A friend who valued the acquaintance of former Winnisquam social studies teacher Dan Clark as much as I did set aside a spot on his property as a memorial to Dan, with a flag to signify his military service, and Dan’s catch-phrase, “Catch you later,” on a small sign. A game camera on the property recently caught an image of a dove visiting “Dan’s spot” — an enhanced version of which appears above.
This particular Dan Clark is one of three people with the same name I have come across over the years. Most of my friends will think first of the Dan Clark who was in my class at Newfound. This Dan, however, lived in Northfield and taught social studies until there was no longer freedom to teach with skill, virtuosity having been replaced by strict curricula that required moving through chapters designed only to prepare students for standardized tests, rather than showing how interesting history is.
That was before I knew Dan, but as I was to learn later, my uncle, Richard, knew Dan very well. They lived not far apart in Northfield, and, according to Dan, were the best of friends until Richard’s death. It was only later that I met Dan and found that, despite the age difference, we shared a number of common interests, among them videography. Before Dan died of lung cancer, he made a significant contribution to the Liberty Independent Media Project for the purchase of video equipment — which he helped to select. Declaring that his possessions would soon be “someone else’s problem”, he left a collections of cameras and recordings to me to sort through (which I’ll finally do one of these days).
Dan also was fascinated with conspiracy theories — not that he believed them, but he loved to hear how their proponents made their cases for September 11 and other catastrophes to be orchestrated by dark forces. He did not live to see the more outrageous conspiracy theories that have been rolled out in the more than a dozen years since his death.
Today, it really can be hard to figure out what is true, with artificial intelligence and social media sharing all sorts of false stories, whether intentionally or not, just at a time when we really need trustworthy sources to help us navigate our way through the crises occurring all around us.
Among my readings, I came across a great phrase: “By belief and disposition”. It is a great phrase because the truths we arrive at today are a combination of belief and disposition. If we are not disposed to hear the truth, we will not believe it. When we state something as a fact, we should be prefacing our statement with “by belief and disposition”.
I was reminded that my beliefs could be challenged after writing of the Newfound Area School Board’s long debate about whether to engage with the three towns considering withdrawing from the school district. It had become apparent to me that the school board was “continuing to demonstrate ignorance about one of the most significant matters facing the Newfound Area School District” as I put it in the story. For months, they stalled on a decision, using circular logic: The steering committee has not provided details about how a split would work, but to have that information, the school board would have to say whether it was willing to provide the services that the committee is seeking. Some obstinate board members did not want to provide that information on the grounds that it would be helping those wanting to withdraw — without recognizing that it also would help those still in the district who want to know what the implications would be if the three towns completely withdraw, and what they would be if the three towns continued to work with Newfound.
Some readers characterized my article as an “opinion piece” rather than a straight news story. In my mind — by belief and disposition — failing to provide answers to the Newfound community demonstrated ignorance of civics, the role of government, and the workings of school districts. To me, that is a factual statement.
Similarly, by belief and disposition, Mark E. Doyle, director of the New Hampshire Department of Safety, Division of Emergency Services and Communication, wrote that changing the name of Mount Washington to its Abenaki name, Agiochocook, and the Baker River to its Abenaki name, Asquamchumaukee, “could prevent or significantly delay the provisioning of emergency services because of potential confusion, lack of familiarity, or pronunciation during stressful, life-safety situations.”
Kris Pastoriza of Franconia had petitioned for the change partly on political grounds because, by belief and disposition, she felt that, because George Washington owned slaves, he did not deserve to be so honored, and Thomas Baker’s sole claim to fame was as an Indian killer, so the river should not bear his name.
Wayne King, in his Anamaki Chronicles, disagrees with Pastoriza about changing the name of Mount Washington, but, as he says (obviously by belief and disposition), “Now the Asquamchumaukee is a different matter altogether.”
At the confluence of the Asquamchumaukee and Pemigewasset rivers, [Thomas Baker and a troop of scalp hunters in 1712] came upon a peaceful village of Pemigewasset Abenaki. The men of the village are said to have been off hunting when Baker’s scalp hunters came upon the village of women, children, and the elderly. They attacked the village and indiscriminately killed everyone, scalping them, stealing their furs and other provisions, and then returned to Northhampton to collect the bounty on scalps. … This one bloodthirsty and barbaric act would be the pinnacle of his career and for that the river was named in his “honor”.
Doyle probably is correct in talking about potential confusion from changing the names of the mountain and the river, but, as King also points out, “the novel concepts of computers and GPS” can compensate for that. Emergency Services already created confusion by the inane decision to rename sections of the same road with different names, so Routes 3-11 are “Laconia Road” in Tilton, and “Tilton Road” in Laconia, and Route 3-A is “Franklin Road” in Hill but “Hill Road” in Franklin. Those responding to emergencies have figured out how to navigate even ridiculous name changes such as that.
By belief and disposition, I agree with Wayne King: Leave Mount Washington alone, but change the Baker River to Asquamchumaukee.
When beliefs clash, everyone needs to take a step back and consider the other position. That can be difficult or even impossible in situations like that currently facing Israel, where lives have been lost and more lives are at risk.
Perhaps that’s why the dove was visiting Dan’s spot.
I end with a quote from Roland Griffiths: “I want everyone to appreciate the joy and wonder of every single moment of their lives. There is a reason every day to celebrate that we’re alive, that we have another day to explore whatever this gift is of being conscious, of being aware, of being aware that we are aware. That’s to be celebrated!”
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