It was respect for Penn Jones, Jr., that drew me to Midlothian, Texas in 1993 --- respect, and plain old curiosity. By the time I went there Jones had long since moved from that dusty little town some twenty-five miles outside Dallas. But it was there that for years he edited and published the Midlothian Mirror --- one of the first, if not the first, periodicals to seriously question the findings of the Warren Commission.

I've never had the privilege of meeting Penn Jones, and don't suppose I ever shall. But I regard him as a true American hero. Too often in this nation we are overburdoned with notions of what a hero is: a famous athelete or a military personality. For me, those examples don't make it --- but Penn Jones fits the bill. His stance on the Kennedy case was exceptionally courageous, although it's hard to place it in its proper context all these years later.

Writing for an authoritative bibliography of JFK literature, David R. Wrone wrote in the 1970s,"[Jones is] an indefatigable worker, he is well informed about the details of the murder and an excellent and willing guide of the Texas murder site. When analyzing the facts he places them in a framework of a military conspiracy operating in conjunction with right-wing elements." Since Jones' assertions were not always supported by solid evidence, Wrone continued, "his conclusions are presented in the form of essays and editorials."

These editorials were collected in the four-volume series Forgive My Grief, and later in the periodical The Continuing Inquiry. One of the writings that affected me the most were Jones' brief comments, appearing in FMG Volume Four, on the tenth anniversary of the assassination:

Ten years ago today, we stood at attention on the grounds of Parkland Hospital as President Kennedy's body was rolled past us on the way back to Love Field and Washington.

After ten years, we know we will never see that crime brought to justice. A small band of us have been laboring to point out some of the monumental lies --- to bring to the attention of the people the deliberate distortions of the Warren Commission. All of us know there is no hope.

At times we quote: "Ten thousand years from now, when a man picks us up as a hunk of clay to chink a crack against the wind, he may pause and say, 'Damn, that's good clay.' "

With that thought, and this work, we can sleep at night.

was of a dying breed of populist prairie journalists, an editor who was part Front Page, part Grapes of Wrath. He had recieved Southern Illinois University's Elijah Lovejoy award for Courage in Journalism for beating up a Bircher on his composing room floor. His newspaper appeared to be the only funcioning anti-Establishment voice in the shadow of Dallas. Penn's wife ran the linotype, and he did everything else --- from writing the editorials to boarding up the front window after receiving a letter to the editor in the form of a firebomb.

There was, however, a paper called Midlothian Today, and I bought one just for the hell of it. I glanced at the front page but didn't really read it until after I got home a few days later. For the most part it recorded small town mundanities ("Landfill Closes; Residents to Take Trash to Johnson County"), but I found a Letter to the Editor that was absolutely appalling in its knee-jerk, foaming-at-the-mouth, far Right-wing venom-spewing. It was hard enough for me to believe this letter actually got published; more shocking was that the publishers did not even require its author to identify himself. (For fun, I've provided a link to this letter. You should know, however, that I have edited it slightly, to reduce some of the author's redundancies.)

Of course, I'm not alone in my high regard for Penn Jones. Robert Petit-Clerc, who like most of us is simply a concerned private citizen, posted this anecdote to the newsgroup alt.conspiracy.jfk:

In 1983 I traveled to Dallas to take part in the 20th anniversary commemoration of the tragedy at Dealey Plaza. I spent some time with Penn Jones, and his then-assistant Elaine, and I couldn't have asked for a warmer welcome. Standing on the grassy knoll listening to Penn talk to the many reporters that sought his time, I told Penn that I hadn't been able to locate any of his Forgive My Grief books. Without hesitation he asked Elaine to retrieve some copies he had in his car trunk, as he explained that he only had a few copies of the limited hardcover first volume left, but that I could have whatever was in the car. Elaine returned with all four volumes, the first being one of the scarce hardcover copies. Standing there on the knoll, only minutes before 12:30pm, Penn Jones signed the hardcover book with his trademark "Pray that I am wrong" message, and gave me the complete Forgive My Grief series...

About a month later I recieved a Christmas card in the mail from Penn and Elaine, inviting me to stop by their farm if I made it to Dallas again, promising that we'd "drink and talk all night." I was not anyone special, just an interested amateur who shared a few moments with Penn Jones --- but he treated everyone with such openness, despite the demands on his time.

Thank you for requesting my books. You are getting one of the last available sets. Volume 2 was gone long ago. About the only place they can be found is in old and used book stores. People tell me they find them sometimes.

I have signed each volume and am sending along some of the old newsletters, plus the Zapruder film in 8 mm.

I met both John and Robert Kennedy and they were two of the finest bravest and most honest men ever to serve in politics. They gave their all for this country and took nothing in return. We will never see the likes of them again. Men of their type don't turn up more than every few generations. The best of all is gone and we are left with the dregs.

Good luck to you in your study. We lost our democracy on November 22nd and we have never regained it yet. I won't live long enough to see it return, but I hope you do. Thanks once again and a Merry Christmas to you and your family.

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