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6450: Laleau comments on Goff & Rockwood (fwd)
From: NLaleau@aol.com
I was thinking about buying Stan Goff's book, and now I am sure I will. I'm
very interested in reading what went on inside a man who goes through that
kind of "sea-change." I also found Larry Rockwood an extremely interesting
person, for the same reason. I deeply respect the kind of guts it took for
him to carry out an act of conscience far beyond anything that most people
could have imagined.
To me, "guts" is not just standing up and fighting physically against odds.
Lots of people can grab their guns and risk their lives for something they
and other people understand is right. I think the harder risk may be the
demand of personal conscience, where despite one's lifelong loyalties to
family traditions and peer beliefs, conditioned by the environment one lives
in, finally one day something happens to show a person how mistaken the whole
"project" is, and, letting it all fall, he or she steps out in the truth,
despite the consequences. People who "go along to get along" could never even
imagine that this kind of courage exists--they would have to label it
treachery or lunacy.
It reminds me of the story told about the hymn "Amazing Grace." Apparently
the author was a young sea captain of a slave ship. One night in the midst of
a terrific storm, when he was at sea with a human cargo, he apparently
understood what he was doing... and he wrote the hymn. On his return to
England he ditched his whole career and became an abolitionist and a
preacher. Or take the story of St. Paul on the road to Damascus.
This can happen to anyone who wants it.
I usually like Simidor's comments, but sometimes I think he goes too far with
rigid thinking. He could be right, of course... Stan Goff and Larry Rockwood
might both be fakes or agents, etc. I prefer to think they are exactly what
they present themselves to be. And as I did have occasion to meet Larry
Rockwood face-to-face, I am strongly inclined to believe he, at least, is
authentically what he says. I don't think he needs any encouraging words from
me or anybody else, nor does Stan Goff. The kind of courage both these men
must have, to have taken the steps they took, would indicate that the
criticisms of those who misread them wouldn't matter a whole lot.
Thank you, Stan. Thank you, Larry.
Nancy Laleau