Published: March 27, 2011
Words: 62,072 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781458045508

Short description

The clandestine career choices made by her father, Thomas Townsend Brown, and by the man who was her first love, would affect Linda Brown's life for years. Her memoir, THE GOOD-BYE MAN, offers an unusual perspective of the Cold War era from NICAP to General Curtis LeMay and the RAND Corp. It is her love song to her parents, and to some unusual companions, seen and unseen along the way.

Extended description

Thomas Townsend Brown was, among many other things, one of the foremost pioneers in the capture of packets of radiant energy from the earth, air, and sea. Each time we pick up a cell phone, turn on a television, or dial in a radio station, we are grabbing similar invisible signals.

Those who retrieve and analyze these energy packets in the service of spycraft are the unseen spooks of the espionage world and they owe their careers to the man who was, perhaps, one of the premier spooks of all time.

Although the United States was without an intelligence network at the start of World War II, that would never again be the case afterward. Indeed, the tremendous advances in the three R's (radar, rocketry, and reconnaissance) that occurred during the war years meant that spycraft would soon encompass much more than the traditional cloak and dagger methods. (Read more) Thomas Townsend Brown was, among many other things, one of the foremost pioneers in the capture of packets of radiant energy from the earth, air, and sea. Each time we pick up a cell phone, turn on a television, or dial in a radio station, we are grabbing similar invisible signals.

Those who retrieve and analyze these energy packets in the service of spycraft are the unseen spooks of the espionage world and they owe their careers to the man who was, perhaps, one of the premier spooks of all time.

Although the United States was without an intelligence network at the start of World War II, that would never again be the case afterward. Indeed, the tremendous advances in the three R's (radar, rocketry, and reconnaissance) that occurred during the war years meant that spycraft would soon encompass much more than the traditional cloak and dagger methods.

The CIA and Military Intelligence agencies would give birth to the National Security Agency And NASA's black counterpart, the National Reconnaissance Office, was a deep secret for the first thirty years of its existence. But the history and evolution of these and other intelligence agencies has been well covered by James Bamford and other authors.

Linda Brown's story is, on the other hand, a completely human one. She is certain that her father's genius was employed in the service of black operations projects and that her mother knew and protected many of his secrets. She now believes it is time to bring his work back into the "white" world, and hopes that her memoir will open doors for future investigators.

Her story is part oral history, as seen through a young girl's eyes: “Daddy said the brass was coming to see a demonstration.”

It is part love story: once upon a time a beautiful equestrienne fell in love with a good-looking classmate who aspired to become a "Secret Agent Man.”

And it is part magic: extraordinary things happen to and around those who are touched by it.
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Tags

cia, ufos, cold war, rand corporation, linda brown, thomas townsend brown, nro, nicap, curtis lemay, sir william stephenson

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Reviews

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Review by: david goshorn on Feb. 23, 2012 :
As a reader of books of many styles, I like to expand my horizons beyond the same old, which for me is usually science fiction, or some trade manual publication, and I never really expect to have a personal bond with a book.
That said, The Goodbye Man is one of the most unusual, and entertaining stories I have ever read.
Instead of the explosions, and warring aliens, I settled in for a good read about my new friend Linda Brown. What I was surprised to find, was that she had been through so many of the same events in her life that I had, in my younger days.
However, it was the events at home that had me crying, laughing, and feeling a range of emotions I couldnt begin to describe except that I bonded with Linda's family that day.
I especially bonded with her father, and feel his presence when I swim in my nearby natural spring. I know he is there with me, swimming effortlessly across the pond, weightless.
I also felt bonded with the characters in her life, and felt that they were ALL instrumental in her father's continued success. As the book goes on the reader is treated to a few riddles or so, and at the end the reward is evident.
Additionally, anybody interested in TT Brown's work, will be able to glean a massive amount of understanding about the man and his life, from this book.
If you have ever had any wonder as to the behind the scenes day to day life of a world reknowned scientist, and his family life, this is a must read!
Well written, well researched,and well lived!
Sincerely, David Goshorn
(reviewed within a week of purchase)

Review by: Johnny Mirehiel on May 02, 2011 : (no rating)
Thomas Townsend Brown is the title character of this eminently readable short memoir, penned by his daughter, Linda. Brown was a world class physicist (perhaps most well known for his alleged connection to “the Philadelphia Experiment”) who led a double, or even triple life as a family man, a mild mannered scientist/inventor, and an intelligence agent for a number of American's most secretive 3-letter agencies. Although he tried to maintain some semblance of a normal home life, his peripatetic career often took him away from his small family, sometimes for extended periods of time. And thus the title.
But this is not a story about "Doc Brown." Rather, it is built largely upon the memories and notebooks of his daughter who at one time had served as her father's research assistant, his private secretary and as the archivist of his life and work. Ms. Brown's touching and intimate recollections wend their way from a toddler's earliest memories in the then remote wilds of post-war Hawaii, through her hectic teen years and her early marriage, to this current effort to tell her own, unique story. Along the way we meet her gentle and perceptive mother, her teenage heartthrob, J.D. Garrett, who actually achieves his life-long ambition to become a modern James Bond, her husband, George, an individual coping with things far out of his ken, and a string of characters ranging from flamboyant girlfriends to prominent Generals to well known scientists to high-powered industrialists and covert operatives serving in several of the same clandestine agencies that employed her father. And of course we get to know some of the inner workings and day to day charm, gentility, wit, wisdom and foibles of her genius father.

Those who want inside details about Townsend's Brown's secret research will be disappointed in this book. However, those looking for a well written, heartfelt story should certainly enjoy it.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

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