SATURDAY STORY - MAY 6, 2023 - DAN JACKSON #12

On Saturday I write fiction.  I’m happy with where this is going.

*****

On the evening of Monday, May 20, 1985, Dan Jackson came home from work with information overload.  He had the statistics of Denise Brown, and then the ARPANET and Internetworking from Sam Siner in his brain.

And, somehow, he had said ‘yes’ to going with Denise’s family to Shekinah Glory Baptist Church on Sunday, May 26, 1985  

After dinner, he took a five-mile run.  The May weather was delightful in Bloomington.  Dan tried to push himself just a little faster on the run - and found some hills to challenge him.  It was a good time to think.

*****

At 9:00 p.m. Dan called Linda Watson.  Linda had a boring first day on her summer job, working in the city engineer’s office in Huntington Indiana.  She was working closely with Natalie Kelm in the office.  All day long contractors and individual people came to their office to see where property lines were, and where the gas, water, and sewer lines were buried.  A family friend, Steve Zugschwerdt was going to add a swimming pool to his yard and needed to know if there were any buried lines where he was going to dig.  Nancy Biggs’s sewer kept backing up, and Chris Fernandez was helping her figure out the problem. 

So, all day long, she was carrying heavy property books of water, sewer, gas, electricity, to the counter and helping find what the person needed to know.  She used a magnifying glass frequently to see the details and made photocopies.  

Dan talked about his day with Denise Brown, his pledge to go to a Black Church with her next Sunday., and his work on Internetworking.

He did miss her - or did he miss the concept of a girlfriend.

*****

The rest of that week was like taking a drink from a fire hose -a lot of information and a lot of information overload.

*****

Sunday, May 26th was a crazy day for Dan.  He drove to Denise Brown’s house and met her husband D’Anton, and the children.  Then he popped into their car and drove to Shekinah Glory Baptist Church.

Dan’s family wasn’t very religious.  Seemingly Dad’s family had been hurt by a pastor sometime in the past, Dan didn’t quite know the story.  Seemingly the pastor took advantage of Dan’s family (Dan wasn’t sure if it was financial, or even if the pastor had abused Dan’s great-grandmother sexually).  

But this was different from any service he had ever been to (which was mostly limited to weddings and funerals).  First, everybody looked at the White kid who came in with Denise Brown and her family.  Second, the whole church was dressed in what Dan called “Sunday Best” clothes.  Women wore hats, and men wore suits.  The shoes were polished.  

But, the love in the church was tangible.  There was such a love for Jesus (and for Dan Jackson that was mostly just a name).  Singing was amazing - the choir (which was led by Denise) seemed to be heavenly.  The preacher, (it seemed wrong to call him a ‘pastor’ as he really preached, raised his voice, wandered all over the platform and was quite a show) had a message that was just for Dan - love one-another; love your neighbors, love God, love those that hurt you. And, the conclusion was always forgive - turn the other cheek - non-violence like Martin Luther King taught.  

In his opening remarks, he even said, “Welcome to Daniel Jackson, worshiping with the Brown family today.” Dan thought he knew what love was, but after that service, it sure seemed like God’s love was almost too amazing for words.  He sat with D’Anton, Martin, and LaTisha.  LaTisha was almost like her mother and belted out the lyrics for the songs.  

By the end of the service, it seemed as if everybody in the church knew the White young man was Daniel Jackson of DJ Computers fame. Maybe he was going to donate a million dollars to the church? 

Dinner at the Brown house did not disappoint either.  Denise changed her clothes and worked in the kitchen. Dan sat with D’Anton in the living room with a cup of coffee.

D’Anton asked, “So what did you think about the service today, Dan?”

Dan answered, “It was interesting and even exciting.  Is it like this every Sunday?”

D’Anton chuckled, “Yes, this was pretty much the same as most days.  Sometimes the pastor has an altar call, sometimes he really raises his voice, and sometimes he is more mellow.  Is your church like this?”

Dan didn’t quite know what to say but started, “My family doesn’t go to church.”.

Oh my!  That remark lit a fire in D’Anton Brown, “WHAT?  Your family doesn’t go to Church?  Do you believe in God?”

Dan squirmed a little, “I don’t know the story, but seemingly in my father’s family, something happened some years ago.  I don’t know if the pastor made a pass at my grandma, or if there were financial irregularities or something.  It turned my grandfather off from church - and thus my dad and mom.  But, yes I do believe in a God.”

D’Anton shook his head.  “Daniel, we’re all sinners - even pastors.  Humans make mistakes, God doesn’t make mistakes.  That wasn’t a show today, it wasn’t a performance, it was the work of the Holy Spirit.  Reverend Jones is on fire for the Lord - honestly.  Didn’t you feel the tug of God on your heart today?”

Dan didn’t know what to say to that.  He had felt something - love one another, love wins, love your enemies.  So, he just nodded his head ‘yes’.

Dan didn’t know anything about cooking - and how to make fried chicken?  Didn’t somebody have to stand about a hot frypan and turn the chicken over until it was cooked?  Dan did like vegetables but the collard greens were scrumptious. The children were well-behaved.  Martin talked about Michael Jordan and basketball, and LaTisha talked about singing and school.  After dinner - Dan wondered why the noon-time meal was called ‘dinner’, but Sunday dinner was at noon in the Brown family.  

Denise made a pot of coffee, and D’Anton, Denise, and Dan sat around the dining room table sipping coffee.  

Dan discovered that D’Anton was a CPA and an auditor with McGladrey Accounting and Management.   He liked the man.  And, of course, after a week of one-on-one tutorials with Denise, he loved her.  They talked about a lot of topics, from politics to sports, to race relations in Bloomington and in Chicago.  Dan realized that he knew very little of black culture and even middle-class black families.  Somehow his biases were that all blacks were poorly educated, and lived in poverty.  But this family could have been his family.  

At about 2:00 p.m. D'Anton announced it was time for his Sunday afternoon nap.  And, suddenly Dan thought that a nap would be fantastic.  Denise gave Dan a hug as he left.  He thanked her for her hospitality.  

Denise said, “Daniel, I wanted you to see we are about the same - except for the color of our skin.  I wanted you to ‘walk a mile in our shoes’.  

Dan nodded and thanked Denise.  It definitely had given him a new perspective on Black families.

******

Dan filled in his parents when he got home.  It had been an interesting day. 

Dan turned to his dad, “D’Anton asked why we don’t go to church.”

Will Jackson said, “It was something from my grandfather’s time. Something about a shyster pastor who kept begging for money and spending it on himself.”

Then Dan turned to his mom, “How about you Mom?”

Beth Jackson said, “My grandparents always went to church.  I think my mother’s family was Episcopalian and my father’s family was Baptist.  My parents had enough of the ‘better-than-thou’ attitudes of church people, and eloped to get married and kept a good relationship with both families, but didn’t try to appease either side of the family.  They were good people, lived by the Golden Rule and Ten Commandments, but avoided the hypocrisy of organized religion.”

My dad, that is your grandpa, did seem to pray and read the Bible daily.  Occasionally he would attend a church in the neighborhood.  When he went into the Memory Unit with dementia, he did have a good relationship with their chaplain and actually had a little funeral service at Golden Oaks when he died.”.

Dan pondered these things.  It seemed as if there was a God in the world - and quite a confusion about this God figure.  There were a lot of churches in Bloomington, Illinois - some huge with pretty buildings, some little storefront churches in older buildings.  Shekinah Glory Baptist Church was a white clapboard building with an attached building, Dan thought it was for Sunday School.  But, the people there really got into the worship.  He wondered if it was cultural for the Black folks to worship with such fervor.  Was this somehow left over from their days as slaves? 

   

*****

On June 13, Dan Jackson, his mother Beth, and Wally Bunting made the drive from Bloomington Illinois to Purdue University.  A DJ Computer Store was now set up in the Purdue University Bookstore.  Tomorrow, Friday, June 14, 1985, was to be a ribbon cutting and a short presentation by Dan.  

Dan had called Rollie Wussow, a brother in the SigEp fraternity and outgoing President of the Student Senate.  Rollie rounded up about ten people to join Dan, Beth, and Wally for dinner at Bruno's Pizza. Gary Bunce and Sanjay Modi from the Purdue faculty joined them.  (And, DJ Computers picked up the tab).  Gary and Beth Jackson had done their graduate work at the University of Michigan together.

Dan also had let Linda Watson know of the ribbon cutting and she drove over from Huntington, Indiana in time to join the group for pizza.  If Dan was in charge, he might have had a room reservation with Linda instead of his mother.  Linda found a room at the Tri-Delt house for the night and was at the ribbon cutting. 

*****

Friday morning, after breakfast at the Hampton Hotel, Dan, Beth, and Wally got to campus at about 9:00.  They went to the bookstore to see the new DJ Computer Store and verified that everything was in place for the ribbon cutting. 

At 10:00, the Director of the Purdue bookstore started the program by describing the future of computing and how excited Purdue University Bookstore was to be the very first DJ Computer Store.  Dan cut the ribbon at 10:05 and gave a ten-minute talk about the future of computing, mentioning Gordon Moore and Moore’s Law, and the work being done to network computers together.  

Dr. Augusta Nelson, Dan’s Freshman Composition Professor was there in the front row and Dan got to introduce his mother to Dr. Nelson.  Other professors and friends that were on campus on a Friday in the summer were there.  The bookstore sponsored a reception for attendees and Wally and Dan showed people how computers were going to make education better. 

Some reporters figured out that Linda was Dan’s girlfriend and got a couple of pictures of the two of them together.  

By 3:00 that afternoon, Dan, Beth, and Wally were on their way back to Bloomington, Illinois.  Dan and Wally talked about how they could make the presentation better.  Next week they were going to Northwestern University in Evanston Illinois.

*****

The week of June 17, 1985, was busy, but normal.  Dan still worked with Denise Brown in the morning, understanding more of the statistics and direction of DJ Computers, and with Sam Siner in the afternoon.  Sam and Dan were exploring the Internet with TCP/IP.  Meanwhile, a new company, American Online (AOL) was touting its access to the internet.  Dan (and others) could access the internet at home by dialing up.  In Dan’s case, because he lived locally, it wasn’t a long-distance call.  

He was using HTML (hypertext markup language) and creating web pages, including digital images.  With Wally Bunting from marketing, they thought they could be including this aspect of computing in his campus visits.  Already, DJ Computers had paid for a domain name and a domain server location and http://www.djcomputers.com was created.  Dan, Wally, Uncle Steve, and most of the people at DJ Computers knew that this was going to be BIG.

*****

Denise Brown still worked with Dan in the morning and Sam Siner in the afternoon.  He had an idea that DJ Computers had flourished, not because of the product, although that was important), but because of people like Uncle Steve, Denise Brown, and Sam Siner putting in their passion for the company and the work.

*****

Dan, Wally, and Beth’s second campus was Northwestern University in Evanston Illinois - a north suburb of Chicago along Lake Michigan.  On Wednesday, June 19, 1985 night the three of them drove to a Hampton Inn in Evanston and checked in.  At ten o’clock tomorrow, Dan would cut a red ribbon for the new DJ Computer Store at Northwestern.  Then there would be a little press conference just like the other two campuses - where Dan could talk about the wonderful things you could do with a DJ Computer.

The ribbon cutting went well.  Wally got some good digital shots of Dan and the store.  

But, at the press conference, there was a guy who seemed to want to heckle Dan.  Dan had started on his opening statement about enjoying the beautiful campus and how nice Northwestern was, when this guy yelled out “FRAUD.  Your computers are junk.”.  Dad didn’t quite know what to do, so just went on with his prepared note.

The man was dressed in dirty jeans and a plaid shirt.  He sure didn’t look like a college student or a college official.

The man continued, “YOU BOZO, DJ Computers break down more frequently than Dell, Gateway and Compaq Computers.  GET A CLUE”.

Dan looked at Wally on the side of the front row - who was making a sign to just keep quiet.  Dan stopped for a minute.

“YOU’RE A RICH BASTARD.  YOUR COMPUTERS ARE JUNK.  AND YOU’RE FEEDING MONEY INTO TERRORISTS IN IRAN.  WE DON’T NEED YOUR KIND ON OUR CAMPUS - GO HOME SONNY, GO AND SUCK YOUR THUMB IN A CORNER.”

Dan could tell the audience - which included the Bookstore Manager, the Vice President for University Affairs, and others - was tense.  

Dan left the podium to talk with Wally Bunting.  But that didn’t stop the heckler.  “YOU’RE ALL JUST PART OF THE GREEDY SWINE.  TAKE FROM THE POOR AND GIVE TO THE RICH.  YOU’RE ALL ALIKE”.

Finally, the Vice President for University Affairs stood up and confronted the man.  “Excuse me, but you’ll have to leave”.

The man kept yelling. “I’M AN AMERICAN, I HAVE THE RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH, I PAY MY TAXES AND YOU RICH BASTARDS JUST SUCK OUR MONEY OUT OF US.”

The Bookstore Manager had left and was back in three minutes with campus security police.  They confronted the man and with a squad of six security people, escorted him - still yelling and screaming - out of the room.

*****

A few people left the press conference during the clearing of the heckler from the audience.  It wasn’t a big crowd anyway and it was down to about 12 people (which included Wally Bunting from DJ Computers, Beth Jackson, and Dan Jackson).  

Beth could tell that Dan was shaken.  While now a college student and getting more outgoing, she knew that he was still kind of a kid and definitely still a geek.  (And, very definitely her son).

Somebody brought a cup of water for Dan.  In a couple of minutes, he made a few comments about the future of personal computers and the steps to make them more reliable and faster and finished his talk.

*****

After a tour of the campus, and the new DJ Computer lab for the business school, they were ready to leave.  Dan and Wally walked out to the car while Beth used the ladies' restroom.

As they passed an ivy-covered wall on the way to the parking lot,, four men jumped out at them.  They had ski masks and pushed Wally down and put a gag in Dan’s mouth and hustled him off to a beat-up white panel van.  Beth Jackson arrived just as the gang was shoving Dan into the back of the van.  

Beth yelled, “STOP THEM”.  There were a few others in the parking lot, but the van swung out and bumped into a few cars and aimed at a woman walking to her car, she jumped out of the way.  There was a guard house with an attendant, who had probably never seen a kidnapping before, put down his barrier arm.  But the barrier arm didn’t do much good as the white panel van plowed right through it and out on Sheridan Road, turning left and going north on Sheridan.  

As it was summer, parents with prospective students were getting tours.  A campus shuttle was about ready to cross Sheridan on Noyes Street when the white van barrelled past them.  If it had been 5 seconds later, they all might have been killed.  

Beth Jackson ran to the parking guard's house to see if the guard was okay.  As a physics professor, she was trained to see and remember specific little things, and today she had already memorized the license plate on the van.  The guard was on his phone to campus security when Beth rushed in.  She figured he was calling for help and grabbed the phone and told campus security the license number and a description of the white Ford panel van.  The right rear wheel was missing a hubcap, she said it was an Econoline Van.  There were four men (or she assumed they were men).  

It might have included the heckler from the press conference - she didn’t know for sure, but one of the men kind of matched his body shape and size.  She said they had kidnapped her son, Dan Jackson the founder of DJ Computers, probably for ransom, and exhausted by running and the emotions of the day - she handed the phone back to the parking attendant.  Suddenly she felt 70 years old.  It wasn’t what a physics professor did on a normal basis!!

*****

There were some security cameras on the campus and for the next two hours, that was a high priority for the campus police force and experts in kidnapping from the FBI who showed up about 30 minutes after the event.  

Beth gave the license plate number, LEY4801.  Police traced that license plate to an elderly gentleman in Aurora, Illinois, Leroy Youtzy.  A squad car from the Aurora police came to Mr. Youtzy’s door.  Leroy was in his mid-80s.  Walking out to his car, Mr. Youtzy immediately noticed that his license plates were missing from the car parked in his driveway.  So, the license plates were a dead end - unless somebody remembers seeing somebody taking the license plates.

The security camera footage was gone through.  It seemed as if the kidnappers knew where the cameras were and made sure when they were close to a camera, their heads were down, and their ski masks were up in place.

Was this somehow connected to the man who was yelling things at Dan’s presentation?  That didn’t work out either as a custodian at the Northwestern Student Union (where the Bookstore was located), recognized the man as a crackpot who showed up periodically.  The police and FBI poured over their records and recognized Tom Reitmeyer and quickly tracked him down to a mental health hospital near the campus where he somehow walked out the front door

So, no camera footage worked, the license plate didn’t pan out, the heckler at the presentation was a crazy guy and as far as the authorities could tell had nothing to do with the kidnapping.  

Even though they didn’t think it would work, the FBI, Illinois State Police, and Evanston Police issued an all-points bulletin for a white panel van with a license plate of LEY 4801.  They got a call from a Denny’s Restaurant that a white panel van with that license plate had been in their parking lot for a few hours.  By the time the police got there, the van was empty and smelled of PineSol as surfaces had been wiped down.  Maybe the kidnappers left a fingerprint, but they would have to search for it.

*****

Meanwhile, Dan had been pushed into the White Ford Econoline van for about three minutes until he was transferred to an Oldsmobile Cutlass in an alley off of Sheridan and Milburn Street.  There were four people in the group.  After they shoved him into the Oldsmobile, they put a hood over his head so he couldn’t see.  Dan thought one of them stayed with the white van, and only three were with him in the Oldsmobile.  He was in the backseat between the two of them.  

Dan tried to keep track of turns and roads, but not being familiar with the north suburbs of Chicago he soon lost track.  After maybe 15 minutes, the car seemingly got on an Interstate Highway.  Dan guessed it was going north as the car didn’t have to wait and make a left turn.  But he was still confused.

*****

An anonymous phone call was made to Northwestern University about 4:30 p.m. The switchboard operator got the message that the CSA had kidnapped Daniel Jackson.  The CSA was the “Covenant, Sword, and Arm of the Lord”, a radical Christian organization.  

The message also said, “Lord Jehovah told us to kidnap Daniel Jackson as a subversive in the Military Industrial Complex.” 

Another anonymous call was made to WBBM news that Daniel Jackson, of DJ Computers, had been kidnapped from Northwestern University that afternoon.”  It was first a bulletin on the 5:00 p.m. local news, then got two minutes on the 6:00 local news. They had Dan’s picture from their files and mentioned that Dan had been on Northwestern’s campus opening a computer lab and a DJ Computer Store.  On the CBS national news at 5:30, Dan Rather ended his news with: “This just in, Daniel Jackson, founder of the DJ Computer Company has been kidnapped in Chicago today.  Stay tuned to CBS News for updates.”

*****

Beth Jackson collapsed in the Hampton Inn in Evanston that evening with Wally Bunting.  Will Jackson drove up from Bloomington as soon as he could?  Will had talked with his brother, Steve, the CEO of DJ Computers. Steve indicated that the FBI has also contacted him supposing that a ransom note would be forthcoming.

Beth called Linda Watson so she knew the story.  Linda’s grandmother had seen the last minutes of the Dan Rather news and had called Bonnie Watson, who had told Linda.  Linda appreciated getting the call from Beth.

************************************************

That’s all for this week.  I guess getting a “cliffhanger” ending is good.

So, what will happen to Dan Jackson?  For those of you who know me, I tend to be a Pollyanna - so he will survive - but maybe he’ll be like Patty Hearst and be brainwashed?  

Will this be good publicity for DJ Computers?  

And, does Dan beat the kidnappers up (sorry, don’t think so!!!)

*****
LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

KAREN ANNE WHITE, MAY 6, 2023