WASHINGTON
July 14, 2012
Dear Folks,
Greetings to all who have been so patient and also have been invaluable contributors to the accumulation of facts, stories, and details, particularly those of you who have so graciously allowed myself & staff to obtain oral histories from you regarding the Remeum.
Sadly, due to scheduling and the fact that I am Washington Bureau Chief for a national publication, I honestly have had to lay the ongoing research about the Remeum & Mason Remey aside temporarily just because of the constraints on my time.
Having stated this, let me assure you that I am fully committed to completing the book project and sharing the project's findings with all of you here in this thread.
To this end, I am going to introduce you gentle folks to a historian who lives in Kennebunk, Maine, whom I am bringing in to assist with the research and the writing duties as a co-author/co-contributor on this book project. Her name is Maureen Gill, and her background is here:
Maureen Gill is an educator, public speaker and author known for her insightful historical analyses, biting political commentaries and riveting fiction. Maureen has spoken before audiences at the MacLean Center for Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago, numerous universities, the Newberry Library, and various civic, religious and private groups as well. Maureen is a committed social activist and her areas of interest are human and civil rights, animal rights and healthcare reform.
Her first novel, January Moon, is a gripping detective story about racism, religious fanaticism, mental illness, pure evil and undying love; it is also the first American work of fiction to situate female genital mutilation at the center of a crime story.
Maureen resides in southern coastal Maine and is a featured weekly OpEd columnist at the York County Journal Tribune, where she writes about national and local issues.
Her website is here:
http://maureengill.net/
I think that by asking her to join the efforts, we can once again establish some forward movement. I have sent this thread to her for her review and also will be sending emails out to those of you who have so generously given of your time to talk with my staff or I, to seek your permission to interview you herself. Thanks to all of you, very much.
Now, one last thing, the church is upset because they have apparently had a couple of incidents of trespass related to the Remeum. I would once again plead with all of you to respect the Pohick Church's stance on the Remeum. In other words, please confine your tours to the graveyard and the church as those are publicly accessible. Do NOT head up the ridge to the site, please.
I understand the high level of interest that all of you folks have, but again, if there is to be any possibility that permission might be given to gain entrance to the property, it most likely won't happen if the church officials are battling a trespass problem.
[ Mind you, I am an accredited journalist conducting legitimate research and I was refused permission to not only gain permission to tour the site, but also refused access to the parish minutes of those vestry meetings from the 1930's through the 1960's that might shed light on Remey's relationship with the Pohick Church vestry and rectors.]
As always, feel free to contact me and be well folks. Have a great summer too by the way.
Sincerely,
Brody Levesque
theroadtraveler@gmail.com
(202) 556 -0877