Dear Members,
I am an amateur writer who had an unusual friend. He was a scientist and a physician. Not just any scientist, he was a space medicine scientist. In his last year on this earth, he and his wife took me aside and told me about part of his career. It seems he spent 9 years clandestinely flying into and out of the USSR, helping Soviet cosmonauts stay alive in space. The years were 1962-1971--space race years. Since my friend was a serious man, I believed him. But I also checked the dates and events he covered. Yes, he was the author of many scientific papers on living in micro-gravity conditions. Yes, he had a photo of Yuriy Gagarin and himself, and yes, he had been a contractor to the NSA and CIA for those 9 years. Also he had received special recognition from the USSR for his work. Yes, there was a large file on him in Washington and no, I could not see it. My congressman could not see the file, either. I contacted certain USSR officials from the era. They did not confirm my story but they would not deny it, either.
I wrote a story about this physician-scientist and as I got to the end I found there was possible danger to his scientist-children. Therefore, I converted my story into a novel and gave my friend a new name. But the facts are there. Kennedy and Khrushchev did reach a secret agreement and we did send a scientist to work with the Soviets at Baikonur. He worked in secrecy, not even allowed to tell his wife or children. He has been dead a few years, a great hero who cannot be known.
My book is known as "The Insider" and should be out in September. I have made a lot of people angry over this book, and I have gained converts, too. Well-known ones. I do not know why it is a hostility-generating topic, but it is. Truly no good deed goes unpunished.
Thomas S. Fiske, Author (I can be found on Google)
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