Awakening to Retirement in the Andes

Door to Andean Church, outside of Cuenca

It has been a year we've been "retired" in Cuenca, Ecuador. I put the word in quotes, because honestly, it hasn't felt like being retired (whatever that means) at all.

We've been busy. Fred is seeing some patients and writing a book, and I've been WORKING HARD writing my book, The Plan. The best part about our first year has been meeting such wonderful, interesting and fun people.

Recently, we took a Sunday with four new friends (years younger than us!) to visit a small fishing lake and village in the Andes. It was a beautiful, warm sunny day, and when we dropped down into lower altitudes, we didn't need our jackets that we'd so carefully packed.

 Traveling by bus with our friend, Kathryn McCullough (an author!)

Taking photos of us taking photos!

Here's a quick video from our trip. I invite you to see for yourself what retirement can be all about.

Oh, be sure to click on the bottom right of the Youtube screen to enlarge the video. (When you mouse over the four characters the words full screen will pop up.) The Esc. key brings you back here.

The words on the bottom of these photos are from a poem, Awaken, that was written in Ecuadorian Quichuan, a lanaguage spoken by 2.5 million people! As I watched the parents interact with their children, it reminded me a little of this poem.

Enjoy!

Susan

Nothing Has Changed: 'Scientists' Refuse to Listen to Valid JFK Story; COPA Loses Face in Battle

Judyth Vary Baker, conspiracy author, and a scientist

By Susan Klopfer

(Note: Since I first posted this story, COPA has not budged. This usually scientific organization holds by its guns, and won't let Judyth Vary Baker speak. She has one of the best stories to tell, but the tape stays on her mouth. Baker is hosting her own program during the celebration week that includes a tribute to her former boyfirned, Lee  Harvey Oswald. Baker has taken some offense at the following article, but I have decided not to make changes. I believe that my description of her and my assessment are valid. She is the auhtor of a tremendous book, Me and Lee, that I highly recommend. Susan)

I want to address a recently reported decision made by the Coalition on Political Assassinations, or COPA. Listed among speakers for the upcoming November 22-25 Dallas conference, is Judyth Vary Baker. This author of Lee and Me, a well-documented account of her romance with Lee Harvey Oswald, has much to offer on the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. But Baker was told last week there is “no room” for her at the meeting.

COPA is known for its scientific approach in helping us learn more about the JFK assassination. Among the group are many bright academics who also are typically cautious of taking political risks—tenure must be at the back of one’s mind whenever presenting academic papers on controversial issues, such as this. For example, I would hate to be a history professor at Purdue University this year! If you don’t know the story, this prestigious university’s new president once tried banning the works of a famous and liberal historian in high school text books. But he didn’t stop there.

Dozens of Purdue University professors recently questioned his commitment to academic Freedom, and in an open letter to President Mitch Daniels, they’ve said they are more troubled by his continued criticism of Howard Zinn's writings since becoming Purdue's president than they were by the emails he sent as governor more than three years ago. 

Judyth has something more than “just data” to offer at this important fiftieth anniversary event. She has a first-hand story that is significant. She slept with the man who has been blamed for killing the president. She does not believe Oswald is the villain he’s been made out to be by the Warren Commission and all of the investigators from the FBI, intelligence agencies, and even the compromised U.S. press. You know, journalists like Chuck Todd who don’t believe it is their duty to ask questions when politicians lie to the public. She believes Oswald even tried to save JFK’s life.

Judyth is not a quiet, cautious person. She can appear flaky. She types in all caps—shouts online—when she gets attacked. She acts frantic when she’s called names. Sometimes she says things that make her Facebook followers upset. Some ask if she’s in her right mind. I think of several other assassination conspiracy writers who have been targeted for shunning because they sometimes appear to lose control. Does this behavior make them wrong? Or are they reacting to continued attempts to harass and censor?

Whenever a “Judyth” is banned from speaking in important arenas, one has to ask if the organization’s membership truly reflects its stated goals. Stated less politely, has COPA’s leadership been compromised by some who do not want truth to be known? Could there possibly be some influence by CIA or FBI or military assets doing their job by making sure people like Judyth are silenced? If you answer no, I have a bridge to sell you. This happens frequently and all of us can think of people and situations that must be questioned.

Judyth is an easy target; she’s easy to rattle. Years of hiding out in foreign countries, fearing she is a potential target and the loss of her family have taken their toll. Maybe she suffers from PTSD. Would you suffer, under these bizarre circumstances?

COPA needs to invite this significant author to speak; otherwise this organization could go the way of Purdue University when it comes to teaching and reporting history. Thank God there are professors at that Indiana institution willing to speak out on free speech. Willing to defend a brilliant mind from the likes of a TeaJadist ruler.

COPA has nothing to lose by letting Judyth Vary Baker speak on this fiftieth anniversary; the organization has everything to lose if Judyth is banned.

So, I double-dog-dare COPA to invite Judyth as a major speaker this November. Otherwise I am right about all of the above (and more).

*****

Susan Klopfer, MBA, is a graduate of Hanover College and Indiana Wesleyan University. The former journalist and Prentice Hall acquisitions and development editor, is the author of three nonfiction books on Mississippi civil rights: The Emmett Till Book; Where Rebels Roost, Mississippi Civil Rights Revisited; and, Who Killed Emmett Till. Her new book, The Plan, is set to be published at the end of September. Learn more about this novel at http://ebooksfromsusan.com

Just pubished a retirement/travel article in an online magazine, and want to share.

http://retirementandgoodliving.com/finding-a-best-friend-forever-in-ecuador/

Judyth Vary Baker was forced into early retirement from life.

Can you imagine going into hiding as your early retirement plan? Recently I read a great true story about a woman who really hasn't been allowed to have a typical life -- the kind of life where you develop a career, marry and raise a family and then retire with your husband. It started out fine for this unique woman. She was a superstar science student on her way to academic success.

Everyone wanted her to join their special programs, including several shrewd and manipulative people who ultimately made a disaster of her life. Here's quick review of her book, Me and Lee.  Better read it fast, because another powerful book is on the way!

*****
Me and Lee --
Review By Susan Klopfer

Can you imagine being a top, young scientist headed for academic excellence and then having your entire world turned upside down by people who don’t know or care about you?

I love true stories about brave people and Judyth Vary Baker's Me and Lee is one of the best such books I've read. Her intimate story of how she became involved with Lee Harvey Oswald is chilling.

***
Buy Judyth Vary Baker's Book at this Link
As a Nookbook
Amazon Kindle
Judyth Baker's website
***

I've read nearly every JFK assassination book published, but this one is different. Judyth takes readers through her dramatic life journey, starting when she was a young academic woman on the rise and was pulled into important scientific projects by government agents. Very quickly she was used by  shrewd men and women for their gain in the strangest of conditions.

But then this young science star met a handsome, kind man who she quickly fell in love with, and had to watch as he was destroyed by a system that shows no love of humanity. Me and Lee is both a love story, and an intriguing spy novel. I challenge any JFK assassination conspiracy skeptic to read Judyth Vary  Baker’s book and then tell me that  Lee Harvey Oswald was a heartless robot who killed the president. Great reading. Every page kept me spellbound.

If you plan on seeing the newest movie coming out on JFK, I hear it is far from true. Better to buy this book and learn the true story. Why is this book so believable? Judyth includes pages of documentation. She is a brilliant researcher and knows what is needed to support her facts.
***

My Big Adventure - Writing eBooks as an Expat

The Plan: Murder, Mystery Conspiracy eBook Publish Date Set For September. 

I am almost done! The Plan is with the copy editor, and should be ready by the middle of this month. I have to admit that as a retired person, I’ve been working awfully hard. But I don’t think I would be happy doing NOTHING! I am happiest when writing, and now I have more time to follow my dreams, and in such a beautiful location. I highly recommend “expating.” Here's what our week looks like:

In the next hour, Fred and I are going out to lunch with a couple of soon-to-be expat friends from Arizona, who are planning to come back to Cuenca to retire next year. We actually have a busy schedule this week —three lunch dates, a raw foods cooking class with Susan Schenck, a trip to the organic market and on Sunday, helping our friend Don Colón move his restaurant to a new location on the Central Square. Colón is a character in my book. This chef once hosted a television cooking show in Quito, and is a fun person to be around. He saves the beautiful lady, at the end! (of course).

THE PLAN is an alternative fiction novel based on the real lives of two Deep South, gay black lawyers. The bond between Clinton and Joe (one of them, married) is broken when Joe is reportedly found hanged. A suicide seems impossible to Clint, and Joe’s widow is acting cagey. Clinton Moore believes Joe Means was tortured and murdered, and that his and Joe’s shared obsession—investigating and fact gathering about the cover-up of various murders of civil rights activists, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,and President John F. Kennedy—is the reason for Joe’s death. Clinton believes he is next on the list, and that solving Joe’s murder is his only chance of survival.

When he discovers Joe’s wife has been spirited away as an expat to South America, Clinton sends his trusted legal assistant, Mollie Johnson, to Cuenca, Ecuador for the adventure of her life. She joins forces with journalist Sara Mercury, and together they take readers into the high Andes to bring home the widow, Tara Means. Filled with civil rights and alternative history, hopefully to titillate the most sophisticated conspiracy theorist, this is my first foray into thriller fiction; my goal has been to write a book that is thought-provoking and a fun read!

Reader will discover ties to the Ku Klux Klan, Militia, Neo Nazis, Chile's Colonia Dignidad, NSA, FBI,CIA and the assassinations of two famous civil rights leaders and President John F. Kennedy keep the pace moving in this historical fiction thriller novel, first of a crime action adventure and mystery series.

***

See more at: Ebooks From Susan

***

My advice —Stay with the story. It's fast and furious, offers a paranormal subtheme, and includes a high-speed car chase in the Andes with Colón at the wheel. I promise you'll be surprised.

The story opens in New York City, when a friend of Clinton Moore, a history professor and crime sleuth reads news of an upcoming trial in Chile. One of his own colleagues disappeared in a South American CIA-supported torture camp, Colonia Dignidad, and he plans to travel to Santiago, to aid his friend's sister who will be testifying.

THE PLAN moves to the Mississippi delta, as Clinton Moore lays out the story of why he and his friend have been murdered. But then, it is on to Cuenca, Ecuador as a talented paralegal tries to save the wife of her (now) dead boss’s dead best friend!

Does Mollie Johnson have a ghost of a chance finding Tara Means? Perhaps she does, when a compromised but passionate journalist, fired from The Dallas News for writing too many JFK assassination stories, tries to help, with interference (good and bad) from an Embassy attaché, a flirtatious Cuencano chef and a very old CIA asset with ties to the assassinations AND to Colonia Dignidad!

Are you looking for adventure and mystery? THE PLAN is based on a true story, and is a work of historical or alternative fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either come from my imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

ALTERNATIVE HISTORY CATEGORY

—Historical Fiction

—Alternative Fiction Novel

—Mystery Novels

—Crime Thriller

—Action and Adventure

ISBN-10:  0-9826049-7-1

ISBN-13:  978-0-9826049-7-7

THE PLAN - an alternative history adventure and mystery novel - is set for publication in September of 2013. - See more at: Ebooks From Susan

Emmett Till Blog; Murder in Mississippi Delta; Civil Rights Cold Cases; Parallels Trayvon Martin: Download free mp3 files from Who Killed Emmett Til...

Emmett Till Blog; Murder in Mississippi Delta; Civil Rights Cold Cases; Parallels Trayvon Martin: Download free mp3 files from Who Killed Emmett Til...: Please drop by http://ebooksfromsusan.com and listen to (and download) f ree mp3 files from Who Killed Emmett Till? There are four exce...

Emmett Till Blog; Murder in Mississippi Delta; Civil Rights Cold Cases; Parallels Trayvon Martin: Download free mp3 files from Who Killed Emmett Til...

Emmett Till Blog; Murder in Mississippi Delta; Civil Rights Cold Cases; Parallels Trayvon Martin: Download free mp3 files from Who Killed Emmett Til...: Please drop by http://ebooksfromsusan.com and listen to (and download) f ree mp3 files from Who Killed Emmett Till? There are four exce...