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SHAWN PHILLIPS Family |
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Shawn certainly had an opportunity to learn about personal and artistic integrity first hand from his father. Here is an autobiographical passage from an early work: "I was a Marine corps officer in War the Deuce, and caught a dasy-clipper in the ankle, on Iwo Shima. While I was convalescing in the Klamath hospital, a civilian stopped by my ward and asked how I would like serving my country even more. I had done some writing before the war, and he showed me how I could resume that pastime, while obstensibly having no connection with the agency [CIA]. All I had to do was thread certain angles into my prose. Those angles, naturally, were that all my heavies had to be communists or socialists, thick-necked, brutal blunderers and slobs. My heros, naturally again, would be clean-cut, clean-living, boyish Yanks. Always, in time's nick, they would be able to protect democracy fron the stain of alien ideas. I declined." Paying writers secret bonuses to slip anti-communist propaganda into their fiction and non fiction was a common CIA practice of the time. Imagine the temptation to an injured young man, with no guaranteed future or job. According to historians of the era, many writers succombed to this temptation. Among them, from internal evidence, are the authors of two series of contemporary spy thrillers the " Assignment--" series, and the Chet Drumm series both would have seemed to have cooperated and taken money to write just that kind of work. Not Shawn's father. Twenty years later, when James Atlee Phillips began to write his own spy series to support himself, his heavies were not communist or socialists, who were thick-necked, brutal blunderers and slobs. Nor were his heroes clean-cut, clean-living, boyish Yanks, who, always in time's nick, saved the world and protected democracy fron the stain of alien ideas. More on what his hero was like, later - Jean Marie Stine jmstine@worldnet.att.net Dan wrote: If anyone knows of instances that Shawn had either set his father's writings to music, or discussed what his father had meant to him, their relationship and so forth, such would be interesting to know. Ronnee replied: I only know of a story that Shawn told one time.... It seems his dad had an interesting idea about universal energy or such, in that he wondered if, perhaps, everything we see or experience in our lives isn't really there, except at the very moment we are perceiving it. As if all tangible things in this world are constructed only moments before we get there to experience them. Also, of all the many places and countries and continents he had travelled throughout the world, the one place he had never been to, and most wanted to, was the Taj Mahal. Well, at long last, shortly before his death, he finally got his chance to visit the Taj Mahal. He got there, and there was a sign on the door... "UNDER CONSTRUCTION" Bernie wrote: where was shawn when he talked about his dad? what type of emotions ran thru the tale? Ronnee replied: It was in Pawling New York, 1991. I was sitting with him and some friends of his before the concert. One of these friends was Rock Brynner, son of Yul Brynner. Rock was telling a very interesting story about his father too. When Shawn told his story, I could see a lot of pride and admiration in him. I also detected a bit of bittersweetness. It was a funny story, and got a big laugh, but I could see that Shawn was both in awe of his father's fantasy, and also missing him dearly. Ronnee Ringquist Dave Eveland
more on Shawn's father and the CIA by Bill Crider
read Shawn's
liner notes on
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Copyright Shawn Phillips, all right reserved.
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