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To The Friends of Dr. Nick Begich and Earthpulse Press |
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Dear Friends, My co-author, best friend, and fellow activist James Roderick passed away from natural causes on Saturday, August 10, 2002 at 12:50 AM Anchorage Standard Time. I cannot explain how much he meant to my family and I with only words. He was like my brother. I used to tell people if they called my office they would get either me, my wife Shelah or Jim and that whoever they got it would be like talking to me. Most people do not even know how much Jim did to get the issues I have been covering out to the public the last few years. It is now even more important that this be understood. James Roderick lived a simple life with little regard for physical things. His eye was toward making the world a better place. On a foundation of nothing physical in terms of economics Jim believed that a single person, even with nothing in his pocket could still reach out with what he had and do something truly great for someone else. He did not seek either recognition or reward. He only sought to do, to take an action, that might further what he believed was right and true. He knew "trying" was what was required. Not winning or loosing by the world's standards but always trying no matter what the obstacles. Jim knew that the spirit of a single soul contained more power than a thousand suns. He knew that his connection to the universe and the Creator would allow him the opportunity to serve a greater good, and he was committed to do so, and he did. Jim lived below the poverty level his entire life, had none of the material advantages of even the average person in this country. Yet, he knew what he did have, and he gave that until his last breath escaped him, and his soul departed while surrounded by his best friends and closest family members. An environmental activist credited with organizing the food supply for sea otters during the great Alaska oil spill in Prince William Sound Jim engaged in what he believed in. He was responsible for helping break several of the major environmental news stories in this part of the world - only a few us even knew. After spending several years caring for his father before he died Jim Roderick began to follow the strange tale of HAARP. Jim was an activist fighting military toxins at the time had tripped over the HAARP story in 1991. Jim had a great sense for these things and knew he smelled a rat. He joined with two others and formed NO HAARP two years before I was involved in these issues. When I met Jim in 1993 he and his friends had exhausted their resources and energy and were discussing giving up the fight. It was just before that time that I published my first article on the subject triggering a chain of events which culminated in the book Angels Don't Play This HAARP(with co-author Jeane Manning). Half of the references in that work were compiled by the original NO HAARP'ers and safeguarded by Jim Roderick. After consultation with his colleagues they agreed to transfer the archives to me and we agreed to continue to fight the fight together. As the years rolled on and the book was published Jim, my wife and I stayed the course of NO HAARP for what has now been 8 years. We raised and spent $1.5 million dollars in opposition to HAARP through the sale and promotion of our intellectual property - what was in our heads and hearts. We wrote together to change the world and did. Every achievement I have made as a person could not have been done the last eight years without Jim Roderick and my wife Shelah. When you see and hear me in the future I hope you also all remember Jim and my wife who remains beside me in each day's battles. On August 9, 2002, the day before Jim died, I was able to let him know that the debate on HAARP had reached a new level with the Russian Duma passing an action in opposition to HAARP. Four years ago, after we had worked together at a distance, Jim had a brush with death. At that time we were told that Jim had a week to live. My wife and I rushed to the airport to fly to Homer, Alaska to see are ailing friend. Then the miracle happened. His liver functions returned and his body began to heal. He was released a few days later. We decided we needed Jim closer to us and he would gain a greatly improved work condition. We arranged for the big move to Eagle River and had him relocated a few blocks from my family. A few months later began a series of events that would make these last four years his best at a time when I was going through my worst. Together Jim held my right side up and my wife held my left without whom nothing would have been accomplished the last four years. These are the unsung heroes who no one ever sees. It was during this time that I insisted on Jim appearing on the cover of our work as my co-author. He had helped create, in every sense, the book Earth Rising -- The Revolution. Shortly after he arrived in Eagle River, one of our closest friends and activist Gael Flanagan died. Gael was not only our good friend she was one of my mentors, like my wife's sister and my children's second mother. She was also the wife of Patrick Flanagan who was once counted among my closest friends. He is no longer my friend. Gael was murdered through the ingestion of a massive overdoes of the drug ketamine. There are many unanswered questions surrounding these events that will wait until another time to be told. After Gael died, Patrick intensified a year old pattern of increasingly bizarre behaviors. During this period Patrick engaged in activities or caused a series of events that began to crush our ability to continue as a company. Earthpulse was in trouble. I asked Jim if he wanted to stay or go back to Homer because I knew it was going to be a hard fought battle to build the company and try and reason with Patrick. Jim refused; he was in it until the end and was not going to leave. My work was also his work. Over the last three years a great deal has happened. I took a full time job to pay the bills and try and keep Earthpulse going while Jim held down the fort and kept the day-to-day work of Earthpulse moving. My fight with Flanagan smoldered and then was turned into litigation as I watched all of what Shelah, Jim and I had worked so hard to build disintegrating before our eyes. I sued Patrick Flanagan and his companies for breach of contract, defamation, product failure and a number of other causes because of his actions. During the last year the battle has been intense and by mid-July, 2002 I had no remaining options but to declare personal bankruptcy. Patrick moved against my assets attempting to buy my corporate stock and right to sue him from the bankruptcy trustee so I would never be able to bring him to court. Patrick's attorneys, even as I write these words, are attempting to divide the spoils of what remains of my assets. Earthpulse, as a corporation, has one remaining opportunity to sue for recovery if it can re-file its case in Arizona by September 3, 2002. We are prepared to re-file but are attempting an 11th hour settlement with Flanagan. Whether I re-file or settle with him we will go on. We are going to build a new organization out of the ashes of what remains and continue to publish our reports and books. We do not know what the future holds or how exactly we will rebuild, but I am committed to complete what we have begun. I am committed to fighting the good fight on all fronts and what Jim has reminded me of so strongly in his passing is that nothing can suppress the soul and spirit of a person. Remember Jim in these passing days and do something good for someone on the planet in memory of what he has done for each of us. May Creator Guide Our Footsteps, Dr. Nick Begich
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