Volume 11, Issue 1, page 2

∂ This has been a month in
which our female psychics have
been reporting all types of
illness -- and we can't figure
out if it's a malady aimed at
a particular segment of our
society, or if it's coincidental that porothy Springfield
of Canoga Park, Calif., should
be critically ill following an
operation to correct a surgical goof of several years'
standing; Veronica Sydow of
Esperance, N.Y., should take
to her bed in a "sympathy illness" for her ailing husband,
which really backfired with a
vengeance; and Lowana ,Tulaine,
of Tampa, Fla., who thought
she'd conquered some sniffles,
found herself watching from
the ceiling while her husband
and neighbors tried to keep
the body perking well enough
for her to return to it. Last
reports say all three will recover, and we hope these reports are more reliable than
the one we received that pm
O'Neil, editor of PSYCHIC OBSERVER, was critically ill in
the hospital. "Your source of
information needs more practice. I' m in the best of
health," Tom telegraphed when
we sent him a "get-well" card.

ITo prove their love for
her, neighbors of Mrs. Ernie
Lang (Lowana Julaine), Tampa,
Fla., recently dropped in for
coffee and gossip and to take
part in a "surprise party" in
which she was treated to a
brand new television set. It
was a sort of "reward" for deciding to get well...
1 Since we mentioned last
month we'd quit smoking, we've
been deluged with requests from
readers who want a "tech-order", or its equivalent, on the
subject. (ED. NOTE -- A "Techorder" is a loose-leaf book
issued military personnel, giving details on how somethin
is put together, or operated.
Since there seems to be so
much interest in how to avoid
cancer -- and since the Surgeon
General's high-priced report
ignored this little detail,
we'd like to start a column in
The ABERREE, "How I Quit Smoking" -- in which all you who've
run this torture gauntlet can
give the benefit of your experience to your fellow readers.
Maybe you discovered something
while quitting or afterwards
∂ This is a portrait of The
Editor, taken back before he
"shaved off" that little adornment he's holding. He started
to throw the picture away, but
since he no longer smokes, he
thought it might be a memento
of the "days that used to be".
And don't fear that he's going
to start aping another ape who
keeps his readers current on
how he looks with each added
pound and each fraction of his
receding hair-line. For those
skeptics who think a picture
of a hand is no "portrait", we
ask, Why shouldn't a hand,
foot, knee, or some other portion of the anatomy make as
good a representation of the
physical self as the face? In
these days of integration and
alleged impartiality, l e t' s
quit ignoring the rest of the
body except when we want to
wash it -- or want it to do something for us. Some of the most
famous artists don't hide ANY
of the body when they're doing
their best work -- or, at least,
their most popular work ...
that will smooth the path for
a fellow victim with good intentions -- but who has "bought"
the agreement that a weedstuffed piece of tissue paper
is stronger than he is...
1 Since Bob Ryder was a
child, he's wanted to be a
doctor -- but he ran into difficulties when American medical
schools turned him down. So...
be applied in Mexico, and was
accepted. That's why Bob, Monica, and the two children are
discovering one can pioneer
even in the 20th century -- or
it seems like pioneering to be
suddenly deprived of abundant
hot water, a car, electric appliances, and neighbors who
talk the same language, things
they took for granted back in
San Diego. Monica's story of
their move to Mexico City, the
efforts to adjust to the little
inconveniences' of a foreign
land, and their need for learning a new "tongue" is almost
an adventure yarn in itself.
If you think nothing of flicking on the lights as you move
from room to room, bend an ear :
"We had to sign a year's lease
for it (their apartment). And
3 months rent in advance. The
lease has to be registered with
the government office. Until
the lease is properly executed
you can't get your lights
turned on. It took us 6 days
to get our lease to show to
the light company. It took us
one week to get the lights
turned on after that...We went
to bed at 6 P.M. because it was
so dark there wasn't anything
else to do." And if you think
this is enough to discourage
the wife of a medical prodigy,
hearken further: "I very much
miss all the conveniences of
living that I'm used to...but
all in all, it's not so bad. I
might even like it here in
time.".. .
∂ Bob Arentz, who operates
pfetty mud -7 -- m on the road as a
safety engineer for some trucking indemnity firm, once did a
lot of stopping in Enid when he
was located in Colorado and
Chicago -- but we haven 't seen -
much of him since he moved his
family to Malvern, Penn. -- the
center of his eastern territory. Therefore, it was somewhat of a pleasant surprise
when Bob dropped in recently
for a weekend of chitchat and
discussion of the Hubbard field
of peccadillos and peccancies.
Bob tells us he's being moved
to Chicago -- and probably will
be circulating in this area 04
more frequently in the future --
and G4
we'll try to find something W
more brilliant to discuss when pq
this occurs -- since the abovementioned topic has been worn
to tatters with a few well- e
placed, four-letter words. One
thing Bob did mention which x
was sad news to us was that E'
our friend and long-time subscriber, Boman Mazurek, died
in Chicago early last December
(PLEASE TURM TO PAGE 18)