in real time until it was over and the net geniuses ran an audit on how many outlets were downloading while the program aired.

This program would air in the 1900-2000 time slot. I have spoken to so many groups over the years, not to mention arguing in court, that this was nothing even remotely stressful. I had too much to talk about and few questions were asked of me that I had not answered before. For most questions, I had an answer that was in harmony with my overall philosophy. I used these forums to make sure that my overall WorldPeace Advocacy remained coherent.

I was seated in my chair and wired with an earpiece that also contained a microphone. It was five minutes to airtime when Brandon Roberts entered the sound booth, shook my hand and sat down.

“How are you Dr. WorldPeace,” he said as he was being wired for broadcast. Even though this was broadcast radio, a web cam was piggybacked onto the feed if the listener wanted video.

“I am still above ground,” I said.

This has been a common response for me since I came within 30 minutes of dying of a heart attack in December 1997. We all live on borrowed time.

Brandon laughed and then began some last minute instructions to his crew and staff. I sat relaxed and as usual was amazed at these behind the scenes mechanics and protocols.

The announcement began to queue us at ten seconds to airtime. The show’s theme music played as the credits were read. This took about thirty seconds.

“Hello friends, Brandon Roberts here. Tonight I have with me a very interesting friend, Dr. John WorldPeace.”

“Thank you for taking time to visit with us Dr. WorldPeace. It is a pleasure,” Brandon said.

“The feeling is mutual and thank you for having me,” I responded.

“Dr. WorldPeace, you are sixty-one years old, how does that feel?” Brandon asked.

“Well everyday, I thank God for being allowed to wakeup into this wonderful reality. I have been blessed with an interesting life. It is great to be alive. It is great to have all the memories I have accumulated over the years.”

“Dr. WorldPeace, what is the one thing that stands out in your memories over and above everything else?” he asked.

“That there is in fact a personal God,” I said, “whether we acknowledge that God or not. If we just form the daily habit of prayer and meditation for even a few minutes, the chaos and confusion in our lives will be greatly reduced. Life on earth is wonderful and tough at the same time; happy and sad. It is a gift and I cannot help but look back over my sixty-one years and see the many gifts I have received. The gifts are little miracles strung like pearls on a silk thread that is sixty-one years long.” I said.

“Dr WorldPeace, what is the most memorable event in your life?” he asked.

“There is no question but that my time in prison in 2008 was the most memorable and most significant; three hundred and sixty three days.” I said.

“Really?” Bill asked curiously. “You have been involved in so many things in your life and yet you cite your time in prison, a time that most would consider wasted, as the most significant time in your life. Can you elaborate on that for us please?”

“Actually, my time in prison was as close to a rebirth as one can get. For twelve months, I was essentially in a dungeon that was sterile and cold. I was in solitary confinement or as they call it administrative segregation with no TV, constant minor harassment, the potential of mind numbing boredom and an insignificant amount of time outside my cell. Yet all those things were necessary for God to break me down, completely break me down and reorient my life. I guess you could say, ‘get my attention’ and make me look at my past and my potential paths in the future.”

“Many people experience life changing events. I have had other moments outside my stay in prison that at the time I viewed as epiphanies. But prison was a unique experience. It was not dramatic really. It was not brought on by sickness or accident. Beginning in January 2007, when my youngest son destroyed our web design business and my second wife, who I worshipped, left me (not because we had any of the classic marital problems but because she could no longer live in my reality) God stripped me of virtually all my possessions. The house I lived in was a significant part of my reality but was sold by my mother while I was I prison.”

“By December 19, 2007, I was ready to restart my web design business but I had to serve my time for allegedly resisting arrest. I arranged my arrest thinking I would be in jail for a few weeks or a month. It turned out to be a year,” I said.

“During that year, I was forced to review my life, come to terms with Christianity and write my autobiography and the novels associated with the WorldPeace Advocacy which really are a detailed life plan for the rest of my life.”

“During the majority of my time in prison, I wrote, read novels, read the Bible, exercised, meditated, prayed and slept on and off twenty-four hours a day. When I take in too much information, I get sleepy and I take a nap. Usually I wake up with a clear head and some minor revelation. And due to the lack of distractions in solitary confinement, my psyche became more and more attuned and my creativity flowed consistently as it still does now that I am out of prison.”

“So that year in prison allowed me to reconcile and find closure and a peace with my past and allowed me to write a very dynamic script for the rest of my life.”

“I came out of prison with my health, my intellect, my education and my experience but no real material possessions. I had been washed clean as they say.”

“Prison was not easy. It was hard especially the last six months. Had it not been for my writing, I do not know what I would have done to deal with the boredom. When I felt a bit depressed, I began to write. When I could not clearly see the next entries for the WorldPeace Advocacy, I would read a novel or the Bible. I also had poems and other smaller books I wrote in addition to my autobiography and my novels. So one of my books that I was writing or the Bible or a contemporary novel would buoy me up until I found the mainstream of my WorldPeace Advocacy again. Then I would continue to write my vision.”

“Overall, I was forced to contemplate, meditate and pray about the meaning of my life and life in general day and night.”

“I was off track and that is why I went to prison. I had a destiny I had seen in a vague and undefined way at the age of eight: and I have lived that destiny. In 2008, I looked around and saw so many of my peers had gone to work for forty years and had attained various levels of success. I had nothing in the way of tangible assets when I exited prison.”

“I knew in 1988, that I could accumulate a fortune in a variety of endeavors but I could not manifest my bigger vision of peace which at that time I defined as my WorldPeace Advocacy. I knew that money would not give me peace or the sense of worth that I needed. The seeking out of money for the sake of money was not my destiny and held no interest for me. Yet I was bothered by the fact that my life seemed so scattered.”

“Even in 2008, I wanted to paint, write and run a very large web design business. Each endeavor required a lot of time and total dedication. I was still dividing my interests and it was frustrating. I had so many skills and options to make money that it was hard to settle into just one career path if you will.”

“Another huge problem for me was the lack of a wife, or life companion. I was so lonely. What my relationship with women would look like upon exiting jail was a big question. I have known all my life that without love, female, biological, emotional, intimate, love, that I would be in a constant state of tension. Nothing made me want to cry out more than the loneliness I was experiencing. Being in prison did not allow me to experience or experiment with a male/female relationship. So when I exited jail, female companionship was an important but unresolved issue. I had come to some conclusions about what I needed in a relationship.”

“I was remade in prison; completely. The epiphanies and revelations became the foundation for everything I have done since exiting prison and everything I intend to do.”

“I want to mention that I had to deal with the great anger that I had for that cop and those judges who ignored the law and put me in jail for as long as they could. I had great anger because of those lies. All I could think about to give me some peace was Job and Jesus and the Apostle Paul and that I was not suffering compared to them. God allowed those evil people to have some dominion over me. So I just had faith in God and the unshakeable knowing that in the end I would be vindicated. That the evil wrong doing that I had experienced would not stop me from achieving the promise I had made to God before I was born; to work to uplift the world human society in some significant way.”

“What is your overall attitude about life right now?” Asked Brandon.

“I am still young at heart. I still have a clear mind. I have a much younger body than people who are my age. Physically, I know I am not twenty or forty but I am in great shape for my age.”

“I can see that you are in very good physical shape,” Brandon said.

“Dr. WorldPeace, there is a belief among a lot of people that you are a ladies man. How do you respond to that?” Brandon asked.

“For me a ladies man is someone who has nothing going on in his life but the pursuit of women; or someone who has sex with women as his first priority in life. I am an artist, writer, advocate for peace and a businessman. The pursuit of women is not a priority in my life. However, due to my other endeavors, and due to the fact that I try to hire mostly women to work with me in my various endeavors, I understand how people might think that about me. In America one of the most effective ways to discount or marginalize someone is to label him as a ladies man.”

“One of the core impediments to peace in the world is the subordination of women worldwide. In an attempt to overcome that, ninety-seven percent of the people who work with me are women. There are unlimited opportunities for women in all of my enterprises and endeavors. Since almost everyone who works for me does so as an independent contractor, I am able to avoid the employment laws in America regarding gender discrimination.”

“As a result of the fact that I have this focus on women working for me all over the world, there are situations in my life where I have the opportunity to become intimate with women with whom I am associated and who I meet in my work. I am a single man and I only connect personally with single women. Whether I am intimate with two women or twenty women is irrelevant to what I am doing in my various projects.”

“With regards to intimacy with women, I believe that the closest thing to a pure metaphysical experience a person can have in this reality is sexual intimacy. For me, no drug or alcohol or other artificial stimulant can create the euphoria associated with intimacy; where one can experience a little bit of heaven while being incarnate in a human body in this reality.”

“For me, sexual, emotional and loving intimacy is a sacred act. The experience is spiritual and natural.”

“I am against sexual relations when one of the partners is married to someone else and especially if there are children at home. That creates significant problems for the children. That is the only sexual sin if you will as far as I am concerned.”

“It is hard for me to consider sex as a sin in any form except of course I consider rape and child molestation to be an evil crime. I am speaking here of sexual acts where a man forces himself on a woman or where an adult has sexual contact of any kind with a child.”

“Homosexual relationships are also legitimate. I am not attracted to men in case you are wondering. From what I understand, homosexuality is associated with genetics and is not a learned lifestyle. I cannot condemn or judge behavior between consenting adults that harms no one else. I do not personally understand what it would be like to be attracted to another man. I do not understand alcoholism and drug addiction which I also understand to have a basis in ones genetic make up.”

“I think sex is the glue that binds marriages and takes them to a higher level. I think it is sad when married people are sexually mismatched such that one spouse has a high sex drive and the other one does not. Over time I think this mismatch destroys many relationships.”

“I do not tend to have casual sexual relationships. I tend to feel used in those situations. I need some kind of emotional connection to enhance the primal biological sexual desires that I have. I find casual sex (and by that I mean, one night stands) to be demeaning. I also have too much to do to spend time trying to pick up women and have sex with them as an end in itself.”

“Fortunately, almost all the sexual diseases can be avoided if one is cautious about who one has sex with and if one uses protective measures. I think it is wrong to expose another human being to a sexually transmitted disease without informing that person.”

“What about abortion, Dr. WorldPeace?” Brandon asked.

“I believe life is sacred and I believe that the soul attaches to the egg at the time of fertilization. I believe that it is wrong to abort a fetus. It is a tragedy if the conception could have been avoided by contraception.”

“If a man has no desire to have children, he should get a vasectomy. If a woman does not want to have any more children, she should have her tubes tied. Unwanted children are a tragedy. And I would say that people who vote against abortion should be required to vote for welfare. In other words, I do not believe that any antiabortion legislation should be put to a vote without an attached welfare provision to take care of all the unwanted children. And if it were possible, I would not allow anyone to vote on the abortion issue unless they signed a commitment that they would take these unwanted children in as their own to raise.”

“I would also have criminal penalties for women who refused to identify the fathers of their children and I would require all such fathers to pay child support or be incarcerated and sterilized by way of a vasectomy. I think this would pretty much put an end to all the unwanted children. It is a harsh measure but I am not willing to allow men who impregnate women to force their responsibility to support those children on me as a member of society without my consent. Pregnancy is too easy to avoid for these kinds of laws not to be supported. Dumping unwanted children onto society for a lifetime for a few moments of sexual ecstasy is simply too costly and if you think about it, outrageous behavior.”

“Adults who conceive and give birth to children must be held accountable for their procreation by being required to contribute at least financially to the support of the children they have brought into the world.”

“That being said, I would rather see an abortion, in the first trimester, than to bring an unwanted child into this world. I am absolutely against late term abortions. And late term begins when a child could survive outside the womb. It is too bad that we have to legislate issues like abortion but at their core people are primal and the urge to sexual intercourse is just too strong to overcome more often than not.”

“I have an active sex life even now and without the use of Viagra or other sexual stimulants. And I have several sexual companions. But I think there is no doubt that if I felt a need to have a constant flow of women in my life, it would hurt my credibility. What I mean is if I have a constant turnover of women in my life, no matter how deeply we were connected on any number of levels, people are going to discount my effort to increase the peace in the world human society and emphasize my sexual pursuits. Being intimate with a woman for me comes after a relationship has been established on something more significant than chemistry alone. That is why I advocate online dating where you get to know someone before the chemistry can hold.”

“For those that cannot understand loving more than one woman they are ignoring the reality that they can love more than one parent or more than one child. Love is not a mathematical matter. You do not give your father sixty percent of your love and your mother forty percent or further divide your love between your children and your parents. Love is not mathematical. Love is a yes or no. Certainly there are degrees of love when you compare your love for one person as opposed to another outside of blood connections. But being very simplistic, if you can love two or more children totally, you can love two or more women. And if we can love our children, we can love the children of others and not diminish the love we have for our own biological children one bit.”

“That is pretty radical, Dr. WorldPeace,” Brandon said.

“Yes this is a radical way of looking at love. It is a radical argument for loving more than one woman. It is a radical argument for loving everyone who is by nature someone’s child. But it is a valid truth. I want to make clear that I am not advocating bigamy or polygamy which are legal issues. I think for now we should not be able to legally marry more than one person because the whole legal system of family law would have to be changed to embrace it and deal with it. But that is a purely legal consideration. It is not a spiritual consideration. Spiritually we can love virtually everyone.”

“The subject of love between men and women is complicated; very complicated. But it is also very simple. And from that love, we can bridge over to love in the world and increasing the level of peace in the world human society.”

“I love the women I am intimate with,” I said.

“And lastly, I have nothing to say to people who try to use my liberal beliefs with regards to sexual relations to discount all the work that I do to try to increase the peace in the world human society.”

“Thank you, Dr. WorldPeace. What is your global position on the law?” Bill asked.

“There are three areas in the human society that affect peace; the law, politics and religion. Each of those areas of the human society has a mandate to increase the peace. Yet all these entities are run by human beings and so even though they do manifest some degree of peace, they also create chaos and conflict due to their elitist, exclusionary philosophies, doctrines, dogmas, morals and ethics.”

“These are the three of the five areas that I have focused my WorldPeace Advocacy on. The other two are racism and the subordination of women.”

“Racism and gender bias is not founded upon a bureaucratic organization like the other three. Gender bias is just a tragic reality of contemporary human society that subordinates women for no reason other than the fact that they are women. When woman have true equality in the world human population, the level of peace in the world human society will dramatically and immediately increase.”

“As you know, I have a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Houston and I practiced law for almost twenty years. The criminal and family laws are totally corrupt. The police lie like every other witness. The legal maxim is that ‘all witnesses lie’. Yet juries believe that police testimony is always true. No defendant could win in a swearing match with a cop. Defense attorneys are appointed by judges to move cases. Representation for indigent people accused of a crime is a formality without substance. Judges are elected on law and order platforms and so the accused have no real rights. Ruling contrary to prosecutors will leak out to the judge’s constituencies that the judge is soft on crime. The presumption of innocence is a fiction. Someone complains, cops arrest, grand juries indict and prosecutors prosecute. When a defendant enters the court room, he or she has already had four layers of the criminal justice system agree that he or she appears guilty enough to be tried.”

“Justice, when there is any, is purchased at a very high price from lawyers that contributed to the campaign funds of the judges who they practice before. When two lawyers stand before a judge, the one who contributed to the judge’s campaign has a huge advantage over the other attorney who contributed little or nothing. This is not rocket science. It is the way of society. I believe it is the way justice works in all political systems from capitalism to communism.”

“The grand jury system is a joke. It is a one sided presentation by some ambitious prosecutor who either gets convictions or is fired. The grand jury is a human rubber stamp.”

“The family law is a conflict oriented, greed driven system that destroys families and thrives off of broken love. The same problem exists in regards to family justice being skewed by campaign contributions as in every other area of the law where judges are elected.”

“The law is as corrupt in the American judicial system as it is in every other judicial system in every other nation. Money and power is the source of injustice in the judicial system. I tell people what Jesus told people two thousand years ago to ‘stay out of the courts if you do not want to go to jail or lose all your money’. It has made me wonder sometimes if Jesus had not practiced law. Just kidding.”

“Judges are gatekeepers on procedural rules and evidence that controls every legal case that comes to trial. Judges are influenced by financial connections with the lawyers who practice before them. There is collusion between judges and prosecutors. And all the officers of the court are human beings who more often than not render judgments that reflect their bias as opposed to applying the law.”

“Sometimes, I have felt it would be better to go back to the old Biblical way of deciding guilt and innocence by casting lots. But even then someone would find a way to manipulate the outcome. Look at the trial of Jesus and learn a lesson. You can never have true justice because human beings will always find a way to manipulate the system; human beings with money that is and those who want to accept their money for corrupting the law and skewing the facts in every single trial.”

“I wrote my books on all of this. I have no doubt that I will be attacked by those in power for what I have written. It is too much truth to allow the public to consider these things and question the authority of those in power.”

“All through my WorldPeace Advocacy I have had to tone down my rhetoric in order to reduce the potential danger to my life. A peace advocate is just a crackpot liberal until he or she begins to affect the income and/or power of some powerful individual or a cohesive and organized group of those who truly run society.”

“Judges and attorneys are a constant and ever present impediment to peace in the world human society.”

“We must remain ever vigilant to foster and maintain justice in society. Justice is the goddess of secular society. I always loved the law and I loved to read cases but I at the same time hated the corrupt judges and greedy lawyers who run the system and intentionally, knowingly and maliciously skew the law.”

“Sounds like you have a pretty big ax to grind against judges and attorneys,” Brandon said.

“Let me say that I am passionate about the lack of justice in the world human society. The legal system is to secular society what the religious bureaucracies are to sectarian society.”

“What about politics?” Brandon asked.

“Politics in America is very simple. A politician gathers together a constituency that is numerous enough to get him the most votes and win the election. These people support his agenda by giving him money and they modify his agenda by giving him money; money to run commercials and skew the truth to the majority of the people in society. The politician is then obligated to the people who supported him with their money. He is obligated to advocate their needs even if their needs are contrary to increasing the peace and justice in the world human society.”

“So for instance if a politician creates a constituency based on his pledge not to increase property taxes and then the tax issue comes up in the legislature to raise property taxes to fund education, the politician votes against the tax increase. So the higher good to society as a whole for a better educated populace is skewed in favor of those who want no increase in their property taxes for any reason.”

“A politician cannot be re-elected by betraying his constituency on the most important issues even if it is for the greater good of society as a whole.”

“So money decides the majority of issues before the legislature; not what is just and fair no matter how obvious.”

“Until money is removed from the election process, there will be unjust laws based not on the will and intention of the majority of the populace but on the group with the greatest political war chest.”

“The whole world human society is about power. Those who work hard to increase their wealth expect to be able to use that wealth to control the political environment in which they operate. And by controlling the economic environment, they make more money or at least do not lose it.”

“Pollution control is another example of political corruption. Polluters pay big money to stop the passage of pollution control legislation that would result in decreased profits for their businesses. So the general population suffers with polluted water and air in order for the polluters to maintain their profits. Making profits is too often not in sync with the overall good of society.”

“But do not forget that it is human beings who own stock in these corporations. So if I own stock in Exxon, then I want bigger dividends and growth of my equity and so I contribute to politicians who will not pass legislation that is going to devalue my investment in my Exxon stock.

“It is not fair, it is not just, but it is the way of all political systems.”

“Wow,” Brandon said. “You have a way of taking complex issues and reducing them to very simplistic models. Not to mention putting a very liberal and cynical spin on them.”

“Thank you, I think,” I replied.

“So the last of the issues I will ask you about is religion,” said Brandon.

“Religion is sort of like politics and the law. I have three major peace issues related to religion.”

“First, you have to realize that God, religion and spirituality are not the same thing. Spirituality is a one on one relationship with God and not with self-proclaimed intermediaries of God: priests, preachers and so on. Religion is corporate. It is a man made bureaucracy.”

“The problem is that the prime directive of all religious bureaucracies is to first preserve the bureaucracy and then to spread the message of the founding prophet, messiah, avatar, Iman, etc. So when the preservation of the bureaucracy is in jeopardy because it is doing something contrary to the founder’s message, the message of the founder is skewed.”

“An example of this is the Catholic Church in Hitler’s Germany. The message of Jesus was to preserve life and stop the holocaust. But to challenge the Nazi’s treatment of the Jews would put the Catholic Church at cross purposes with Hitler. So the Catholic Church turned its back on the Jews.”

“The second problem internally with bureaucratic religion is the lack of accountability. If the preacher is stealing money and a member wants to see the books as my mother did at Heights Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas, the church where she had been a member and at times an elder for over sixty-two years, she was removed from membership. The church relied on the teachings of the Apostle Paul that says that members who challenge the leadership should be removed from the community. This means the church is man oriented and not God oriented. Preachers say it is God’s church but if it were truly God’s church, once you became a member by professing your belief in God, God would not remove you from His church under any circumstance. But church bureaucrats will remove you from their church.”

“A third problem with religion is more fundamental. Religion is elitist and exclusionary. It is an ‘us verses them’ mentality. You are with us or you are against us is what religion is all about. We have the truth. And if we have the truth and you do not believe what we believe, then you are not one of God’s chosen. And the last step is that if you are not one of God’s chosen it is OK for us to abuse and even kill you because you have no real value due to you lack of belief in our religion.”

“Religious bureaucracies support the politicians who will protect them and look out for them. So there is a marriage between bureaucratic religion and secular politics and also with the judicial system where judges are elected by members of congregations.”

“Consider big issues like slavery in America and genocide of the Native Americans carried out by Christians and patriotic Americans under a very liberal Constitution where all men are declared equal.”

“OK, so why is there no peace? What is the core reason?” Brandon asked.

“The core reason there is no peace is because of change. Everything that manifests into this reality out of the Infinite Potential (God) in time disintegrates back into that Infinite Oneness. So as humans die and as humans are born there is a constant reshuffling of the power structure and that leaves society in a constant state of chaos and disharmony. Nothing is stable for very long because everything changes. There can never be a perfect peace with all this change going on all the time. Everything in this reality changes; some things faster than others. We can increase the peace by minimizing the effects of change but we cannot create a perfect peace.”

“If you want to see perfect peace, go to a sculpture garden of human statues. Every human like sculpture is frozen in stone or bronze and therefore, since there is no interaction, all the statues exists in perfect peace.”

“And if you think about it, there is no peace in heaven either. The Bible is clear that the Archangel Satan fought with the Archangel Michael. Fundamentalist Christians believe in a peaceful heaven despite the fact that their Bible contradicts their belief that God originally created a perfect heaven.”

“The metaphysical reality is ‘As above, so below’,” I said. “If you want to know how spiritual beings behave in heaven, look around at the world human society. Don’t human beings when making war on aborigines try to impose their reality on the natives? Soul’s enter heaven and bring with them all their memories of life on earth and then incarnate on earth with their memories of heaven. And I use heaven here to include both heaven and hell. The truth is often paradoxical.”

“Dr. WorldPeace, you have thrown out more in the last hour than I will be able to process for years to come if not for the rest of my life. Do you have any closing remarks?” Brandon asked.

“Yes. Until we begin to see and treat each other first as human beings and second as of a certain color, religion, nationality or gender, the level of peace in the world human society will remain the same. As long as we join groups and by so doing adopt elitist and exclusionary mindsets and philosophies, we will be impediments to increasing the peace in the world human society. WorldPeace is based on a foundation of democratic inclusiveness.”

“In addition, until we become spiritual first and religionists second, we are going to have a hard time connecting with God and our infinite immortal spiritual soul.”

“The goal of the world human society is to increase the peace; not to create a perfect peace on earth which is unobtainable. We can make things better. Increasing the peace in the world human society is achievable.”

“Brandon, it was a pleasure. Thank you for having me. Thank you for the kind words,” I said.

“God bless you John WorldPeace and the best to you and your WorldPeace Advocacy,” Brandon said as he reached out and shook my hand.

TWENTY-SIX

Life was pretty calm and stable during the weeks after I returned from New York. I worked on sorting through all the things that were packed when the house in the Heights sold during the time I was in jail. I wanted to organize all my old client files before I started back to work. I was also looking for a very smart and driven female to work with me in the web design business.

I talked to Cathy and Francois every day and every night. Linda and Rose or both would come over and spend the night with me. I was really enjoying the peace. We went to the movies a couple of times a week and went on short road trips on the weekends.

I called Harper and set up an appointment for May 19th, in New York. Also, Harper told me that I would need to come to New York every week to ten days until we solidified a deal and a marketing plan. I was concerned that the Feds had screwed up my book deal or had tried to modify it in some way.

Marshall and I had not talked about our visit with the CIA and FBI directors. We decided not to discuss it until we got a call for another meeting. We also felt nothing would happen until the book deal was finalized. We felt the Feds were doing major background checks on me. They were nervous about doing business with someone as independent and as radical as I am.

TWENTY-SEVEN

It was 1000 in New York when I entered the offices of Harper Collins. This was the home office and the hub of all their publishing subsidiaries. It was a typical big corporate office located in a sixty plus story building in the center of one of the most populous cities in America.

Back in 1987, I had seen a vision of a painting that was nothing but fire on top and water on the bottom. I normally would have recorded the vision in my sketchbook or begun to paint the vision. But it was such a simple painting I did nothing. I had the same dream seven times before I came to the conclusion that it was meaningful and began to paint it. I then put it aside.

In 1993, I was working on my Book of Peace. It was only sixty-five pages so I submitted it in chap form to Harper Collins along with a query letter. About a month later, I received a box of books and other information from the CEO of Harper Collins San Francisco. On the outside of the box was their fire and water logo. The logo was very simple but the colors were the same as my painting and there was no doubt that my painting was a rendition of that logo.

I was sure the book would be published. Kay and I were living in Broomfield, Colorado at the time. We had spent a lot of time in meditation about the book.

As it turned out, one of the VP’s at the San Francisco office vetoed the project claiming that peace does not sell. This was a time when the first Iraq war was going on in the sense the we were still flying missions. I was upset and sent a mildly angry letter to my patron at Harper who wrote back in a kind manner apologizing but supported the decision process.

When I began to write The WorldPeace Advocacy in prison in 2008, I realized that my timing was wrong in 1993. I had to live another fifteen years as a peace advocate before I could write a book on peace that would sell. The time was right in 2009 because there was an ongoing second Iraq war and an ongoing war in Afghanistan. And in addition, after seven years of two wars begun by the infamous George W. Bush, Barak Obama, an African American, was elected as president of the United States.

So I was not surprised when I submitted the new books to Harper Collins and they wanted to talk to me about publishing them.

I was sad because Kay and I had seen very clear visions of negotiating with Harper Collins in New York and I was entering their home office alone. I had tried to get Kay to come with me but we had been separated for over two years and she just did not want to come with me. Even though we had no future, I still wanted her to be a part of it all. I thought maybe she would change her mind later. I was a bit upset because she was always good luck for me. I just wanted her to see our visions regarding my books become reality.

As I entered the corporate suite, the receptionist took my name and invited me to have a seat. I declined anything to drink.

In just a few minutes Bill Carlson, CEO came out and greeted me.

“Hello Dr. WorldPeace, I am Bill Carlson,” he said.

I extended my hand and said, ”Nice to meet you.”

“We are gathering executives together now in our main conference room so follow me,” he said with a pleasant smile.

I could tell he did not expect John WorldPeace to appear in a business suit. This was so typical. Businessmen always assume I will appear in hippie clothing with a ponytail instead of a business suit and a shaved head.

After entering the conference room, I asked for a diet coke and took a few cookies from the open tray on the bar. I smiled that I had no problem making myself at home.

“So give me the two sentence version of what we are tying to accomplish today,” I requested of Bill.

“Can I call you John,” Bill asked.

“I would prefer WorldPeace. But it is up to you. Some people feel most comfortable with John,” I replied.

“For now I prefer John,” he said.

“Essentially John we want the books but they are so unique we don’t know how to market them in the sense that most often a person writes a best seller and then the sequels after we prove there is a market. You have written several sequels as well as the first novel. It is good for us because we see the whole package up front. We can see where you are going with future novels. Also, we don’t have to be concerned about you meeting deadlines with sequels that are already written. The problem is that we feel we have to commit to the whole package with no track record. There are other issues but that is the main one,” he said.

“I see,” I said.

Five other people entered the conference room and Bill introduced them all; Jeane Cross, new acquisitions, Harry Delacroix, world markets, James Oldham, Religion and Philosophy and New Age VP, Sally Herald US Marketing, and Sam Gottlieb and Dana Aaron, readers.

Everyone was cordial and moved to the drinks and pastry bar to make their selections and then sat down at the large oak conference table that would seat about twenty-five.

Bill sat at the head of the table and I sat to his left so I could better hear everyone. I had a hearing aid in my left hear but it was new and I was not quite comfortable with it yet.

Bill said that he had just related to me that we were here to try to work out a deal. He related that I had practiced law and I wanted to have the initial discussions without a lawyer present. Everyone had read some or all of my books and since the first book in my WorldPeace Advocacy series, my autobiography, had essentially related everything about me in my own words, they already had a good feel for who I am. Now they were going to see how the flesh and blood human being matched up with the autobiographical first volume.

“I am going to let John open this meeting. I feel certain he can clearly articulate his position. He has been a salesman most of his life and I think we can best learn about his agenda directly from him,” Bill said.

“Thank you Bill. Ladies and gentleman,” I began, “I have written what I consider to be a very unique set of books. The first volume is an autobiography of a nobody named John WorldPeace, a self appointed global advocate for peace. That nobody has lived a unique dynamic and enigmatic life. I feel I have written a good series of books that could be looked at as an epic story. I think that what is going to impact over and over on the reader when they are reading my novels is: ‘Hey this is the potential future of a real guy we are reading about’”.

“The second book is an extension of my autobiography. It is a prison journal for the year 2008 when I was in prison wrongly accused of resisting arrest and knocking down and kicking a Deputy U S Marshall. The third and subsequent books are novels that essentially project the future of John WorldPeace over the next forty years or as long as I live.”

“I have completed the first two novels and intend to write three to four more each year. I will also periodically update my autobiography. I think it will be interesting to the people over time to compare how the John WorldPeace in the novels compared to the real John WorldPeace. As I said, I think the whole series of books could be viewed as an ongoing and developing epic.”

“Of interest is that I am going to write the last book in the series to be published after my actual death or when I decide to quit writing if that were to happen. I will update that final novel each year to make it as current as possible in the event of my demise. Only my son will have the manuscript.”

“What is interesting is that I will not be able to reveal everything in these biographical sequels for this reason. If I am in real life working on something that is highly sensitive or politically volatile or involves people who want to remain under the radar, I will only be able to write the sanitized and edited version. Otherwise it will affect my efforts to get things done in the real world because people who are involved in my projects will worry about how I am going to publicized it, even if vaguely disguised as fiction. There will also be written for a later publication, as in after my death, a supplement to each sequel that will essentially give all the factual details of those kinds of events. So, maybe twenty years later, these supplements begin to be published.”

“In other words, you will have to outlive me to find out ‘the rest of the story’ as the commentator Paul Harvey used to say,” I said smiling.

Everyone in the room seemed stunned; just as I thought they would be. They had not considered the fact that there would be ongoing fictional novels and autobiographical sequels. And each subsequent book should revive interest in the primary epic. It was like I had significantly expanded everyone’s initial concept of the project.

“So ladies and gentlemen, I am offering you a project like no other. It is unique. It has a worldwide potential because the issues, topics, storylines are global. The epic will continue to expand as long as I live. And through my efforts to increase the peace in the world human society, each day should bring a significant increase in sales. Everywhere I go, everything I do, will directly or collaterally promote my books. It will all feed upon itself. The books will increase my WorldPeace endeavors and my WorldPeace endeavors will increase book sales for the rest of my life.”

Bill could no longer contain himself and got up and paced a bit behind his chair. No one spoke.

“John I have never, as in ever, been presented with something this big. The potential here is off the charts. And your ability to manipulate the market by integrating the novels into everything you do regarding peace and WorldPeace is quite frankly mind boggling.”

I interrupted, “Then consider what would happen after five or ten years of my pursuing my agenda and promoting the books if I was to win the Nobel Peace Prize. The book sales should go ballistic in the worldwide market. And due to its uniqueness, my epic may win some literary prizes as well.”

Everyone was quiet. Everyone’s mind was moving at lightening speed. I smiled hoping that no one’s head would explode.

“I believe the long run potential for this project is in the billions of dollars and the chance to make a real and positive impact on the world human society is significant. I have written enough about peace to give people a vision. And they hopefully will take what I have written and modify and expand on it and apply it locally, if not globally. The result should be an increase in the peace in the world human society; which is my only true objective.”

“However, keep this in mind, I will never stop promoting WorldPeace as long as I am alive. Maybe my books will become a sort of handbook for peace. And I might mention that each year I can discuss why my initial vision of how to do something did not and could not work. So I am constantly tweaking the initial vision. People will get involved. Maybe one day we will reach a critical mass and the world human society might just take a giant leap forward that will help us cope with the exponential growth of technical knowledge and other social dynamics of the twenty-first century.”

“Through the internet, the world is becoming more and more dynamically integrated and interactive. So the method of dissemination of my ideas quickly, already exists and is expanding. As I said, I believe the potential here is almost infinite financially speaking.”

“Jesus!” is all Bill could say as he sat down.

“John, I would have never imagined that you have such a dynamic vision. I believe you can motivate the world John. You need a platform, a grand soapbox, and you will be able to make things happen. You have made a “true believer” out of me. WorldPeace is a possible dream. The possibility of increasing the peace, I believe that now.”

“Jesus!” he said again.

“This is what I want to do,” Bill said. “John, I would ask you to excuse us for about thirty minutes, maybe an hour. We need to talk before we proceed with this meeting. The things that you have just said require that we seriously re-evaluate this project.”

Bill called in one of his assistants.

“Mary, will you take John on a tour of our offices. We are going to have a meeting while you do that. If we finish sooner, I will buzz you.”

“Yes, sir,” she responded professionally.

“If you would follow me Dr. WorldPeace, by the way, I am Mary,” she said with a pleasant smile.

“I am sorry John. I should have introduced you to Mary,” Bill said. “My mind is on fire right now.”

I followed Mary out of the conference room and closed the door. We then made a stop at her desk where she picked up a beeper and she then proceeded with the tour.

TWENTY-EIGHT

In about forty minutes, Bill buzzed Mary and she returned me to the conference room. The tour showed me a typical big corporate office; a maze of offices filled with a large team of people with a common corporate vision. Everyone was nice and well dressed and busy. ‘Very structured’, I thought.

Mary opened the conference room door and I entered and returned to my seat after helping myself to another diet coke and some more cookies. For some reason my unembarrassed grazing made me smile to myself.

“John, you have really stunned all of us with your presentation. We are all impressed with the flesh and blood WorldPeace. Most of us have read upwards of twenty percent of your books but no one read them as closely as we should have for this meeting. However, we all read different parts and after our discussion, we have a better appreciation for what you have done. It is a massive work. But what we realized for the first time is that you intend to make the novels book a reality. At least the positive parts,” Bill said.

“You did not write a novel John. We now realize that you wrote a template for increasing the peace. We did not realize you had put the whole world on notice as to your agenda. And you have given everyone the details of your plan. You are going to write novels about things you actually intend to make happen. You are going to package your agenda in an ongoing series of contemporary novels. That is just unbelievable. ”

“We have read your books as traditional novels. You have and intend to continue to actuate that novel, to make it real; to adjust the parts of your WorldPeace Advocacy that you find do not work. And you are going to write supplements that are going to be non-fiction. This means that there is a dynamic to your epic novel that has never existed before in any literary work; a fiction and nonfiction component.”

“By integrating your life into the fulfillment of the novel you have created an unparalleled dimension to literature. And we believed there are additional subtle messages and objectives that we have not yet recognized.”

“If I might interrupt,” I said.

“Many things in the book just hint at a deeper and more dynamic reality of the subjects. The CIA/FBI are not fiction for effect. They are real. I am advocating global social change. And governments all over the world want to make sure that what I am advocating is not destabilizing to not only their countries but also not destabilizing the global environment that may indirectly and collaterally affect their countries. There is also concern about the fact that I may have an unstated agenda; that the story lines in the books seem so obvious that people do not pick up on the critical undercurrents regarding peace on all levels within the world human society.”

“There is also concern about what I know but have not only not written but have not revealed to anyone. If the next ten years parallel the novel, then there is going to be concern that the following thirty years will also parallel the novels. And if any of the events related in the first ten books actually happen, there is going to be an assumption that I am psychic. And what could be worse than an intellectual psychic with a practical approach to the world; especially one who is user friendly and who has the ability to communicate clearly his plan for increasing the peace.”

“There is concern that I will become the antichrist disguised as a messiah. So you can bet that I will be closely watched. And you would be kidding yourself if you ignored the possibility of attempts on my life.”

“But life goes on. I do not worry about those things. But I do not ignore their potential reality either.”

“I just have to be very careful as to what I say. Mostly I have to take care not to move too fast in pushing for positive change in the world human society.”

“Someone will publish what I have written. I hope it is Harper Collins. But I may have to go to France for a publisher. And I think you now realize that the potential sales globally are almost unlimited.”

“I am trying to do something that has never been done. In fact, could not have been achieved without the Internet. I feel I have done my homework. I have spent my whole life preparing myself for this mission. And this is a unique time in history where what I am doing can be accepted and then gain momentum.”

“I believe I am the man and this is the time in history for what I have to say. I believe there is a real opportunity to transform and uplift the world human society.”

“There is a book called the ‘Holographic Universe’ that says that it takes ten billion atoms to make a cell and ten billion cells to make a human brain. Ladies and gentlemen we are in the process of connecting eight billion human beings through the internet. It will take only one thousandth of one percent of those eight billion humans to connect and thereby reach a critical mass that will then transform society; uplift it to a more sane and harmonious reality.”

“I have a template and a vision for increasing the peace in the world. Now I need a publisher that can publish and distribute my ideas worldwide. That is why I sought you out.”

“I believe based in the fact that I dreamed your logo in 1987 over and over but did not realized it until 1993, is a strong affirmation that Harper Collins is to be the publisher. It would not surprise me if this matter seemed familiar to some of you; déjà vu maybe. I don’t know.”

“What I do know is that I am ready to go to work. I know I need a partner. What do you say? Are you ready to try to change the world?”

No one said anything for several minutes.

Bill broke the silence. “John, I had a list of questions scribbled down in shorthand that we wanted to ask you. You have specifically answered all of them. It is like you already knew about the items on the list. But no one left the room after I entered and you had no way of knowing what I was thinking.”

“Bill, things like this happen to me all the time. I don’t question it,” I said.

“So what do we need to do next?” Bill asked.

“Bill let me suggest this. Here comes the businessman in me. You write me a check today for $50,000 for an option to publish The WorldPeace Advocacy. Over the next twenty-five days, you fly me back here every week or ten days for a question and answer session as you feel necessary. During that time you get the lawyers to draw up the contracts and decide what this project could be worth to you.”

“There is one absolute that must be in the contract. If you let any of the books go out of print, all publishing rights to that book revert to me. The rest of the contracts will probably be standard boiler plate in legal parlance.”

“At or before the end of the option contract, you hand me a prepared contract. We will then begin to hammer out the details and final modifications.”

“I am a very loyal person. This is my destiny we are discussing. I want one publisher. I want to give you the right of first refusal on each book. I do not want to have to waste any time over the coming years negotiating book contracts with different publishers. I am reasonable. And I also believe ‘that you dance with those who brung ya’. I pray this contract will be workable for the rest of my life.”

“Also, I am happy to take a smaller advance on the books with bigger royalties. I have some concerns about monitoring the sales. All the money will be used to promote WorldPeace. I have no interest in accumulating piles of money. I have no intention to leave anything to my children. They do no live in my world. All the profits I make will go toward peace projects. But I want as much money to go to those projects as possible.”

“Does anyone have any questions?” I asked.

“After a minute Harry Jones said, “Talk to us about the messiah and antichrist and people connecting you to these roles.”

“This is something I have had to deal with since I changed my name,” I said.

“The Christian messiah, Jesus, left this reality by rising into the clouds and it is said that he will return the same way. So I tell people I was born of a human mother on April 24, 1948, in Houston and not in Jerusalem. Therefore, I cannot be the messiah.”

“Incidentally there is a real question that is never discussed about the returning Jesus. Will he be Christian or Jewish in his orientation? Just something to think about.”

“As far as the antichrist, the fundamental Christian believe that the antichrist will unite all people in troubled times. Well troubled times usually mean war and the unity message will be peace. So these people believe that the antichrist will appear under a banner of peace and it is an easy step to wonder if some guy named John WorldPeace may be the antichrist.”

“The antichrist is supposed to unite people and eventually give them the mark ‘666’. If you read everything I have written since 1988, when I changed my name, you will see that I have never had an organization, disciples, followers or adherents. I have rejected all that. So I am not the antichrist.”

“And if you look a bit deeper into all of this, you will see I am somewhat anti-establishment. I encourage people to be more spiritual and less religious. Spirituality is a direct relationship to God without a corporate religious bureaucratic filter. I encourage people to participate in the religion they have adopted but only secondarily to pursuing their spirituality.”

“Spirituality emphasizes that we are each children of one God. Religion is man made and is elitist and exclusionary. You cannot be Muslim and Christian both. You must be one or the other. So religion is divisive and contrary to WorldPeace. Further, a Christian/Muslim/Jewish/Buddhist peace will never manifest WorldPeace. A Christian peace would require the entire human population to be Christian.”

“So you see, again, I do not fit the antichrist profile from the Book of Revelation. Anyone who identifies himself as the messiah is looking to die a martyr’s death. Consider what happened to David Koresh.”

“Dr. WorldPeace, many people say there will be no peace until Jesus returns. How do you respond to that?” David Ashton asked.

“Jesus has his agenda and I have mine. And mine does not conflict with his.”

“My message is that we can increase the level of peace in the world human society. Consider if each person each day refused to engage in just one argument with another human being. And realize when anyone argues with anyone else it has a ripple effect through the entire world human population. When I greet people while having a bad attitude because I have been arguing, I pass on my negativity. So conflict, every conflict, ripples through the entire world human society. So by avoiding that one argument each day, consider how much more peaceful the world human society will become; immediately.”

“So we can increase the peace. It is a copout to say there is no point in trying to increase the peace until Jesus comes. Rejecting the idea of WorldPeace is a copout. And if you apply the ‘What would Jesus do concept’, I think you will find that he would encourage peace. In fact, he said, “love your neighbor.” The backside of that is ‘Do not be disagreeable when disagreeing.’”

“So when I am told peace is not possible without the Second Coming of Jesus, I emphasize the idea of increasing the peace and say that this is my message, ‘to increase the peace while we wait for Jesus’”.

“You know I have been seeking the answer as to why we are here and how can we be more peaceful all my life. In 1988, I changed my name and more clearly defined my mission or destiny if you will. In the last two decades, I have had many discussions; many through the internet. I have tried to come up with a coherent message for peace. I do love questions. Questions challenge my philosophy. My answers must be in harmony with my philosophy or I have to adjust my philosophy. I have been doing this for so long that I doubt that there are many questions that I have not been asked. So my philosophy is pretty tight and coherent. Almost everything I have to say and the foundation of what I say and the logic of how I arrived at my philosophy are in my books. I really do not think you have any questions that are not covered in my books.”

“I think it is also important, even though it may not be readily obvious, that my books are actually an open conversation. They are an invitation to talk about peace. I have not written an addition to the Ten Commandments. My philosophy is fluid and hopefully a beginning of a more sane society. It is hopefully an ongoing discussion that will survive my death. If we are to maintain our present level of peace or any increased level of peace we attain in the future, we will have to be vigilant.”

“I really only have one message and it is one word, ‘WorldPeace’. Everything else is just commentary on that one word,” I said.

“Dr. WorldPeace, what do you think about other religions,” Betty Sanchez asked.

“In 1993, I began to interpret all the primary religious texts of the world’s major religions for my own understanding. I recognized that about five and a half billion human beings do not buy into Christianity. And some of those religions have been around a lot longer than Christianity. So I took about seven translations of the most sacred text of each religion and went line by line reinterpreting them with a common glossary; like referring to God as the Infinite Potential. That effort is eighty percent finished and should be published as collateral to The WorldPeace Advocacy.”

“What I realized is that if you understand all the religions, then you will have a more complete and integrated concept of God.”

“Again, I am no religious scholar, but I am someone who has studied religion all my life. I like to refer people to the Book of Job when they ask about other religions. When Job asks God why the good suffer and the bad people prosper, God refused to answer. He just asked Job who Job was to question God.”

“So I am hesitant to ask why God allows all the various religions. I tend not to believe that God allows false religions and then punishes their advocates. That would be a sadistic God and I believe God is about love.”

“You see the problem again with religion is that religions preach that the other religions are false. And that exclusionary elitist mentality causes religious wars and supports and bolsters political wars.”

“Religion is a divisive, conflict generating organization. Religions bring inner peace but they tend to also bring conflict between religions and even denominations. That is why I believe the foundation of WorldPeace lies in spirituality and not in religion. Spirituality is a one on one relationship with God. Religions are corporate bureaucracies that insert themselves between human beings and God.”

“Dr. WorldPeace, I am impressed that you have ready answers to all questions put to you. To me that shows you have spent a lot of time considering these matters,” said Bill.

“That is true Bill,” I said, “and I have ignored Christian propaganda that all other religions are misinformed. I have looked into the other religions in order to form a workable spirituality for myself. I am not a scholar simply being curious. Once a religious scholar finishes his work, he does not make suggestions on what to embrace. I do. I say this makes sense and this does not. I say this is classical and archaic and does not apply to contemporary society. The equality of the genders, women’s equality is one such issue. The Jews, Muslims and Christians all advocate the subordination of women. Secular society is moving to empower women. A religion like the Catholic bureaucracy that continues to hold onto a male chauvinist doctrine and dogma may well cease to exist because of such teachings. Also, doctrines encouraging unrestricted child birth in an overpopulated world is in my opinion a criminal position.”

“Does anyone else have any questions?” Bill asked.

No one responded.

“Do you want to say anything else John?” Bill asked me.

“No not now. Thank you everyone for your consideration,” I said.

“John I need to meet with everyone again out of your presence. It should take less than a half an hour and then I would like to take you to lunch,” Bill said.

“That is fine,” I responded.

TWENTY-NINE

Mary appeared and ushered me out and took me to another small conference room with a TV and refreshments. She then told me she was just down the hall if I needed anything. All I had to do was to push number eight on the intercom.

I thanked her and proceeded to make myself a cup of coffee. In about twenty minutes, Bill came by and we went to lunch at a nice restaurant within walking distance. He had a table reserved so there was no waiting. We sat down and I ordered iced tea and had the fish special of the day.

“John this has been a very interesting morning. We have never had this set of circumstances before. Nothing comes close. We want to go forward,” he said.

“That is good,” I said.

“John your friends in Washington came to talk to me yesterday,” he continued.

“OK,” I said.

“John these guys are very paranoid about you and I can see why after this morning’s meeting. You are a very intelligent, driven fellow who has an incredibly positive and I think practical vision. I think your friends are concerned that you will become so popular that you will be able to make things happen politically around the world that are not always going to be in the best interest of the USA. And let me say John, this conversation should not go beyond this table.”

“Agreed,” I said.

“We told them that we are most probably going to publish you John because if we don’t someone else will and if no one does, you will self publish. I told them your vision was going to be disseminated one way or the other and we feel we can make a lot of money and so we want on board with your WorldPeace Advocacy by way of publishing your books,” he said.

“Do you see yourself becoming a major pain for the Feds?” Bill asked.

“I already told these guys I would play ball. But I told them that everything they wanted would have a price tag; either money or legislation, intelligence, trade offs on various issues or something else of value to me. I want to see relations between Cuba and the United States normalized. I think it is in the best interest of the United States. But I will forego that issue if they do some things for me,” I said.

“The problem they have is that they can keep me out of Cuba but they cannot stop me from attending an event in a Third World country where Cuba also attends. Say for instance in China or Russia.”

“But you have to realize that if we can find a working relationship, then I can be their number one asset in the world. The problem is that there are many interests in these world political environments and my peril may be from an unidentified third party player who may or may not have been identified.”

“My job is to tread lightly in the beginning and create some kind of working relationship with the Feds. The biggest problem I have is the challenge of dealing with new people every four or eight years. I will pursue my WorldPeace Advocacy for the rest of my life, they will be in power for only short periods.”

“What is interesting to me, is that I have written everything in my books. I am a very open person. My agenda is about to become a very public open book. But these guys are paranoid. This may sound stupid but they fear someone having more power than the president. That is the core problem. And if I can put together a coalition of peace groups around the world, I will be able to confront any world leader I chose. But that is where I can put my life in jeopardy and I have no interest in becoming a martyr. I want to live long and prosper,” I smiled.

“John you have a great epic story and what is so unbelievable is that the epic is real and contemporary. It is unique and uplifting and full of hope even though there is some edgy things in your philosophy. You do not come off as an anarchist. What you have written is a vision that you intend to make a reality. It is a very peaceful vision. The paradox is that it puts you in harms way. And what we here at Harper Collins have realized is that you have no fear. Yet you are not careless or suicidal either.”

“You know John, you might just pull off a significant portion of your WorldPeace agenda. You might just take this crazy world and inject a little sanity into it,” Bill said.

“As I said Bill, I have no death wish. The trick will be for me to negotiate the obstacle course and emerge victorious at age one hundred alive and well. It is a forty year long road to one hundred. I am determined to make the journey. So is Harper Collins in or out or on the fence?” I asked.

Bill reached into his jacket and pulled out an envelope. Inside was a check made out to me for $50,000 and an option contract on one page for thirty days to give Harper more time to consider going forward with the books.

“So you guys want to ride the WorldPeace rocket?” I asked.

“I do not know what we want yet except to be a part of your vision in some way. Now we have to grind out the numbers, check the law, design a marketing plan and deal with Washington. We are not intimidated by the Feds in case you were wondering,” he said.

I took out my pen and signed the option contract, kept my copy and the check. I handed the document back to Bill and shook his hand.

“You know Bill there is a lot I did not write about, but nothing subversive. Nothing like what I am trying to do is going to happen without controversy. But controversy makes money as long as I do not push the edge of the envelope too hard or too fast. It is frustrating to me but society can only move so fast into new territory. I intend to make the distance run. And in my vision, I succeed.”

“According to the contract we will meet next week here. Who will be my liaison?” I asked.

“We are not sure yet but we will appoint someone within a few days. That is all I can tell you now,” he said.

“What does the unofficial company pipeline say?” I asked.

“Well John, most do not know what to say because the books are just too big a project; the ultimate epic. They all agree that you just might win a lot of literary acclaim because the concept is so unique. And one thing that you said that we all agree with: The book reads like fiction but the first part, the autobiography, is not. It is real. There is a real John WorldPeace. There is someone who created a vision for WorldPeace and wrote a handbook for action. The book puts you in a nether world between reality and fiction.”

“But you would not have written the things that you did if you did not feel you could achieve them. It becomes on one level the ultimate underdog story. I think it will make people cheer and maybe, maybe enough will join your vision to manifest a few miracles. Your idea of an annual non fiction update that parallels the fictional novels is brilliant,” he said.

“One thing we also believe is that you will not get caught up in drugs, alcoholism or sex scandals or into a giant ego trip. No one feels you will be side tracked by such things. Plus you are a work-a-holic. Strangely, my people already feel a vague sense of hope regarding a more peaceful world. And that is a very emotional place. Maybe we will all be crying as you cross the marker at one hundred years old. Not the finish line but the end of a very long beginning. You may become the world’s longest running story.”

“Like I told my second ex-wife,” I said, “I only promise not to bore you. I should have said I promise to love you always and I promise not to bore you second. I left off the first part. And she left at the nineteen year mark. She knew I loved her. But she wanted some boredom; some peace. She left with a part of me that will probably never be replaced or completely healed over.”

“I asked her to come with me here because we were together in 1993, when I made my first contact with your office in San Francisco. She declined. Maybe she will come next time now that I have the ball rolling,” I said.

“I would love to meet her,” Bill said thoughtfully.

THIRTY

The CIA/FBI contacted Marshall a few days after I saw Kay and wanted to meet again. I had a meeting set up with Harper about the book and told Marshall I wanted to see Harper first and then I would fly from New York to DC for the meetings with the Feds. I really did not know which meeting to take care of first. But I felt that Harpers would give me an idea of what the CIA/FBI intended to do about the book at our next meeting.

It all seemed sort of strange that I was meeting with one of the biggest publishers in the world and the heads of the CIA and FBI. Just a few months prior I had been in prison. Life is certainly strange.

I felt that the head of the NSA and the State Department would have to be involved along with the CIA/FBI in the next meeting. I thought that I would not bring that up but just see how the next meeting went.

I had not discussed anything with Marshall since the meeting in DC. Now that I had seen Kay and had time to think through the possible WorldPeace scenarios, it was time for Marshall and I to talk. I called Marshall and asked him if we could get together when I returned to Houston in a few hours. Although he said nothing explicit on the phone I felt that he wanted to talk as well. He was a more direct source of what the government wanted than the signals I would have to read coming indirectly from Bill and others at Harper Collins.

THIRTY-ONE

I met Marshall at Myle’s office. When he was not at the police station at work or studying for his Phd, he was in Myle’s Chiropractic office. He had with Myle what I never had with Kay or the Snake, a fully committed and driven business partner. In some ways, Myle was a bit more driven than Marshall. She was also politically driven. I was impressed with her vision and determination. She used the community of Vietnamese fully. Not in a manipulative way but in the sense of becoming someone who could deliver the vote. I always felt she was even more driven than me. Even though I ran for governor of Texas, it was more for the experience than a serious attempt to win. Like many things, I just engaged the campaign and waited to see what happened. I was not someone who would compromise the greater need of society for the special conflicting needs of interest groups. Politics is about constituencies and I was not willing to agree to vote a certain way jut to get elected; like no taxes no matter what the circumstances. In my ideal world, I would be elected because people expected me to do the right thing for everyone and not essentially push an unyielding and unjust platform in order to be elected.

I arrived at the office and Marshall met me out front. Myle was busy with patients. I thought I would see her later when we returned.

When we got into Marshall’s car, he motioned me to say nothing and he took a laptop from the back seat and began to run some software. He then motioned me to hold the laptop so he could watch for bugs in his car and at the same time watch the GPS devices.

He drove west of the city for about fifteen miles and turned onto a back road that eventually led to a secluded old farmhouse. The house and barn were uninhabitable.

Marshall motioned me to get out of the SUV as he took the laptop from me and another device from the back seat. He went to the back of the SUV and retrieved two nice lounge chairs that he handed to me. He walked to a place where we could not be easily seen from the ground or from the air. He extended some legs from the second device and turned it on. He put the laptop on the ground where he could watch the screen. Our chairs were side-by-side but facing opposite directions. This allowed us to get as close as possible.

“Dad just keep an eye out for anything going on behind me. Between us we can see 360 degrees while we talk,” he said.

These devices were given to him in DC to allow him and I to talk in privacy among other purposes. The devices were for jamming surveillance devices being used by others.

“OK, so what is going on?” I asked.

“You have all these Feds scared to death. They are paranoid about what they feel is your hidden agenda,” he said.

“You know Marshall, I have a web site and I have written books with my agenda in it. All tolled it consists of thousands of pages to date and will grow. It includes virtually all the scenarios. And they have a full explanation of my first sixty years on this planet in my autobiography,” I said.

“By the way, is this conversation between just you and me or are you broadcasting to them or recording for them?” I asked.

“This conversation is between you and me only. They know you will not be candid with me if you thought you were being recorded,” he said.

“You know Marshall, I guess the real question is if you are aware they are recording us. I believe these devices you have which I assume came from them are set up to broadcast. So I will be cautious about what I say always. You trust these people because you are one of them. I don’t. But I feel I can work with them. Actually it is the old saying about keeping your enemies close. These people are not my enemies but I don’t trust them so they will only be trusted with a large helping of paranoia on my part,” I said.

“ I know they are concerned about me because they cannot read my mind. They know I have no fear. They know I am psychic and creative to a degree that they can never anticipate what I am going to do,” I said.

“This is what I know. You cannot afford to use me and I cant afford to lie to you. You can believe what I tell you. Trust can be broken with the smallest lie. And like Humpty Dumpty, it can’t be put back together again,” I said.

“So what are they telling Harper?” I asked.

“There is nothing subversive or terroristic in your book,” he said. It is just a very liberal viewpoint. And you have no organization. You are not soliciting money. So for now you seem to be on that wide highway of free speech staying in the center of the road and off the shoulders,” he continued.

“So they are not going to interfere with Harper Colllins?” I asked.

“They have talked to Harper and Harper sees a pot of gold in publishing you. They like what you have written. It is unique and timely. It is a worthy goal. You are ambitious and full of energy, straightforward and sincere about your advocacy. They know you will remain active for the rest of your life promoting WorldPeace and so book sales should stay significant for potentially decades,” he said.

“The government, CIA/FBI/NSA and State Department and even the Department of Defense and Homeland Security feel you can help them with intelligence both here and abroad. They feel if you keep your message just left of center, everything will work out.”

“Look,” I said. “I want to promote peace. So I have to stay close to the center politically but always to the left of that center. But my expectation is that over time, slowly, I will move further to the left.”

“I am sure they have psychics and psychologists profiling me with every bit of new input they receive,” I said. “I am sure they have fun with my art and my haiku looking for subliminal messages.”

“So tell me Marshall, are you irritated about being their Seeing Eye dog? Are you stressed because they have drafted you into my world?” I asked.

“Not really,” he said. “I am making a lot of valuable contacts. I have access to people and places I would not have without this assignment. And this does not take a lot of my time,” he said.

“What does Myle say,” I asked.

“She views it as an opportunity,” he responded.

“Well the next big step is to get the books published. Once that is done, I will have a worldwide introduction and I should be able to get into see people with ease, unless they are disinclined to see me for some reason,” I said.

“But you see, the world leaders constantly change and so I may not have access this year to some heads of state, but I will have that access when those leaders are replaced,” I said.

“My immediate problem is to continue to sort through all my things that were packed and to prepare to restart the business. I am determined to go slow. I am determined to hire people who are driven and smart like me; ‘true believers’. I think that will make all the difference in my business. The Snake, Kay, Dave were just not up to the task. The drive was more lacking than skill.”

“You are going to have to be careful,” Marshall said. “There are a lot of people very nervous about you. I just don’t fully understand all the fear and anxiety,” he said.

“I think the fear is that they believe that I can pull it off. That John WorldPeace is about to gain a platform in the world arean and once that happens there will be no stopping or much controlling me. People from the bottom to the top of the social pyramid do not like to deal with someone that cannot be controlled. I think they recognize that I am different. They want to write me off as a burned out hippie. But I am not that and they know it.”

“They hoped that I used dope but I don’t. And I don’t smoke or drink and I am not obsessed with sexing women. Yes, I want a companion but I am not a ladies man. If I had to give up women completely to complete my WorldPeace mission, I would. I will do whatever it takes. Finding a companion is the toughest job I have. The Snake and Kay have destroyed almost all trust I had in myself to pick a companion. I now think I know what I am looking for. And right now I am connected to four women, two in the US and two in Paris. But that just sort of happened. I was not looking for a companion when I met any of them.”

“Anyway,” I continued, “back to the subject at hand. I do not want to take you from Myle; in the sense that you do not have the time to help her with her goals and dreams because of having to stay connect with me.”

“Did the Feds tell you it was your patriotic duty to work with them or it was your duty to keep me in line for my own safety?” I asked.

“A little of both,” he said, “ but not that intense.”

“It is not that intense because we are at the beginning of the WorldPeace Advocacy,” I said. “They have no idea what to expect. All they can see is me jacking with foreign policy and embarrassing the President. They are most concerned that I am moving forward too quickly and developing a large following that will become an organization. They have no one to compare me to.”

“That is good for Harpers because I will be controversial and consequently boost book sales but bad for the Feds because they cant predict my behavior. They can do away with me. A car accident and I am gone. My life can easily be extinguished. But after a time my death by any means will make me a martyr. I have no desire for that. I want to live to be one hundred plus but not as an old fool. I will not get off the game board. That is absolute. It all comes down to how I play the game. But no matter what they see, they will always be disturbed and anxious. They will always worry about what they don’t see. They will worry about who else is out there influencing me. You just tell them I am an American and even though I hate a lot of the corruption in America, I firmly believe that America is the hope of the future because America consists of a melting pot of all races, religions, and nations on the earth. My hatred right now is reserved for George W. Bush and his gang who want to destroy the U S Constitution.”

“So what else?” I asked. “We did not come out here with all this equipment for me to do all the talking.”

“Actually in what you have said, I realize you are aware of what is going on,” he said. “You already understand their position and their paranoia. I don’t think there is anything they wanted me to communicate to you that you are not already aware of. I guess the main thing they want is for you to just go slow. Don’t get too many variables going at once,” he said. “And they want you to keep them informed.”

“What about my Parisian buddies?” I asked.

“They are amazed at the significance of the contacts you have made. They did not say much to me. Mostly they wanted to train me in tactics to protect you and to stay in touch with them. They told me that they would discuss your French connection when we next meet. They did tell me that one of the people you are connected with is a very important asset of theirs,” he said.

“This is going to get very interesting, my son,” I said. “I am excited and I am going slow. In fact, I know the next few months, as I work through all the paperwork from my old life, are going to be for the most part peaceful. But when that is done and I launch full-blown back into my WorldPeace Advocacy, things will be increasingly tense and hectic for the rest of my life. So this is the calm before the storm,” I said.

“You know last year, June actually, I asked my cousin Doug if he wanted to join me in a worldwide travel excursion. In fact, I thought he might have made the first trip to Paris with me but he has some houses in progress of being built and could not make it. But I think when he closes out that project, he may join me. I will go to Florida and talk to him sometime soon. We will see. After the hell I have had from wives and children and parents, I am a bit paranoid about family. The problem is that I overlook the flaws in family. That is obvious. I knew how mercenary Dave was but I ignored it to my detriment. I though it would work out. He was a huge energy drain even before he quit,” I said.

“Anything else we need to discuss?” I asked.

“What did Kay say about the $5,000?” he asked.

“Same as always. No comment. She just politely refuses to talk to me. I don’t know what is going on with her. In so many ways, she is like the Snake but she never tried to destroy me. She is good and the Snake is evil. But neither, fully communicated with me. God only knows where I would be if I had met a Myle in my twenties. There are two women that I met as a younger man who may have come close. One was Debbie Andrews and one was Stacy Frietag. But I was not going to leave the marriage to the Snake and destroy your childhood. I could not destroy the family. I would have never left the Snake or Kay. But I feel everything is as it should be. My life has been what it was supposed to be.”

“The bottom line is that Dr. WorldPeace’s Big Adventure is about to begin in earnest,” I said.

“Just be careful about what you say and write and do,” Marshall said. “We will know more after we meet with the Feds in a few days.”

“I am going to Harper Collins first.” I said. “I thought about Kay going but today confirmed that I don’t want her to go. I have to completely let her go. I think for now on you will be the go between Kay and I. We have a few loose ends to tie up and over time I will give her money. But I will give it in such a way that it does not go to her kids. I don’t like them and suspect they encouraged Kay to leave me,” I said.

“We had a strained conversation today because Kay is so closed mouthed. You will never know how important she was to me in all areas for those nineteen years. But she was not destined to be with me for this phase of my life. Only time will reveal why,” I said.

“Let’s go. I would like to stop and get a hamburger if you have the time,” I said.

“I do,” Marshall replied.

We arrived back in the city about 2100 and I was home at 2200. Linda and Rose were waiting for me.

THIRTY-TWO

I entered the kitchen through the garage access and smelled the coffee and the wine. I decided to drink the coffee because I was too tired to stay awake if I drank the wine. Linda and Rose were setting at the table, lights off and a candle burning. They were both dressed very casually and were drinking wine but neither was tipsy. I realized I was about to have another reality check like I had with Kay and Marshall. Rose was up and fixed my coffee and brought it to the table. I had kissed both hello before sitting down.

“So what are you girls plotting,” I said.

“Nothing really,” said Linda. “We missed you today.”

“I missed you too but I had to see Kay; possibly for the last time and I definitely had to see Marshall. He is a cop and I know he worries a lot about my WorldPeace agenda. And his concern is legitimate. When my books are published, I am going to have to move about more carefully. I have had death threats in the past. Especially when I ran for governor,” I said.

“Things have changed since you came back from France,” Rose commented.

“I know what you mean,” I said. My schedule has become more crowded. But I work eighteen hours plus per day so I have a lot of open times and I can make myself available to you both. Right now I am trying to get all the past sorted out and based on contracts I made in France who will promote WorldPeace, my art, my books and my web design business, thing are moving faster than I anticipated. And I will tell you the Federal government is watching me now much more than they have been. They are concerned that my WorldPeace efforts are going to interfere with foreign policy. Imagine that. Not to mention their concern that I will declare myself the messiah or the antichrist. I have been dealing with that since 1988,” I said.

“Really, “ Rose said. “You never mentioned these things before to me.”

“To me either,” said Linda.

“Well, it just has not come up. What I do has never really been a part of our relationship but it is beginning to have an impact and my time is going to be more limited so that is why I am talking now. I resolved a lot today. Or let’s say I have a clearer view of my future,” I said.

“I have a meeting with Harper Collins, my publisher in a few days. Then I have to meet with the Feds in DC and then I have to be back in France in three weeks. Once I get back to France, I will have a very clear vision of how my life is going to be structured in the future.”

“So where will we fit in,” asked Rose.

“First off, there should be a whole lot of money coming in. So in many cases you can come with me wherever I go. But I am hesitant to involve either of you directly in my business. You will be able to tell what I am working on because ninety-nine percent of the time you can come into my office but as far as the specific mechanics of what I am doing you will only know what you overhear me talking about,” I said.

“It is critical for me to be able to disengage from my work at times and I won’t be able to do that if you are involved to the point that we go out to eat and we end up discussing business. We have a pretty loose relationship now and I like it. It works. I have some real prejudices and rules that I live by after having two wives with opposite personalities: both leaving me after nineteen years of marriage. I am no longer capable of a go the distance, one on one relationship. I can love you both deeply but a full time one on one exclusive relationship is not in my future.”

“What we are concerned about is that we become part of a hundred woman harem,” Linda said.

I laughed.

“I don’t have that much time to pull that off. I do not like making love to women whom I have nothing but a biological connection with. I must have some emotional connection. And that connection increases with time for me. This is all new ground for me. I spent thirty-eight years of my adult life married. It did not work for me. Now I have to craft something else; a workable definition of relationship,” I said.

“For the most part, I want to be with bisexual women in order to cut down on the jealously. I just don’t have time for that. But I may be wrong about this issue. What I am trying, may not work. All I know right now is that marriage did not work. Or really more specific, due to my energy and multifaceted life, two very different women could not cope with who I am. I must find a definition of relationship that works.”

“But overall, I am single. What I do sexually is my business. I am not gay and I am not into kinky sex. I am co-dependent sexually and emotionally. I never want to be alone again. That is why I refuse to put all my energy into a monogamous relationship. For me, there is safety in numbers.”

“What about Cathy and Francois in Paris?” Rose asked.

“Well those two relationships are very new. But they look like the same thing I have with the two of you. Except Francois is about business as well. So right now she is the exception,” I said.

“I am sure within a few months both of you can come to France with me. The rules I have just related to you apply to Francois and Cathy as well. I refuse to deal with jealously. That is my hard and fast rule.”

“I am not attracted to beauty first. I am attracted to substance. Both of you know that,” I said.

“We just don’t want this to get out of hand,” Linda said.

“My first commitment is to my various endeavors. My interpersonal relationships are secondary. I guess that is why the Snake and Kay left. They were always subordinated to my destiny. I have fallen short as a husband twice, as a father three out of four times, and four out of four as a grandfather. I have not lived up to my father and my grandparent’s standards. I am sad about it. But that is the way it was and is. That is the reality. I thought I would be better at those relationships than I was. But my agenda is and always has been just too big.”

“I think the most important, actually the most critical thing here, is that we have honesty. If our relationship is lacking, you need to speak up; directly, not obliquely. I am too busy for that. Just tell me what you want and I will try to conform. I am committed to each of you more than you know. I cannot make love to a woman and not have some love for her. And the more times we make love, the deeper the loving connection will become to me.”

“I was not attentive enough to the Snake or to Kay. I will not make that mistake again. But I will be attentive within the bounds of our relationship that will never be a full-blown marriage. I think both of you know that I have very strong feeling for each of you.”

“But how can you really love both of us?” Rose asked.

“The same way I can love two parents and four children. I love them each but in a slightly different way because their personalities are different.”

Rose stood up and looked at Linda who also stood up. They came around, one to my left and one to my right. They lifted me from my chair and led me to the bedroom.

Neither Rose nor Linda had the depth of personality and intelligence that Cathy and Francois had. They were more primal in their needs. They were less demanding in what they wanted from me. They both made me happy. I felt loved when I was with them and that was such a live giving need for me.

THIRTY-THREE

The next day I was working on sorting through all my business files when my cell phone rang. It was Cathy.

“How is Paris,” I asked.

“Fine,” she said but obviously something was wrong. I had been talking to Cathy daily since I left Paris and Francois every other day.

“Sounds like something is wrong to me,” I said.

“John, I miss you. I have tried not to say anything and I try to think about you coming back in a few weeks but I really miss you. I had no idea how deeply you touched me. I am suffering John and I am afraid you will push me away.”

“Nonsense,” I said. “You are just twenty-four Cathy and I am sixty. What is really going on here?” I asked kindly.

“John, I don’t notice your age. You are in great shape and from a distance you look like a young man. You stand up straight and walk fast with energy. John I feel like I have fallen deeply in love with you. I have never loved anyone like I love you. I know this is a pretty strong statement but I could not feel this much loneliness for someone I did not love. I just want to be with you all this time. I am not a needy person and I never thought I might be co-dependent. I just have this huge hole in my life with you not near me. I have lost five pounds since you left. I don’t know what is happening to me. Really from the first time I saw you, I have not been able to take my eyes off you when I am with you or stop thinking about you when I am not. I have been with a dozen men, boys actually, so I am not new to emotions. I just cannot understand why or how I feel like this,” she said.

“You know Cathy I have very strong feelings for you as well but I have done poorly with fully committed relationships. I don’t think I am capable of making anyone happy in the long run. And I can’t go through the pain I felt at the end of both marriages. So in a word you scare me. I am older, more experienced and I have been able to push back my feelings. I also feel that other women will come along and I will hurt you even though during both marriages I never let that happen. But things are different now. My life now will bring me into contact with lots of women. Right now I am involved with Linda and Rose here and you and Francois there. I am in unknown territory. I can’t have intimacy with a woman and not feel some degree of love. You touch me in many ways. You are significantly closer to me than the others and that scares me.”

“John I don’t have a problem sharing you. You know that. That is not what I am talking about. I am talking about the need to be close to you.”

“You know John, I don’t have to work; not for the rest of my life. I did not tell you that. So I could easily be with you all the time and pay my way. It makes it hard for me to go to a job that was never more than just filling time now that I have met you. I want to be a bigger part of your world. I want to do things for you. I want to make you happy; to see you happy. I want to feel that I have done something to make you love me.”

“I am very smart John. I can see what is going on. I can see that you are going to need a personal assistant. And I believe you need a personal assistant who can take care of your business needs and who can satisfy your most intimate needs. And at the same time not crowd you.”

“You know to let you step into that role would make me responsible for your happiness,” I said. “And God knows I would love to make someone happy. I failed twice in two marriages. I could not make it happen and I really don’t know why. Some of it was a lack of communication. The way you are talking to me now, laying out your feelings, telling me what you want, what you need, I think about you a lot but I was trying to put aside my feelings until I returned to Paris,” I said.

“I can’t wait that long,” she said almost crying. “I am sorry. I can’t wait. I just don’t want to. I feel you need me now to help you and to love you. I can sense that you have never felt true love. I am young. I don’t understand these things the way you understand them. But I know you have a hole in your heart. I think I can fill it. I want to try,” she said as she began to cry.

“Wow, Cathy. No one has ever talked to me like this. I am afraid to become totally absorbed with you. To tell Francois and others I am a one woman man scares the hell out of me. I feel very close to Francois. But I know she can never touch me in the way you do. But I enjoy her company and her input. I don’t want to have to draw lines in my relationship with her,” I said.

“In fact, I feel many women will come and go in my life and intimacy will happen as a matter of course. How can you deal with that?” I asked.

“I will be there; right there, John. I have female companionships and experience female intimacy when I need it. I am not a jealous person. I don’t have to be with you always. I just need to know I am number one or at the least very important to you. That you really love me, I guess. Even if it is just our secret.”

We were both silent for what seemed like a minute, and then I asked, “What do you want to do?”

“I want to get on a plane and come to you right now,” she said.

“Let me think for a moment,” I said.

Then I said, “Cathy, when Kay left me I lost all confidence that I could tell if someone really loved me. Kay sure put up a good show. I am damaged goods. It may be decades before I can relax and fully trust that you love me.”

“Also, I have to ask this, “Do you work for someone who wants to gather information on me. Are you a mole or spy?” I asked.

“No,” she replied.

“You know there are a lot of people who are very concerned about me and what I am up to. My own government has been monitoring me since 1988, when I changed my name. And with the books about to come out, that fear and paranoia has increased.”

“There is so much going on in my head right now. You have caught me by surprise. Out of the blue, you moved up my time table for considering a relationship between you and me.”

“As things stand now, I am going to New York tomorrow to meet with Harper Collins the day after tomorrow. After that I will disappear for a few days on business to a place that you cannot go; strictly business. Then I will return to New York and then Houston to proceed on with my life,” I said.

“I asked Kay to go with me to the publisher just because it was a dream we had in 1993. But she is not going. Her life has moved on. She is burned out on WorldPeace.”

“Like I said, I do not trust my instincts with regards to affairs of the heart. I have known you just barely two weeks and I am considering allowing you to go with me into a very critical and confidential meeting with Harper Collins as my personal assistant. And if I do and you come back to Houston with me when I am finished, I will tell Linda and Rose that you are my personal assistant. It is a job that both of them would like to have I think. They are older than you and have established careers. My relationship with each of them is very pleasing but those relationships are about as deep as they will ever get. The relationships are more than casual,” I admitted.

‘Like I said, I am on new ground here. But I know my life is going to move very fast from now on. So I need to get used to making many important decisions almost daily. And the trouble is that I need a personal assistant to be with me at the beginning of the public meetings.”

“I also need to be a bit cold here. Cathy, I want you to know if you ever lie to me about anything, I don’t care how much pain I will experience, you will be totally and completely cut off from me. That is very harsh. It even sounds unloving. But that is the way it is. Do you understand?” I asked.

“Yes,” she replied.

“OK then be in New York tomorrow night. I am staying at the Savoy downtown. You will need to call me when you get to the airport,” I said.

“So now what do you have to say?” I asked. “And let me say before you answer, none of my business is to be discussed with anyone without my specific permission. Understand?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said.

“So?” I asked.

“John, I am stunned. Happy. Excited. I did not think you would/could make a decision this fast,” she said.

“I have never had a problem quickly evaluating a problem and making a decision; and when I see it is the wrong decision, quickly reversing it if necessary,” I said.

“John you will never regret this. That is what I believe because that is what I feel I my heart,” she said.

“And?” I asked.

“John my mind is moving in many directions at the speed of light. I feel electrified as if I just connected with my destiny. That all my dreams are going to come true. I have been looking for you since I was eight without knowing what I was looking for. I believe you are who/what is the missing part of my life to date. I am excited about this adventure. I love you. I love you,” she repeated.

“I should be running away, putting on the brakes,” I said. “But I have no fear and I still have my faith that things are as they should be.”

“What else?” I asked.

“I have a lot to do if I am to be in New York tomorrow. Can I tell Francois that you are going to let me try out for the personal assistant position?” she asked.

“Yes, But without telling her what that entails. Tell her the job is undefined,” I said.

“OK. OK,” she said.

“John, why have you not asked me about my money?” she asked.

“Well, you understand that this is a non paying job at this moment and that could change shortly when we discuss it. Your money is not relevant to my reality. And when you choose and when we have time, I will be interested in whatever you want to tell me. One of the problems I had with both wives was that money never took priority over my destiny. In fact, too many times I pursued non income paths toward my destiny. I am not a materialistic person. I realize I have to put on a certain façade of success and power but that is a business tool, not an ego centric need,” I said.

“Well, just know I have plenty to take care of myself and pay my way. We will discuss it after you finish all your meetings,” she said.

“I want you to know I am very happy and very excited,” she said. “I hate to cut off this conversation but I have a whole lot to do.”

“I understand. Call me later tonight if you want. Otherwise I will talk to you tomorrow when you arrive. You have all my numbers,” I said.

“I love you John. I will make you happy. I promise,” she said.

“I love you too baby,” I said thinking about the age difference between us.

THIRTY-FOUR

The plan was for Marshall and I to take different flights to New York, have the meeting with Harper and then be secreted by the Feds to Washington. The only time we could talk would be at Harper Collins because we needed to stay in different hotels.

I had used one of my seldom used email accounts to tell Marshall that Cathy would be meeting me in New York but may or may not go to the Harper Collins meeting. I told him that she was going to be my personal assistant but I would know more after I talked to her in my room in New York. I told him to rent his own room initially. If he were going to meet her, it would be at Harper’s.

Cathy called me when she got to New York. I had not even left Houston. I told her that I was due to arrive at 1900 and I would meet her at the airport and we could go to a restaurant to eat if she wanted.

When I exited my plane she was waiting for me but by agreement we did not even shake hands or hug. I only had a carryon bag so we went out and caught a cab. Cathy gave the cabbie the address of some restaurant she knew.

“You sure look good,” I said in the cab.

After we got away from the airport crowd we kissed deeply. She was dressed very well. Her hair was nice and she had put on make up and was wearing a few pieces of jewelry. She was definitely someone who had been raised around money.

She kept holding my hand and looking at me. “You got me under your spell ‘old man’,” she smiled and leaned into me.

The ride to the restaurant was only about twenty minutes and we said very little. We just enjoyed each other’s energy. She looked closer to thirty the way she dressed. Not at all like the casually dressed college kid I had met in Paris.

We arrived at the restaurant; Italian. I paid the cabbie and we went inside. The smell was great even though my ability to smell is about twenty percent of normal. We were seated in a small cozy booth in a quiet corner. Cathy wanted to order for us so I let her. She was familiar with the restrictions I had with regards to my diet due to my cholesterol problem. She also insisted on paying and I did not argue.

“You look and feel better than I remember,” she said. “You have no idea how much I missed you. I don’t know what you are doing to me John.”

“I feel the same way,” I said. “So tell me about the real Cathy Jeneau.

“In a nutshell, I am one of the DuPont heirs and I have a whole lot of money from various family trusts. I work to stay busy. I try to stay under the radar and I associate with people like Jeremy and Francois who also have inherited a lot of money and try to keep a low profile. We all have an interest in peace and we try to do some positive things to promote it. You have impressed everyone in Jeremy’s circle of friends because you are so straight forward and open. And you are very smart and your agenda is very ambitious but coherent and doable. You are very focused and clear thinking. That is the basics. None of us believe you are out to con us or manipulate us,” she said.

“That is absolutely true,” I said.

“John we are all excited about helping you with our money and our connections but we are not going to try to take over your agenda. We are going to show you what we can do to help but let you decide if you want our help or not,” she said.

“We seem to be having a business meeting,” I said.

“Yes,” she replied, “for now because we are in a restaurant and I can’t do what I really want to do which is to attack you with my love and my naked body,” she smiled.

“OK,” I said. “Do you know the people who I am going to see tomorrow?” I asked.

“Directly no, but I can find out about just about anyone if we need to through the people in our peace group. I do not know exactly who we are going to see tomorrow. We have not inserted ourselves in any way into your business,” she said. “I have not told anyone that I am coming with you or discussed Harper Collins at all.”

“Speaking strictly of business, I hope you let me go with you tomorrow so I can better understand their offer and be prepared to help you.”

“Sounds like I have become a potential investment,” I smiled.

“John, I love you. I know I do. And it scares me in a lot of ways because I have never felt so attracted to anyone in my life. That is why I am here. John, you told me to be honest and so I am telling you who I am and what I can do and about my friends. My only agenda is a personal relationship with you. To be with you as ‘your woman’ I guess. Things are moving so fast; and on so many levels. John, I am attracted to you personally but I am excited about your WorldPeace agenda. You light my fire intimately and at the same time inspire me and feed my intellect,” she said.

“You are amazing,” I said, “and a bit overwhelming in a good way.”

“John just sitting with you has set fire to my body. I want to make love to you so intensely that it is almost unbearable. But I want to enjoy this meal and just joy in your presence for now. I want to just feel the reality of being with you again. I don’t ever want to leave your side,” she said with a tear in her eye.

“Cathy you are talking to me way different than the light and casual conversation we had in Paris,” I said.

“John, I am so intimidating that I have to put on that twenty-four year old façade. But I feel more like thirty-five. I feel comfortable enough around you to be myself. In fact, I want you to know the real me because the real me is the one that needs to be loved by you.”

“Well it is working,” I said. “But I am so afraid of a deep committed relationship. I am damaged goods in many ways. I am scared because I feel no sense of apprehension around you. I am sad that I am not twenty-four.”

“God knows where I would be, how far up the social pyramid, how much further along the path of my destiny I would be had I met you thirty-five years ago,” I said.

“Everything is as it should be,” she said.

“You know I say that all the time,” I said. “You are overwhelming me, Cathy Jeneau.”

“Cathy my attraction to you has overpowered my desire to eat,” I said.

“Then let’s go,” she said.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“I lost my appetite for food as soon as I saw your face,” she said as she put her hand on my thigh and kissed me.

She called the waiter and asked him to make a to-go bag with some Italian deserts and two bottles of wine. Fifteen minutes later, we were leaving for the hotel.

I went to the desk clerk and retrieved my key. Cathy retrieved hers and we went up to my room. Within five minutes we were naked and in bed on fire with a passion I have seldom experienced in my adult life.

In about thirty minutes there was a knock at the door. I reluctantly disengaged from Cathy and put on one of the hotel robes and opened the door. In walked Francois who closed the door, stepped out of her shoes, put down her large purse and unbuttoned her knee length black leather coat to reveal her naked body. She removed my robe, kissed me and pulled me to the bed. Francois presence sent all three of our desires into overdrive.

“I was already in New York when Cathy called me today,” was all Francois said in English. I am going to make you very happy John,”

“I am going to make us very happy,” said Cathy in French.

THIRTY-FIVE

I awoke about 2000 to the sound of Cathy and Francois talking softly in French as they sat at the breakfast table in the room and eating pastries from the Italian restaurant and sipping wine from glasses that were in the room.

I got up and went into the bathroom and took a quick shower. I dried off, put on the robe hanging behind the door and walked back into the main room. My eyes met those of two tigresses with hungry grins on their faces.

“Nice surprise ladies,” I said.

“You’re the ongoing surprise, Superman,” said Francois with her impish grin.

Cathy handed me a glass of dark red wine and put a piece of cheesecake on a plastic saucer from the restaurant on the table in front of my chair. I sat down in a daze, raised my glass in a silent toast to those two amazing women. The glasses clicked and everyone sipped a toast.

“So what are you doing in New York?” I asked Francois.

“Shopping and visiting friends about your art,” she said.

“Promoting my art?” I asked.

“Among other things,” she smiled that devilish smile of hers.

“John, we all feel like we have been transported into this amazing dream since we met you. The coincidences that have happened in the last few weeks are astonishing,” Francois said.

“We are going to sell your art, John,” she added.

“Yes, I have to find the time to create more of it,” I replied. “I have a lot of sketches I finished in prison.”

“Really,” Francois said. “You continue to astound John. When can I see them.”

“As soon as I turn on my laptop and input the web address,” I grinned.

“I have a big agenda,” I said as I turned on the laptop. I refused to come out of prison with a year of my life gone and nothing more than a string of unproductive days to show for it,” I said.

I connected to the internet and moved to the secure site with about 50 sketches I completed in prison. Sketches for paintings I intended to begin as soon as I found a studio and some young female apprentices to do the color applications after I finished transferring the sketches to canvas; the way Kay used to do. I looked at my ring finger and saw the indention from my wedding ring still there. I thought about Kay and felt a tiny serge of sadness.

“You look like you have seen a ghost, John,” said Cathy.

“No, just a flashback of the last time I remember working on my art. I am able to feel so much peace when I paint and draw. Good memories that refuse to fade away thankfully,” I said.

Francois began to flip through the sketches.

“John, this is ten years worth of work,” she said.

“Not with apprentices to do the coloring,” I responded. “About two years if all goes right.”

“I will not sell the originals; only the prints. The originals will be in a WorldPeace art museum somewhere and be constantly loaned to the world’s museums and businesses for display. I have a detailed agenda for that as well. Many of those plans are salted throughout my books,” I said.

“I can see now John, reading you books is a must for me if I intend to catch up to speed,” Francois said.

“The most obvious things are the most hidden beautiful,” I said with a smile.

I could see Cathy was even stunned at the revelation of this new dynamic.

“I will tell you girls something I don’t think I have mentioned directly,” I said.

“You see there will be updates to my autobiography that will continue to relate what is really going on in my real life. So over time the supplements to the autobiography will be a measure of how clairvoyant I was when I wrote the novels. It mixes fiction and non fiction but more interesting it is about John WorldPeace manifesting his dreams,” I said. “I will be trying to teach people how to do the same in their lives.”

“John when you reveal things like this you electrify my body with a serge of sexual pulses that almost knocks me out mentally,” Francois said.

“Me too,” said Cathy. “I don’t understand how you are able to transfer energy like that.”

“We are all made of the same spiritual cloud,” I said. “We are cut from the same spiritual cloth. Read my books obliquely.”

“The most obvious is the most hidden,” I said. “The books are like my paintings. No matter how closely you read or see, there is always another level. Something else, just out of view.”

I saw their stunned faces and laughed.

“This is no ordinary man you are dealing with,” I said.

They both sat like statues as their heads bordered on exploding.

I smiled and took a bite of the cheesecake.

“Cathy, you can go with me to Harper Collins tomorrow. We don’t have to be there until 1400. You will meet my son, Marshall. It is going to be an interesting day,” I said. “ We will move farther down the road of the WorldPeace Advocacy.”

We all sat up until 0400 chatting until half the cheesecake was gone. I was becoming significantly attached to these women.

THIRTY-SIX

About 1300 Cathy and I took a cab to Harper Collins. We got there in twenty minutes so we went to a coffee shop on the ground floor to kill some time. I saw my son come into the building and he saw me but we did not acknowledge each other.

Cathy was very well dressed. She looked like money and even though she was going to be introduced as my personal assistant, it was obvious from her clothes and the way she carried herself that she was a woman of substance. She made me smile.

I waited for about five minutes and then Cathy and I followed my son to the Harper office. When we arrived, Cathy turned a lot of heads. She has a very nice in-shape body and a very pleasant but not a beauty queen face. She is pretty. I liked and was attracted to the way she looked.

We were taken to a conference room where Marshall was waiting. I introduced him to Cathy. I could see his typical confusion: as in ‘How did dad connect with this woman?’ It made me smile.

It was interesting to watch how two people who were so connected to me sized each other up.

The conference room would hold about twenty people but I had no idea how many people would be there.

At 1400 about ten people came into the room. I did not know anyone but Bill Carlson. He was surprised but not upset to see Cathy. The Harper CEO was Howard Hendrix. Everyone with Harper shook our hands and introduced themselves.

Howard then said, “It is a real pleasure to meet you John. You have created a very unique literary work. There is nothing else like it out there. You have lived a unique life and now you are about to create John WorldPeace the legend based on the script you have written – a true contemporary epic; maybe a great American novel.

“I have been briefed on the contents and I have been given about fifty pages of excerpts. I have not had time to read everything. The people we have assigned to read your manuscripts just finished but everyone says it will take another week to get a handle on the material. Everyone has noticed the many levels that run through the many story lines contained in your books. A few of the people will no doubt be studying your books for a long time to come or at least until we have some idea as to how to market you work.”

“There is all kinds of themes and story lines in your epic: political, social, religious, wisdom, ethics, morals, legal and prison reform, WorldPeace, love, adventure and metaphysics to name a few,” he said as everyone chuckled.

“The epic is a good stand alone story. Everyone says they did not want to stop reading no matter where they were in any particular book but the amount of material is massive. They are all amazed at your breath of knowledge that comes not from fantasy as much as it does from your experience and education. But more importantly, you have reasoned out a lot of very complex social issues in unique ways. You teach through the stories. But you have short stories within the epic global story about WorldPeace. You are very creative, John,” he continued. “What you have created includes a lot of expanded teaching in the form of parables.”

“Cutting to the chase,” he said as he looked at me, “we want to publish your books. We definitely want that. We are going to use the rest of our option time to figure out how best to market the books. There are so many options.”

“You know I just recognized your assistant. Cathy Jeneau,”
said Howard.

“Ms. Jeneau, it is a real pleasure to meet you. I know your family. They own a sizeable share of Harper Collins stock. Ladies and gentlemen, Ms. Jeneau is one of the heirs of the DuPont family. Can I ask how you and Dr. WorldPeace became associated?” he asked looking at Cathy.

Cathy said, “Thank you for the kind words. I met John a little over two weeks ago when he came to Paris. It was a chance meeting at one of a thousand Parisian café’s. I was immediately drawn to him. He was kind enough to let me come with him today. I can assure you I am here as his personal assistant. He did not know anything about my family until a few days ago. He never asked.”

“John has met my circle of friends in Paris; the ones that are into art and politics and peace. We want to help him with all aspects of his WorldPeace Advocacy. I have not introduced him to my family yet.”

“I see,” said Howard.

“John, this young lady comes with a blue ribbon resume. She is a woman of substance even at her young age,” he said admiringly.

“I am more impressed with her each day,” I said. “I feel fortunate to have met her and feel very lucky that she has chosen to work with me.”

“John I have a few people here that have asked me to give them permission to ask you a few questions if you don’t mind,” Howard said.

“Ask,” I responded.

Howard looked at one woman in particular and nodded his head in an affirmative way.

“Dr. WorldPeace my name is Jean Smith. I am a marketing exec here. I would like to know how you wrote this developing epic. Did you use an outline? And how long did it take to write the five manuscripts that you have already completed?” she asked.

“It began with my confinement in prison and my boredom. I decided first to write my auto biography in order to clear my past, to reconcile with it and to find closure. I also wanted to exit prison having accomplished something of significance. The possibility of a novel was not something I gave any thought to until I was about to finish my autobiography. It took me about five and a half months to write about 1600 pages by hand. Those 1600 pages were the autobiography.”

“There were no available typewriters or computers,” I said. “I did not rush. With a computer, I can start and finish a 400 page novel in about ten days I think.”

I could hear the quiet disbelief in the room but I did not respond to it.

“Then as I was close to finishing the auto biography, I thought about what I would write next and I determined to try to write a novel. I felt I could write a typical novel in about a month based on the amount I found I could write on a daily basis while writing my autobiography. All I needed was a general story line with a WorldPeace theme to begin with. But I could not really settle on what I wanted to write about. I needed something that could be developed into an epic. I thought an epic would be about eight hundred pages at first. It took me a week if I remember to come up with an overall concept for an unlimited number of novels.”

“The idea of a political suspense novel with a WorldPeace theme occurred to me. My favorite books are political suspense novels. But as I thought about it, I realized that another eight hundred book pages would not be enough to cover in detail all the topics I wanted to discuss related to WorldPeace. I realized I would need about four thousand book pages. Then I realized there were an unlimited number of stories that could be the foundation of an ongoing serious of novels.”

“I then had to decide how to weave all the possible story lines together. Then I realized there were plenty of story lines in the newspaper everyday. I could use these as factual settings and events and then put a WorldPeace spin on the stories and add some corruption of the political, religious, legal kind. With this formula I could write novels for the rest of my life.”

“In the fictional novels, I had much more freedom than with a factual autobiography. So it was easier to write or create a fictional novel because I had the power to deal with characters any way I wanted.”

“I do not have anything but a general story line in my head when I begin a novel. I just start to write. And as I write, I can see the story unfold. As I write, I make notes in the left margin regarding collateral issues to be covered later on; or how I want to more thoroughly develop the story line I am working on.”

“I have been painting and writing poems since I was a teenager so I have an unlimited reservoir of stories and art at my disposal. I know how to get into the mood to write and how to overcome writer’s block and how to bring story lines, graphics and so on to consciousness.”

“In prison, I would write until I finished a section and then lay down and think about what would happen next and it would come to me. I would not try to edit the story line that I would see in my mind. I would then usually fall to sleep, wake up and begin to write until I finished the newly revealed section.”

“With the autobiography, I averaged about twelve pages a day. By the time I finished the first novel, I was up to about thirty pages a day. And I felt I could almost double that if I had a computer. I wanted to finish two novels before I exited prison.”

“Also when writing poems, I could contain the poem within about twenty lines. It was the same way with the novel. I determined the number of pages and my brain let the story expand to fit the pages. I am amazed at the mystery of how I do this.”

“At first, I thought I would write my autobiography of about four hundred pages. Then I would extend the autobiography with an unlimted number of fictional novels taking place in chronological order in the future. But then I realized that the number of stories that could be written into novels was unlimited. I was initially going to end the novels by writing them to cover the time from when I exited jail at sixty until I reached one hundred. I later realized that did not make sense and I would just write as much as I could as long a I was alive.”

“So you write in a stream of consciousness,” she asked.

“Yes, I have all my notes. They are very skimpy; a page or two. You are welcome to come and look at the original manuscripts. Or I could copy them if you want to cover some of the cost. There are about three thousand hand written pages of two hundred and fifty words each; all written on 8.5 x 11 legal pads. I have one of the legal pads here if you would like to see it.”

As I opened my brief case to retrieve the pages from the original manuscript I said, “What you will notice is that the original manuscript has only been changed about three percent when I typed it all up. Most of what I have written is exactly the way it came out of my head.”

I handed her my tablet and she looked at it and said, “So you just started writing?”

“Yes. There are about sixty tablets that I wrote in prison, one after the other. I learned the mechanics of writing through the legal pleadings I wrote when I practiced law. I learned to stay on point with the legal writings.”

“John, I don’t know anyone who can do what you have related.” Howard said.

“Interesting,” I said. “I would not know. I have never talked to someone who wrote novels for a living.”

“I like to play with poetry and Haiku. I feel they are an excellent way to maintain that creative connection,” I said.

“In writing novels, as I write, I can very clearly see the scenes unfolding. But I hear dialogue as it comes out. Like playing chess or checkers with your self I think. But it moves faster,” I said.

“Essentially you can give me a sentence and I will craft a poem or novel from it,” I said.

“Thank you Dr. WorldPeace. You have been very enlightening and informative. I am sure you will some day soon be teaching a creative writing class,” Jean said.

“You know Jean my skill took decades to develop. When I graduated from college, I could not put together a technically correct sentence. The skill came through writing the poems, the legal pleadings and then my internet postings.”

“Thank you for your interest. Call me anytime with any other questions or email me,” I said.

“Dr. WorldPeace, my name is Eric Hammon.”

“Yes, Eric,” I responded.

“I am a psychologist and metaphysician,” he said.

“A psychic?” I asked.

“Yes but you know how people fear and misinterpret that word,” he answered.

“Yes I do. So you are trying to get a feeling for who and what you are dealing with in John WorldPeace,” I asked.

“Yes. What are we dealing with, Dr. WorldPeace?” he asked directly.

“Before I respond to that, Jean, I would like to say that I have never taken a formal writing course and the only art education I have was acquired in a special art class in the seventh and eighth grades.

“And that is why your writing is so unique,” she responded.

“Thank you, I think,” I said with a smile.

“Now to respond to your question, Eric,” I said.

“Externally what you are dealing with is the hypocrisy in society. For instance, Americans support the war in Iraq but they refuse to fully compensate and heal the wounded soldiers that returned initially. Americans love their criminal justice system but refuse to build prisons to house the inmates. They are absolutely against abortion but they refuse to provide welfare for the women who have these unwanted babies,” I said.

“These are just some of the issues that cause conflict and chaos in society. It is interesting to me that most people do not even realize how nonsensical and conflicted their mindsets are. All these issues decrease the level of peace in the world human society.”

“So on the surface, you are dealing with a man who refuses to endorse the nonsense that reduces the level of peace in society. Consider the Catholic Church. It is intent on subordinating women. It encourages the birth of children when the world is over populated. It is against abortion that brings millions of unwanted children to life; all in the name of God. God does not want chaos and turmoil in society. God wants peace and a Garden of Eden as evidenced in the book of Genesis.”

“On the internal personal level, you are dealing with a guy with above average intelligence. A person who believes in equality between the genders and justice for all; as in all; someone who understands business and the absolute commitment of people to do what is in their personal best interest. I am a person who understands that society progresses at least technologically if people are allowed to profit from their ideas and skills. I am a person who has an absolute faith in God; a spiritual man but not a religious one.”

I am a person who has studied metaphysics and understands the power of the spiritual dimensions. One who can be a hammer as easily as an anvil. When I am the anvil I bear. When I am the hammer, I strike. I am a person who advocated peace and yet served in the military; a person who has basically lived a conventional life as father and son, businessman and scholar. Yet I am a person who has tapped into the creativity of the spiritual realm and paints and writes what he sees and hears. And I am a pragmatic idealist and believe we can create a more sane world human society,” I continued.

“So I am many things. I am a multi-dimensional man. I am an enigma. Yet I am just another man among many who has focused much of his energy on his higher nature.”

“What I am not is a terrorist. What I am doing is having a conversation in the world human population about peace. That is what my book is; a call to converse about peace. My message is WorldPeace. Everything else beyond that one word is just my personal commentary. It matters not if I am a minority of one, the truth is still the truth. And the truth will not only set us free but the truth is the foundation of a more sane, free and just society.”

I stopped speaking to allow what I had said to sink into the minds of those present.

“Thank you, Dr. WorldPeace,” Eric said after a minute of silence.

Howard then said, “John, we are not just publishing a book. We are potentially starting a revolution; one that will potentially lead to a more peaceful society. And it is obvious that you will sell and promote peace and write and promote your books about peace until you take you last breath.”

“Yes, I will,” I said.

“John, I am overwhelmed by your energy at sixty. I am in awe of your intellect and the coherent philosophy you have developed.” Howard said.

“When Harriet Beacher Stowe wrote ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’, it led to the end of slavery in America. I would love to write a book that ended war in the world human society,” I said.

“Maybe you have John, maybe you have. My hat is off to you Dr. WorldPeace. Harper Collins is on board,” Howard said.

“There are many details having to do with marketing that must be determined. We feel that your epic needs to be brought out one book at a time. The question is how much time between volumes. And we have to decide whether to bring out the first novel with the autobiography. The autobiography is eight hundred pages and the jail journal is another two hundred and seventy-five pages.”

“I believe that all volumes need to come out within six months of each other. And then the biographical supplements need to come out about every three years depending on how many things have transpired in your life. I think with regards to marketing, publishing all you have written at once would cut the long-term sales revenue by ninety percent. For me the multiple release approach will continue to refresh the project over the next three to four years for sure and maybe for the next forty years or more.”

“John, I can see we are going to need you here more than I thought. We need your input and insight into these issues. It is obvious to me now that you are as much a businessman as a peace advocate, painter and writer. You understand making money,” Howard said.

“Yes I do and with an accounting and marketing background, I have the formal training in business.” I said.

“OK John that is about it. Thank you for coming. Does anyone else have any questions for Dr. WorldPeace?” Howard asked.

No one responded.

“OK we will set up a schedule of meetings and call you in a few days. Marshall it is a pleasure. And Ms. Juneau, I will look forward to seeing you soon. I am impressed with the company you keep John.”

“Howard would it be OK if borrowed one of your conference rooms or offices to speak for an hour or so with my son?” I asked.

“John this room has nothing scheduled until tomorrow. Use it as long as you need to,” Howard said.

“Thank you,” I said.

Within minutes Cathy, Marshall and I were alone.