P. T. Reilly correspondence with George S. Tanner, 1984

Topics include Lee's Ferry, the United Order, a diary by Hezekiah Hatch, and reviews of current historical writings, but were mainly focused on personal happenings and opinions on current events and politics. There is mention of the rise of the Great Salt Lake level, the Salamander letter, and Reilly's work on a documentary about river running.

Dear George. January 10, 1984 Thanks for your letter which arrived Dec.21. Also thanks for the data on Steve Young, and I'm glad that the search was interesting instead of a drag. Susie's brother is a football nut and likes to follow the BYU kids who go to the pros. I think a little rubbed off from his dad who always maintained that BY was one of our greatest Americans. He was a macho type so naturally admired BY. I guess you know that the Partridge gal married Joseph Smith in 1843. After Joseph was murdered June 27, 1844, she became BY's ninth in September 1844. The brethren sure passed them around. I am grateful for your help but please don't bother with it any more. I won't spare the time to look up the story in the Deseret News of Oct.19, 1983, but next time I'm in SLC will get the film and have it copied. The Republic hired Fitzpatrick from Chicago. He is a typical journalist from the liberal eastern pack of populist warriors for the so-called underdog. They keeu him on because he is so controversial and so many people hate him. He eYokes more critical letters to the editor than anyone. He is very pro-labor and anti-establishment . He did a brutal piece on the people of Sun City, and today lashed out at Gov. Babbitt. I don't take him seriously. Did you hear Larry King interview Thomas Sowell? He is the most intelligent Black I have ever heard and I was so impressed that I bought his book. The Economics and Politics of Race.($15.95) Sowell is one of the deepest thinkers of our times but is not very popular with most Blacks. I enclose a Buckley article re Sowell and Rowan, along with some other clips. Sowell should be running for Pres. instead of Jesse J. How about doing a little job for me? Jennie Machon lives at 2235 West )800 South, SLC 84109--or did in 1976. I wrote to her in late 1876 but got no reply. She was one of twins born to Sarah E. Wooley Emett and John T. Emett on 5 January 1901 at either Escalante or Lee's Ferry. The other twin, Bessie, died the following day. I'd sure appreciate it if I knew for sure whether she was born at Escalante or Lee's Ferry. A phone call could do it. If you talk to her, please ask if her sister Lucy was born June or Jule 9, 1902. These country folk sure produce conflicting records for being in the same family. I'm doing quite well on my text and expect to complete it by spring. I may have a job in condensing. Right now I find that I make some mistakes that proofreading reveals, but it still results in considerable re-write. I have a hell of a good story and I honestly think it is the most thorough research job done in western history in many years. Now if I could just write as well as Chas P. I'd move faster. I don't think I ha.ve anything offensive to anyone but I don't . hold anything back and would like your critical opinion on it. Weather here is terrific and so is out citrus crop. Wish we could get some of it to you but shipping costs would make it ridiculous. We'll have plenty until late July and we might be up there before then. It is a mighty luxurious feeling to have all the grapefruit, oranges, lemons. mandarins, and tangore we can use. Tangerines and tangelos were in short supply this year but we had plenty of tangerines last year. It bore so heavily that a rest was due. The weather maps indicate that the we~ther god isn't smiling on SLC and we feel for you. Apparantly the extreme cold temps have moderated even tho the storms keep rolling in from the Northwest. The coldest we h~ve had here is 36 this year, but it has been down to zero n~th of the rim. Did you get enough football lately? Best regards, P. T. Reilly P.S. We just heard that Mark Peterson died. I was surprised the learn that he was 83 because he appeared more lively than the others. Now that the polygamy and Black problems are out of the way, the main item of concern seems to be the succession to the preidency and the need to get younger men in the driver's seat. I'd like to see Spencer Kimball have a last revelation to bring this about before he passes to his reward. I ' m sure that future LDS would elevate him to the level that Moslems do Mohammed. But maybe the old man is just too tired to worry about it. we have to admire him for solving a major problem and stepping up to something that others stepped around. January 24., 1984 Dear George., Thank you for chasing down the Shafer gal. Your letter arrived January 19 but I have not heard from her through the mail delive ry of the 24th. The same mail that carries this letter to you carries one to her plus a xerox of my letter to her mother in 1976~ I also enclose one for you. Please forgive me for the mis-sta tement but sometim es a delibe rate error evokes a correc tion that an honest statem ent of fact would not bring a respon se. I do wish these country folk would keep better record s. Eviden tly Mrs. Shafer cooled off after you talked to her or she wrote to her mother in Denver and is awaitin g a reply. West Valley City is now to me but the street number s sugges t that it may be what once was known as Gnange r. I'll put in a few clippin gs for you, and one receive d from England today will tell you why the British shipbu ilding industr y is on the rocks. f-D met with the union at Morenc i today but the labor crowd still thinks they are bargain ing over jobs. They don't seem to get the fact that the union worker s don't work there any~ e. You certain ly have had a session of winter up there and the papers now carry news of starvin g deer and elk invadin g the reside ntial areas to forage . One of the clips is about the Moslem fundam entalis ts, which is about the way I see those idiots . I liked your John Pack review in the latest UHQ. You seem to know more about the subjec t than Davis, but he should n't kick about anythin g you said. Hope you are keepin g warm Thanks again. Best regard s, ~_ r P. T. Reilly Dear George,, February 2, 1984 Your letter was received yesterday and I'll fire right back as there are a couple of obits you might not know about. Your distant kinsman Blaine Ferguson died January 28,, 1984, and I enclose the clipping. Also one about Garland F. Bushman who died Jan. 27. He was younger than you but you must have known him. Thanks for the clip about the top four in succession. They certainly are well along and the church won't be much better off regardless of who ge ts in. If SWK aspired to real greatness he would have a revelation to change the rules so a capable man in his 40s could assume the presidency. Still no word from the Shafer gal. I could tell that she didn't know much when she referred to her mother being born in Lee's Ferry village. yossibly the family group sheet that shows one twin born in Escalante and the other botn at Lee's Ferry on the same day came from her. Some of those country folk are so inbred that their IQs could pass for the hat size. Please don't bother yourself with it any more. I appreciate what you did but we can't get blood out of a turnip~ I balanced everything out and treated it as if both twins were born in Escalante. MY friend there, Ruth,, (age 80) fell and broke her hip about three weeks ago and is in the Cedar City hospital or I would have had her check cemetery records for the twin who died. I get the idea that the Raider,, T.E. Christensen is a good LDS but on the liberal side and somewhat oddball, as is John Riggins of the Redskins. I think the best LDS ambassador in the athletic world is Merlin Olsen. Everybody likes and respects him. Of course Ainge, Vranes, Miller, Casper,, Killibrew, Law are all popular. My favorite is Steve Benson. While I picked the Raiders to win the SuperBowl, I think it was so crooked as to be blatently obvious. I think the NFL is structured to bring the greatest attendance to league coffers and they pass the "championship " around to build up the gate. The Rams left the L.A.Coliseum because the gangs of young BLacks were mugging the customers. I wouldn't think of attending an event there unless I had a police guard. If you have any friends planning to go to the Olympic Games, warn them to stay home unless they like to get robbed, raped, and mugged. We hear some horrible yarns, and when the_~•&•Time s ran an expos~ on the situation a few years ago the Blacks brok~.~f their newspaper racks and destroyed the papers. Black gangs roam from Long Beach to the San Fernando Valley and the black mayor tolerates it. A gang swooped in on Ralphs Market at 10 AM recently, cleaned out the cash registers and robbed the customers. Black pressure prevents it from being publicized but it goes on and is becoming worse. It's getting hard not to be a Redneck. I wouldn't go anyplace in So.Cal. without a handgun as I'd rather get nailed for that than by black hoodlums. Watch the Blacks and do-gooder liberals gang up to block the Ed Meese appointment- -or try to. I see that Calif. just passed a law that prevents prosecution of a person who shoots an intruder who is trying to break into his home. It should be a national law. God help the SOB who breaks into mine if I'm here. Things are somewhat depressing; our friend Ruth and the mother of Morris Shirts both broke their hips on the same day in Escalante and are now in the same hospital room in Cedar. My friend Bill Stevens had a heart attack (younger than I am) in Calif. spent 2 weeks in the hospital there, was released.and dri~en home by_his daughter. Had another, more severe, yesterday and is back in the hospitah here. His wifeF4Mst ~ad a cataract operatio l'\and implant and can't drive. The wife of another'f~rn Calif came down with cancer of the pancreas. I( • Cheers. The weather is looking up. PTR e:r Dear George, March 12., 1984 I was quite relieved to hear that your long silence was caused only by income tax forms., stock portfolio., your hard winter., and the re2ppearance of Lake Bonneville. Cheer up; it's bound to get better because BY said "This is the place." However., despite the assurance from Olympus., it does sound serious and I don't see that anyone can do much about it. Why don't you get in touch with ~ondale? He has answers for everything. Even if he doesn't, he will say he has. The way the auto companies operate will never cease to amaze me. I don't think the managers are any smarter than the workers, and they are just as greedy., if not more so. Note the clip that says on top of record profits the top five GM executives get more than one million per year. The dumbheads should have reduced car prices instead of raising them and loading the guns for the union. Now they will be back in the soup and I'm sure they don't have the guts to take a strike. I don't understand the public that persists in buying auto stocks. I dumped mine in 1973, never regretted it, and wouldn't buy them back for anything. How come you never got into the taxexempt municipals when you retired? Stocks for income ar~ poor investments unless one can derive nourishment from the mere owning or· blue chips. My Escalante friend returned from wintering in San Diego and I have the answers that you so kindly tried to get for me. I never did hear from the Shafer gal and I find out now that she is kooky paranoid. Her mother., Jennie., has been dead for three years and is hardly visiting in Denver! The twins were born in Escalante and the one that died is buried there. Shafer is afrai~ that people are trying to steal her genealogy, if you can believe that. The LDS and Soviets are in the same unenviable position - both are bound into a geriatric leadership. It will be interesting to see which breaks tradition first. My money is on the Soviets, but I'd sure like to see SK have a revelation and beat them to it. Sure ETB would howl., and so would his pups., but the Mormon people would benefit in the long run. There never has been a union vote and there never will be. The union leaders like to think they control the membership, but every effort I've seen to control the vote has been deeply resented except by a few sheep. I think Mondale's union endorsements have hurt him fully as much as Elack endorsements have hurt Jackson, The Democrats have been taken over by the liberalradical element and they don't have a good man left. Hollings was their best but they didn't have sense enough to support him. He was the only one who could have given Reagan any real competition. I see Hart as a warmed up McGovern., and what could be worse except the real McCoy? The low caliber of men in power in both parties is very disheartening and I see no improvement in sight. It certainly shows in our foreign policy. Wish we could get some citrus to you without them arriving gold-plated. We have more than we can use. Spring certainly is here and our garden is booming. We had only one drizzly day since January 1., and are 1,J inches behind on rainfall. They have stopped letting water out of the reservoirs. Enclosing a few clips which may be of__ some interest., al tho I think your paper runs about the same stuff as ours. 'Ibis kid Steve Young sure turned out to be a money-maker for the church and probably has garnered more brownie points than any Mormon athlete in a long time. Take care but keep a life preserver handy. Best regards, -- ~! }. T. Reilly Dear George., April 27, 1984 If our reports are accurate, the Salt Lake is beginning to resemble an incipient Bonneville and maybe you should emulate the old boy in Provo and start building an ark. And the storms continue to drop snow in the mountains. SLC and Boise certainly have been in the path of everything out of the NW. Summer--or should I say spring--will come soon or else we are entering another ice age. I took a week off, drove 819 miles and spent about $250 to read a portion of my text to the Johnsons on April 6. It was the worst mistake I ever made. The men and two women were responsive and hung on every word, but the rest of the women should have remained at home and watched TV. Two of them slept through about half of it., nobody thanked me, and I got chided for not having joined the church& When I related how D.W. Wells rejected the advice of Warren Johnson and was responsible for Roundy's death, and how John w. Young tried to cheat Emma Lee and became irked at Johnson for standing up for the widow, I was accused of being negative about the church, when I hadn't even mentioned the church. These people must be much more fundamentalist than I thought, and paranoid to boot. When we drove home Saturday I didn't care whether I ever saw them again. However, a few days ago I received a letter of apology and we feel somewhat better. I suppose you felt much the same way after calling the attention of the Lyon gal that there wasn't any Tanner Handcart Company. It is hard to tell which of the ten she meant, but one thing is certain--she is confused. The UAW president has a point and it is difficult to believe how incredibly stupid the GM and Ford executives are. Here their product is so high as to be out of sight and they show record . profits after labor concessions. Do you think any executives are worth what they get? Naturally labor is upset that the sacri.fices were not made evenly and will scream for a share of the loot. The companies should have lowered prices, reduced executives' salaries and bonuses, and thus kept the next wage demand in line. Instead, the executives are rubbing it in. Too many people are paying these inflated prices for their junkheaps and going into debt for the rest of their lives. I've got nearly 100,000 on our Mercury but I'll be damned if I'll pay what they are asking for a new one. T~e corporate ., officers have been screwing the stockholders for years and the unions have been demanding their share of the loot in the last quartercentury. I'm in favor of cutting both back to a more equitable division of the income. Le~ ~1acocca ~certalnly 2has done a job for Chrysler and it should be the boner of the century that F 0 rd let him go. I doubt if there is a better executive in all of industry. I doubt that prejudice is the proper word to use in describing an antipolygamy attitude. Just because a person is against it doesn't mean he is prejudiced. If a man is stupid enough to have more than one wife, and women are stupid enough to live in that condition, they deserve each other and whatever harvest they reap. I don't equate prejudice with evaluating any subject and taking a stands only in arriving at a conclusion without examining the facts. If I didn' t congr atulat e you for your review of the Bitton book in UHQ, It was a good job and some of your best writin g. Too, I am glad to see you submi t articl es to variou s publi s. You have some good ideas that should be given more expos ure. Ication take only UHQ; never did subsc ribe to Dialog ue or Sunsto ne for the simple reason that I don't have time to read what I'd like to read now. The Winte r issue of UHQ arrive d today and I thoug ht there were four very good review s, espec ially D1a1to n's. I know him and never figure d he was that intell ectua l, I also enjoye d the one on Micha el Quinn 's book on Clark. Maybe we should hold PCs for spring to arrive . v.51 N.4, I want to. Best regard s, P. T. Reilly May 6, 1984 Dear George, Your letter of May 1 touched on a number of things, a couple of them surprising. First, I was surprised at the Johnson reaction and the fact that you were not. Undoubted ly I gave them credit for being more objective than they are capable of being and this saddens me. You know them better than I do, and I have known them 20 years and you haven't even met them. Warren Johnson was a devout LDS but he also was a spunky little man, and telling the truth about him increases his stature at the expense of some of his ecclesias tic superiorso I guess the descendan ts couldn't stand this. I sinned further by exploding some family legend and even if I dug up some miracles I still could not be in good graces. Thetjwant the whole damn story to be a miracle glorifying their faith, so I gue§s we bump heads. How come you have a Joseph Fish story that is not in his "Life and Times"? HOw did you get it if he didn't tell it? He was a good reporter but he wasn't perfect. On his first visit Dec.19, 1878, he peeked over the Marble rim and repeated the old crappola that there are places in the gorge where "the sun never shines on the bottom of the canyon and the stars can be seen at midday." (Krenkel, p.185)0 I, too, want you to read my book. In fact I would like you to critique the way I present the rise of polygamy at the ferry. I suppose this will upset some more of them. I don't condemn the practice, merely state how it happened why, and results. By all means, please send me a reprint of your Sunstone article. What is the subject? You did well in the book review for UHQ. Glad to hear that Leonard A.is getting along so well. No doubt about it, the church lost a keen talent when they gave him the heave-ho. If I were a betting man, I'd wager that the Soviets will solve their problem of a geriatr.ic leadership before the Mormons do. Meanwhile , we all should pray that Spencer K, outlasts ETB. Note the enclosed item about your church paying 20 million cash for the Biswell Ranch. That is the place that allowed the people of Sun City to glean grapes, so - no more raisins for us. There is a strong LDS enclave here and someone had good enough connectio ns in SLC to put them on to the property. Del Webb married and divorced a Boswell girl and we have a major boulevard and hospital named Ba'swell. Who published the Lowry Nelson book? I doubt if we will learn of it in Ariz. Leonard A,was not mentioned in our papers, despite the great number of LDS here• I will go farther than you when you say, the UAW is greedy beyond belief. All unions are, and they are equalled by the company executive s. Anybody would have a tough time convincing me that the execs are worth a quarter of what they get. They have the tax laws set up so the execs get the first dip in the profit bracket, whether there is anything left for the stockhold ers or not. These guys are supposed to set an example, but I say they are encouragin g tne unions to ask for more. NOte the enclosed notice of APS and the "incentive bonuses .. those SOBs get. The so-called "business expense" laws and the Davis-Bac on act have taken millions from the pockets of taxpayers such as you and me. The companies had a wonderful opportuni ty to reduce their exec salaries and bonuses, lower the prices of cars, and keep labor costs down but they really messed it up. Even a compact costs $10,000 today, and a medium-si ze car about $15,000, Yet the stupid public rushes to buy them on credit. Everythin g is passed on to the consumer- and like the enemy, it is ·us. Now let's not get unreasona ble. You know that God wouldn't dare allow the Great Salt Lake to rise so high as to innundate the temple. That was some photo of Saltair. Take care P. T. Reilly Dear George., May 15., 1984 Thank you for the Joseph Fish quote . If you remember my review of the Krenkel-e dited version of Joseph Fish., you know I was aware of the Fish re-writes. , but I did not know that you had found one of his versions at Enterpris e . Fish tells part of this in the Krenkel edition., pp . 197198., but he omitted the part about Bro . Foutz being in charge of the ferry , but absent o This confirms my statement that Fout z was technical ly in charge due to JWY ' s pique at Warren Johnson for taking Emma Lee ' s part in the sale of the ferry to the church . The version you have would be difficult to quote academica lly unless you have put the complete edition in HDC and identified it apart from the others . Fish relates , and Silas confirms, that Andrew Jensen took one of his books and never returned it as well as ignoring his requests to do so . I agree with you that it is a cute story and bears out that even the critters preferred Utah to that pathetic Little Colorado country . I would have to revise to include it even if you can dig up a reference. , and I ' m far past that point . I handled the preference of most LDS for Utah over the L. C. in the Aaron Johnson phase . But as you say, it is exception ally good . Why don ' t you think about how I could reference it and also whether your other notes would be worth my revising my text . Recently Sun City has barred smoking from the Recreatio n Centers and the smokers are raising hell about it . We just had a vote on whether to repeal the rule , and I ' m quite sure it will be upheld . All the markets and shops in town have signs, "Thank you for not smoking ., " but some pigs do anyway., apparantly for spite . I don ' t allow smoking in my home . Non-smoke rs are gaining ., but it ' s a long haul o It is sad to go by a highschool and see the kids puffing away . Your flooding really is in the news at present and we feel for you . Many times as I head south out of the Utah Valley., and nearly opposite the prison, I look up on the eastern hills and see old beach terraces . They must be 200 feet above the present freeway . Few LDS would admit thier identity or time . Benson has been catching a lot of flak about a snowbird cartoon., with letters about 50-50 pro and con . Most people love cartoons about their pet peeves but have tender feelings when they are tromped on . We have had 103 degrees in Phoenix., 96 here, but it has started to cool off . Today was only 92 . But tempers are much hotter in the copper towns and Babbitt had to call out the national guard . Those people are quite viscious . Take care, and keep a life preserver handy . Best regards, - {?:f P . T. Reilly Dear George., June 7., 1984 I enjoyed your letter of May 26 and agree wholeheartedly with the three clippings you enclosedo Union and executive greed are two evils of our times that we must do something about. Possibly you misunderstood my meaning about the Joe Foutz matter. I have a copy of JWY's letter to John Taylor in which he stated he had put Foutz in charge of the ferry after he bought it from Emma Lee. You see., Young punished Johnson for taking the widowGs part when he tried to cheat her. What I'm not sure of is how well known was it that Foutz was in charge. He was rarely there except in the deal for the ferry when he acted as agent for JWY while Young was showing Woodruff his new ranch at the San Francisco peaks. Fish is the only one who has come out and said it. To the best of my knowledge Foutz never operated the ferry and never crossed a single soul. If anyone doesn't get the idea that the Saints didn't relish a call to Arizona., it will be that they can't read. I give numerous examples., enumerate all the undesirable features--lack of feed near the ferry., lousy water., wind., sand., etc. Aaron Johnson was the most outspoken on this and the family eventually moved Winifred's body from the ferry to Provo o I'd be interested to learn more of your points of difference in the Arizona U.O. For that matter., all Orders in Utah were not the same., and BY's presentation of it was one of the weakest things he ever did. He was far past his prime in 1874., beset with political troubles by antifederal officials in SLC and acted as tho he expected God to make the idea work once he advanced thetheme., Orderville was a spinoff from Mt. Carmel; the "haves" remaining and the "have nots" moving 4 miles up the canyon. Even here., human nature (greed) eventually scuttled the thing and a few--including JWY--got away with the loot. fhelps-Bodge has started evacuating the strikers from company homes and those hotheads will never work there again. The copper towns have always been full of labor militants. We attended a share holders meeting of APS and the executives shoveled out.. the bovine extract with a large shovel. I embarrassed Susie once by saying in a loud voice "Look at that overhead.," when they asked the officers to stand up. The whole damn front row stood. When I was at Lockheed I counted 92 vice-presidents in the phone book and I never could learn what a single one did. Winslow has been in the news lately. Great amount of corruP,tion among cit y police and other officials there. If you are interested I' I( clip more for you but it is pretty cheap and sordid. I'm agraid your sorghum-watermelon festival won't get anywhere unless a young livewire is present to pitch in and set an example, then says "follow me." Too many cases of 1Jeople advising others to "do this or do that." Good luck on it anyway. Hope Bolger has some luck in getting a rollback on the postal union wages. Can you imagine how much education a carrier should have? In LA they put Blacks to work who can't even read well enough to deliver to the correct address. And for that they are paid $1600 to ~1800 per month. It's sickening. Do you believe Jesse's friend Farrakham who says that a race war is due to erupt? If so., I know who I'll aim at. Keep your boat handy. Best regards, - P. T. Reilly June 28, 1984 Dear George, I found your letter of June 16 quite interestin g, also the clippings . If you ever get a stockhold ers union going you can count on me as a charter member. I concluded a long time ago that holding stocks for income was for the birds. If the well dried up, those union idiots might change their tune. I doubt that Johnny Miller will ever win a big one again, even tho he continues to be a nice guy. There are some good LDS athletes active at present, and my favorites are Dale Murphy and Kiki v. If you remember, one of the books I got for HDC was the Kanab u.o. Appraisal Book. Of course only about half of Kanab joined but those who did turned in their property and the book tells its appraised value. Unlike the Mt.Carme l-Ordervil le split, the anti-and pro-UO continued to live together in Kanab. Yes, BY's attitude about the UO was "Let's you and him fight. A man would have to have his head in the clouds perpetual ly to think the UO could work . Joe City must have had an unusually nigh proportio n of idealists . I bought a copy of the Bushman book after you made the connectio n for me. You said there was very little editing. Did you ever do anything more with Lot Smith and The Lion's Share? It seems to me that this is too good to be let slide, although some of the brethren might start shooting at you. Just how much faith do you put in the theory that Geo.Q. Cannon poisoned BY over his insistence on keeping the UO? I know some pretty good men who think it was probable. Have you heard about the English Catholic who has just published a book re the poisoning of Pope John Paul? The author was on Larry King's program June 26. It's the old story of the ins and outs waging political fights to change or keep things as they are. Most LDS won't even consider that BY didn't die a natural death. Too bad Fawn Brodie didn't get to this before the cancer hit her. Summer arrived here with a bang, even tho the sun has started south. We are not nearly as hot as Phoenix, due to the way our place is landscape d. We are 6 to 10 degrees cooler than in town. You must have known the Crandell gal in the obit as her maiden name was Richards and she was born-~in Joe City. Haven't heard any more about your flooding, so the worst must be over. I doubt that the Great Salt Lake will have :receded o 0 I was going to let the Johnsons critique my treatment of the Johnson split after the rise of the fundamen talists at Lee's Ferry, but after their reaction to the previous parts, I decided to let them read it in print. Would you have an opinion on this? (Seeing as how you said you could have forecast their previous reaction) . Take care, and best regards P. T. Reilly Dear George,, July 24,, 1984 Your letter of July 15 was received three days later and its contents seem to indicate that you did not have my last letter because you answered none of the points. Perhaps they were inconse quential . I don't know how I would react with a woman doctor so please keep me informed . Maybe they are pulling psycholo gy on you. Let's hope she doesn't have to do more than superfi cial checks. I was saving a clip of the Chrysle r executiv es receivin g bonuses but you beat me to it,, so I 'll roundfil e mine. The unions are opening contrac ttalks and it seems to me that executiv e greed is bound to result in demands to split the loot and we will get another price increase and fuel inflatio n. Those executiv e SOBS make enough with their fat salaries and perks without bonuses . This was the best chance in the world for them to elimina te bonuses. , cut salaries ,, and reduce prices to meet foreign competition . This would have made new labor contrac ts much easier and would strength en the U.S. market. God help the consume rs if the Gov't gives them a monopoly on the U.S. market. Some of your old Jo City playmate s are falling by the wayside . You must know the enclosed and the one I sent previous ly,, altho you didn't mention it. Are you telling me that Utah's copper pits are shut down? How come they don't fire the strikers and continue to work with non-unio n labor? The Arizona pits are going strong but the strikers are awfully dumb not to realize they gave up their jobs. The strikers aren't helping themselv es with the public either,, as witness the poor publicit y re the woman teaching her kid to give the Hawaiian salute. No wonder they grow up as ignoram uses. I don't have much comment on the spectac le in San Francisc o, and the TV ratings indicate the rest of the country doesn't care either. I don't think Ferraro will change much. They whooped and hollered when the orators said anything v regardle ss of truth. The Bert Lance and the promised tax increase caused many people to take another look. Royko appears to be right re Jackson, and the LDS kid,, Benson, sums it up rather well. Our Governo r Babbitt is preparin g to take Goldwat er's Senate seat in 1986, and the Arizona Republic ans have not groomed a replacem ent. Do you think Leonard Arringto n was too liberal to suit his brethren ? Had he been more fundame ntalist,, he might not have been retired. Kimball hangs on and ETB must be pretty antsy. A colleagu e informs me that the new church museum and genealo gical building have been construc ted just west of Temple Square. Have you been through these? I understa nd they are open. I would guess that several items donated through my effort are on exhibit- -among them the "10 M to K slab of sandston e, and some hardware from the Lee 's Ferry boat. If you ever get over there I 'd like to hear your impress ions. What use will be made of the west wing of the Church Office Bldg. if G.S. moved into the new quarters ? Guess I 'll have to get to SLC to see the changes . 0 Best regards. , ,.,,,,.-3 zf?_j P. T. Reilly Dear George, August 20, 1984 I hope you made th e Tanner reunion in Payson yesterda y and saw many relative s. I received a bid to a family union in Texas- a mite fartherbut didn't know any of the people so did not try to go. The LDS keep up on family matters eetter than any other group of people unless we count the Mafia. As long as I know that you saw the obituar ies, I am satisfie d. Some are small and could be discarde d in the envelope . Anytime I see one of the old pioneer names, especia lly one born in Joe City, I clip .it for you. Bolger might have a point. He runs a pretty large outfit for $82,900 per year. I have known several VPs who make more and have one-qua rter the respons ibility. Modern industry is loaded with them. We didn•t intern people with German or Italian names in WW 1 so why pick on the Japanese ? The Japanese are easy to recogniz e, the others less so. I was interest ed to read the article of the new book about Emma H. Smith by the NAU profess or. We might have another Fawa Brodie case. It is interest ing that HDC gave her full (or nearly so) access at first, then +estrict ed what she could see. Had you heard about this previou sly? I would imagine that the average LDS would not accept the Avery views of Emma Smith, What is your opinion? Avery still has good standing but it might not last. Some of her views are right out of Brodie and just about have to be rejected by the average Saint. I'll certainl y see the new museum if we ever get back to SLC. What are they using the west wing of the church office building for if Gen.Soc . has moved to the new location ? It is difficu lt to disagree with Raspber ry about the Miss America matter, but who cares except the promote rs and the immature audience that puts stock in such promotio ns. We certainl y have a large number of do-good ers who lean over backward to heap honors on quarter- breed Blacks. Maybe the transpla nted Africans think they are going to take over beauty promotion as they have certain phases of athletic s. Oh hum. Yes, most- labor unions are too stubborn to back up when economic times are adverse . I think company negotiat ions have been very weak in the past to write the contrac t they did. They are just as guilty to think every fat contrac t could purchase labor peace and pass it on to the consume r. They forgot about foreign competi tion or else thought they could control Congres s to place tariffs on imports. Their economic s are childish . Hope all is well with you. P. T. Reilly Dear George, August JO, 1984 I enjoyed your provocative letter and thought you had a clever idea to •dentify yourself and relate the little incident about John Tanner and the old !ook of Mormon. I assume you handed these out to the Tanners you didn't know at the reunion. Good picture of you, too. If I got one of these I would be motivated to respond. Don't be downcast because of the low turnout. The LDS are the best of all groups at family togetherness. You ought to see how many non-Mormon families react. I consider the breakdown of the modern family to be one of our most serious social problems. We don't even have fanily members slightly interested in our ancestors except for a couple of our own generationo lack of interest in the younger generations bothers me. I'll help Seth's descendants as I can if they call on meo I get more longdistance or out of state calls than I do local oneso The local NBC Phoenix outlet, Channel 12, is trying to rope me in on doing a documentary on the Colorado River through G~and Canyon. I'm not too enthusiastic because it will take about three weeks that I can't afford. I should Aave the contract by Saturday and I'll see how it sounds. Give these guys an inch and they head for Turkey lane. No, I don't take Dialogue because I have no time. I'd be interested in the B.H. Roberts article. What relation is he to the old historian? Does his article per~ain to the Kimball Declaration? The ~~apers in L.A. are giving a big play to the Martin Harris letter, the golden plates, and the white salamander. Also about Jan Shipps, Richard L. Bushman, Gerald and Sandra Tanner. According to them, Mormonism is fairly well shook up about this dessention. You probably know all about it and I'd like to keep the article or I'd send it along. I doubt if the dissention will change many opinions about J oseph Smith, pro or con. It does seem that more liberal Mormons are coming into the open than ever before, and this has to be good. This article mentions som~ candid books recently publi shed by Arrington and Donna Hill. ~~Rh~~ser Can you tell me whether Zions Secu~ities Corporation is still operating? They handled considerable church business during the 19)0s. Don't let those VA doctors make a guinea pig out of you with excessive medication. Every one has a reaction and they aren't all good. our summer has been quite mild until today. It was 111 in Phoenix and The monsoon has been with us for a record 68 days. lOJ here. Enclosing an article about Kiki which you may enjoy. Best regards, P. T. Reilly October 3, 1984 Dear George, Your letter of September lJ was in the accumulated mail that . u~ie saved for me. I left Sept.9, returned the 24th. In between, I traveled by auto, airplane, boat, foot, and chopper. They shot 18 hours of video tape and we still have to go back for a couple of days of chopper work as I show them things that can't be seen from either river or rim. It was quite an experience as I was on camera most of the time- and I've had no experience and don't even know the lingo. The resulting documentary will air in the Phoenix area in prime time early in December, If the result is good, it will go national, I'm not optimistic. The best thing about being away was that Susie got .some needed typing of the final draft done and I escaped the political bat fertilizer. Evidently you didn't believe the clipping you sent me whereby the GM chai~man Roger Smith told his chief bargainer to"take care of it- we don't want a strike." I found it very easy to believe as those SOBs sell their positions out every time, thinking they can pass the increase on to the public. The union knows they are henhouse and that they can make unreasonable demands and get them. All -or most- of the top executives are reprehensible and more to blame for the inflation than the demanders. And they call these guys leaders of industry! The share-owning public should sell their holdings and protest. I hope Ford hangs tougher. Now Smith will yell for an embargo against foreign products, which gives US makers a monopoly. If the U.S. auto executives had any guts they would have drawn a line years ago, taken the position that a strike against one is a strike against all, and shut U.S. production down until the unions got the message. Your estimate that they nould cut $2000 to $2500 from the price of a car is too low. The dealers get thatwiuch to play with to screw the customers. They didn't roll up those record profits from cutting prices too fine. Your story of helping yourself to Obert•s garden makes me drool. Nothing like fresh-picked vegetables--especially with all the crap they feed cattle and pigs these days for pure greed. The public is a giant guinea pig for the chemical industry and who knows what we ingest or what it does to us? I am overjoyed to see BYU emerge from the WAC level and enter the top field. I wish them every success. They already have a reputation for turning out top QBs. I can't see how the USFL can ve~pay those fantastic salaries . they are offering collegiate stars. I doubt if the USFL lasts another season. Autumn is in the air and Oct.2 was the first really fall day. The snowbirds are returning and out town is filling up to the point that parking places at the market areas are filled constantly. Makes little difference to me as I remain inside and work while Susie does the shopping, but I do get out occasionally. Did you ever figure out what percent you are getting in return for owning your GM stock? I'll bet you can beat it considerably by dumping it and putting the money elsewhere. The gov•t taxes your ·dividends, which decreases your return farther. Living off the returns from common stocks has not been profitable for many years. Unless one buys them low, sells high, he can do much better elsewhere. Enclosed are a few clips for you. Best regards, P. T. Reilly · FEDERAL BURE.AUCRACY .DISCOVERS LOUISIANA PURCHJ\S3 The president of a Louisiana company was tcying to buy land for plant exp81lsion and wanted to finance it with a goverr.men t loan. . · His lawyer filled out all the necessary forms including the abstract tracing title back to 1803. The governmen t reviewed his applic2tio n and abstract and sent back the following letter. We receiv;~d your letter enclosing applicatio n for your client suppo~ted by abstract of title. We've observed that you haven't traced title previous to 1803, and before final approval it will be necessary that title be traced previousl y to that year. The lawyer's reply: Your letter regarding title received. I was unaware that any educated man failed to know that Louisiana was uurchased from France in 1803 . Title of the land was acquired- by France by right of conquest · from Spain. The land came into possessio n of Spain in 1493 by right of discovery by an Italian sailor named Columbus. The good Queen Isabella took the precautio n of securing the blessing of the Pope of Rome upon Columbus' . voyage before she sold her jewels to help him. Now the Pope is the emissa~J of Jesus Christ, Son of God. And God made the world. Therefore , I believe that it is safe to assume that he also made that uart of the United States called Louisiana and I hope to hell you're satisfied l l ----- Dear George, November 8, 1984 Had I known how much time I would be devoting to this documen tary, I would have refused to particip ate, And it is not over yet. To help promote the thing I am due to appear with Linda on KTAR. the Preston Westmor eland Show, 2 to J PM on Nov.20. I was repaid on N v. 2 when I guided two helicop ters on a tour of seldom seen places in Gr~nd Canyon that can't be seen from either river or rim. We were gone all day and it was one of the most fabulous experien ces I have ever had. Even with all the second-h and knowledg e we have of chopper s, it is fantasti c to sit there with clear plastic above and below, and have the machine go up and down like an elevato r, sideway s, or stand still and hover in front of features r•ve had to look at from a distance o The pilot's ability to change the pitch of the main and rear rotor ~blades is the answer. And did I shoot pictures l Thank you for the B.H. Roberts xerox which I received Sept. 7. I gave read it thorough ly and can sympath ize with Bro. Robets at not being able to resolve the difficu lties. Let me tell you my experien ce along the~me lineo I was with a faithful LDS on the North Rim of Grand Canyon once at an elevatio n of about 8800 feet above sea level. I showed him some crinoids and sea shells embedded in the limeston e, told him this stratum was formed on the bottom of the sea about 130 million years ago, yet today is more than 600 miles from the ocean and nearly 9000 feet high. How did he cor= relate this with the age of the earth as given in the B of M? He did just what the Apostle s did--he did not make any effort to explain it but merely told me what he believes . I know how Roberts felt. If the brethren would only listen to such question ing brains, the religion would be better off than it is now. It would evolve into growth instead of being static fundame ntalism. I guess when I last wrote yow on Oct. 3 my TV project had not progress ed as far as it has now, so I'll bring you up to date. They g ot about 18 hours of videotap e on the river, we got several more on two return trips to the rim, and now the helicop ter footage should give them enough for several picture s. Four short segment s will air over the 6 PM News (KPNX Channel 12, the NBC outlet in Phoenix) on Nov. 1~ thru 16. This is called 0 Return to the River.•• Then on Nov. 20 at 8 PM, a half-hou r program will be shown which is called "Where God Lost His Boots." This is one of the expressi ons I have used fo-r. years to denote how remote and unknown some sections of Grand Canyon still are. They have a local sponsor or two and if it goes over as they hope, it will be seen nationa lly. The first four segments will be advertis ed with a full page ad in the TV Guide; the second will have a double page spread includin g a mug shot of P.T. Can you imagine that? I haven't seen any of it but the produce rs and photogra pher tell me it is good. These cameras are fantasti c. As you know, they don't use film, but videotap e. You can replay a scene right after it is shot--ju st like instant replay on f ootball. This allows changes to be made on the spot""~ It is hard work. I did some scenes over six times. They can shoot you a foot away or a halfmile and you still fill the screen. These Sony cameras cost about $70,000 They have mikes that also do wonderf ul things such as filterin g out side . noise and picking up only what it is pointed at. The boys left such a "shotgun mike" on a sandbar. Of course we couldn't go back for it:', but t hen it only cost $1000. I wanted them to run the chbpper upriver about ten miles and get it but they s a id it wasn 't worth it~ I know exactly where they left ito When we were at the rim they talked of renting a commercial helicopter at a good rate of $400 per hour but I spoiled it r by saying I didn't want :to show these things to a commercial pilot. Our two choppers on Nov. 2 must have cost Gannett Corpo 6 to 8 thousand buckso These people spend money like it was mule muffins. I no longer feel guilty about having a $16.95 steak at El Tovar because all entrees cost about the same and theirs cost as much as mine. Dinner for four cost about $90 including wineo Your letter of Oct~ 11 was exceptionally good and I enjoyed the clippings .o Our paper carried the news of the murders you mention but there was no hint that they were LDS members and I assumed they were noto I guess every crop has a few rotten apples, regardless of the orchard. I'm with you on these fantastic salaries for basketball players. Most are drop-outs, got into college on affirmative action, and can't spell many words with more than three letters~ The real idiots are the stupid fans~ who pay 16 to 18 dollars night after night to watch these bums do their thing. The salary ~tructures of all professional sports are out of hand and I can't see things improving. The owners show little inclination to control salaries, give the goons what they ask and pass it on to the fans~ If people would stop attending, you would see it come into reasonable control. I don't give a tinker•s dam if the home team wins, loses, or doesn't even play.The owners and players are getting rich out of provincial pride. Every sport is cutting in on the pot, from golf and bowling to football., Our boy Benson did a good one on the election and I enclose it for you. I wonder how long it is going to take the Democrats to realize that they have to recapture their party from the far left liberals who took it over se easily. They ought to know that they are out of step with mainstream America. Note the demands of the Washington Blacks for a super state. Small wonder that they voted for Mondale. He would-and did-promise anything to anyone for a vote, but people realized it. Reagan is no bargain but he has sense enough to surround himself with smarter people than Mondale did~ You might find the article on Mexican persecution of Protestant missionaries interesting.o Has it affected LDS missionaries to any extent? Mexican jails are to be avoided at all costs. There are few Mexican officials who are not corrupt, and I'm not going to Mexico until things change. Sam Taylor sent me an announcement of his two books on his grandfather. Wonder how he got my name as I have never corresponded with him. Vol.2 sounds better to me than Volol. Have you seen either? Are you getting the set? · Jake Garn is due for a space flight.Do you know whether he is liberalor fundamentalist? I'd like to know his inner thoughts when he's in orbito Like B.H. Roberts, he's likely to develop some questions. He will return the most traveled LDS in history. He seems qualified~ Had I been Reagan I would not have appeared on the same platform with Mondale. It was a no win situation. I don•t call them debates but glorified press conferences. A good old fashioned debate I could go for~ After the affair was over, the families came on stage and everybody was lovey-dovey but next day they were blasting eachother again. Do you think the report true that Mondale promised Jesse Jackson he would be Sec'y of State (if he won)in return for his support? I hope your early snow doesn't presage a n other bad winter and heavy run off. You've had more than your share. Best regards, P. T. Reilly Dear George, November 29, 1984 Your fine letter of Nov.16 was received on the 20th and I thought it was one of your best. It is not at all difficult to agree with you re the inflated salaries of today's athletes and executive s. Inflation has distorted our values to the extent that it is difficult to retain one's perspecti ve. The only thing that will bring these dreamboat s back to earth is a protracted depressio n. Doctor and lawyer fees, hospital rates, and utilities are out of control and the consumer holds the bag. We should have cashed out our stocks, combined the proceeds with our nest egg and put it all into gold in the 1960s. I did this with some of my savings but should have done it with more. I think that the difficulty can only be wiped out through inflation and gold at today's price looks pretty good. The pros have to sell a lot of seats to pay some of these spoiled-b rat athletes. The stupid fans bear the burden as they fill the stadiums night after night at 15 to 18 bucks a seat to see the affairs. Just protect yourself as best you can and don't let it get to you. The fiasco re your eye surgery postponem ent was unbelieva ble and someone should have his butt kicked, Hope they finally got on the beam and that you are recoverin g. I have not noticed the increase of anti-LDS activity in Arizona. In fact, you send me more from SLC than I read here. You don't get a fraction of adverse publicity as does the Oregon guru and Rev. Moon. And look at the situation in India or the middle east.. Poli ti cal repression in Central and so. America, Africa, are much worse than the Saints experience d in the U.S. i got on the sucker list for Signature Books of Midvale and I notice the fragment of Mary Jane Mount Tanner listed at $12095, Did you arrange this'? The WW diaries, 9 Vols. are quoted at i4oo, the Emma H. Smith book, $17.95• At the time I wrote that I was sorry I had become involved in the TV thing, that was the way I felt. I have mellowed a bit now and am glad I did, even tho it cost me ten weeks. We took the helicopte r to the canyon on Nov.2 and this was a high point of my life, but just before I wrote you I got my pictures back and was tremendou sly disappoin ted. The pilot was so inconside rate of my needs -despite its being in the contract- that I had to shoot on the fly, never had time to take a meter reading. Often I shot through the plastic nose, over my feet, because he was intent on getting from one place to another and not disposed to turn or tip the machine. I especially wanted good pictures of an aborigina l meditatio n platform high in the side of a cliff that I have always had to shoot at an angle from the river. I got two pictures but both were too thin to make prints by being underexpo sed. Knowing that Foster (the pilot) makes '250,000 per year and takes the chopper home with him each night as some employees do a company car, I was teed off. The Gannett co. even built him a pad at his home in Carefree and spent one million on it. Operation of the helicopte r costs them another one million per year. And this slob can't take 5 seconds to turn the ship so I can get a shot! All because he wants to get back to Phoenix so he can give the weather report from the chopper in the 5 PM News. I have cooled down somewhat and now think the project was worth my time, even if I didn't get a picture on the chopper trip. The Nov.20 show made me a river guru and was worth ten thousand bucks in publicity alone, except that I have no use for publicity and never have. They had a good theme: t~o old geezers getting togethe~ for a river trip after 20 years, and passing me off as the great authority on river running and history. I did get are still interview Those who air. The station I loaves of quite a few telephone calls and even fan letters, but my feet on the ground. I was ., especially let down in the hour long on the radio as no one knew enough to ask good questions. called in were idiots, only wanting to hear themselves on the best feature of the radio interview was that en route to the stopped at our favorite Jewish bak~ry in Ehoanix and got two Jewish rye and some fresh bagels. Your proposal with your half sister, Eva Shelley, sounds interesting if a detail or two can be arranged. How do you propose that I approach her? Obviously I should not own up to knowing you, so how do I know she has a Joe City background? I don't sail under false colors and could not pass myself off as an LDS. I might say that Bro. J. D. Hanson spoke of her some years back and that I am just getting around to looking her up. (Keep my fingers crossed). What is his given name or what handle did he go by 'in Joe City? Do you have a better idea? A better reference? Please tell me what you can of Signature Books. I'-: note _they do not say who edited the WW journals or how much editing was done. Have these been published previously? Whoever translated his handwriting d~serves a blue ribbon. I have examined one of his original journals and I could not read some of it. Somehow, sending me this catalogue smacks of opportunism. What think? I enclose the article on Mexican persecution of non-Catholic missionaries. Note they do not mention Mormons but I don't see how LDS missionaries could escape, It is most surprising that you have made such inroads in the Catholic country. I have always thought that the reason Catholicism was so readily embraced by the Mexican people is because its ritual appealed to the primitive mind and the Indians found it to be a refined version of their own religion. A visit to some of their churches deep in Mexico today reinforces that belief~ I have stumbled on someth~ng that might turn out to be a bonanza. One of the passengers on the September river trip mentioned that in 1940-41 he had a room at the Harvard Graduate School of Business next to one occupied by Hezekiah Sumner Hatch who went by the handle of H. Sumner Hatch, keeping the Hezekiah secret. Hatch came from So.California, having moved there from Utah due to dissatisfaction with the LDS Church. HSH had the diary written by his grandfather (or g.grf.) that told of his early life in Utah and the arrival of the u.s.Army. I note that on p.149, item 1061 of the Bitton Guide, there is a listing for a biography of Hezekiah Eastman Hatch, 1855-1928. The 4-inch description leads me to think the diary in the possession of HSH could have been by the father of HSH and not the one described by Davis Bitton. Can you make a phone call and get Davis to give you a list of the family members and a possible defector1 I would rather sound this out from this angle before searching for HSH, as his location is not known at present and my informant has not seen him for 15 years. And all this just as I was getting back in the groove (or rut?) in completing my text. The final draft of the first 12 chapters looks very good thru the biased eyes of Susie and me. I enjoyed tour clippings. Suggest you start a boycott of aJlBB games. Best regards, P, T. Reilly December 26, 1984 Dear George, Your letter of December 11 gave me bad moments betw implant and pneumonia. Coughing brought on by the latte deJicate iod of the former. You ar · yo , but do take it easy. right that you sho fortunate to ha grandson and wife mo pe they work out satisfactor Few people are iucky ug o find their ds answered in thei wn Kindred, especial t e e can cook.o Had a nice letter from Davis Bitton but did not get it answer~d before he i ft or Caltfornia to spend the rest of the year with his sister. Since i divorce, she doesn't like him spending the Christmas season alone. I'll av.ea letter for him early in 1985. I don't think the biography he wrote up is the one I heard about but will try to find out. Davis and I had lunch together once in the Beehive House. Evidently the Hatch who was the father of the man who had the diary did not see eye to eye with the church about the time of WW 1 and moved from S LC to the Los Angeles area. I recommended searching for a Hatch in the excommunicated lists, although he could just have drifted away from being an active LDS. If Sister Hatch sends you some genealogy sheets, please look for Glen S.Hatch who might be related to H.S. Hatch. Glen's wife, while the daughter of a devout LDS, was not one herself. I always assumed that ail the Utah Hatches were related, but now do not think so. Does Jesse Hatch have any kinship to Ira Hatch, the man who with Thales Haskell made Jacob Hamblin such a reputation? Ira had only one wife and it was a lifelong affair. She was half Paiute, half Navajo. Their posterity attempted to claim Navajo Tribal membership for government benefits. I wish some good LDS scholar would write about the interrelation of the Utah Hatches. I'll see if I can work up a creditable case for your half-sister Eva. Do you think she would reply if I broke the ice with a letter? Think I should avoid all mention of you? I hate to barge in on her cold. We thought BYU did a creditable job on Michigan although it appeared to me that the officials from the s.w.conference clearly favored Michigan so that Oklahoma might sneak up to No. 1. Replays show that the men in the striped shirts blew several calls in favor of the Big Ten school - and this coach is stili the same sorehead who lost so many Rose Bowl games. I think any of the top 20 teams can beat any other one on a given day, and playing a strong schedule is one of the requirements. However, a good passing team and a sturdy defense can go far. I saw BYU outplay the Airforce, who had a pretty fair team this year. Has your paper carried the story of a federal judge dismantling the de facto legal system of higher education by ordering nearly all-Black Tennessee State Univ. to admit White students and thus raise the standard of admittance? Of course Jesse Jackson wants to preserve the Black identity of Tenn.s.u. • He and a bunch of Black activists want hite students and professores fired and Blacks hired to replace the teachers. The Blacks seems to want it both ways, an are just as ignorant about facing reality as are Arizona's copper unions. hen Phelps-Dodge announced closing of the Morenci smelter, the striking unionists were dancing in the streets and saying that now maype the)' can get a contract. What idiots! Volunteers from the Valley National Bank , are are lecturi ng in local high school s, telling the studen ts they must improv e in commu nication s or they will be taking a "cold bath" when they enter the busine ss worldo They stress the importa nce of good speakin g, writin g, readin g, and listeni ng. At Ariz. Republ ic on Dec.25 public ized a Black family (man, wife, 4 childre n) observ ing ''Kwanz a," and 18-yea r-old Black holiday to replace Christm as. The bastard s can't produc e a governm ent in Africa that is not corrup t, or i free, yet they seek to "improv e" Americ an society by import ing a culture that hasn•t contrib uted anythin g except misery , famine , and corrup tion. And our. excess of do-goo ders let them! We are anxiou s to hear now your eye surgery came out. Cost var-ies -from $1800 to $4000 per eye. Susie might need an implan t somedayo greatly Otherw ise all is well with us. Keep warm/