Postwar Shadows, Bunny Ears & Basement Dreams in Evanston. pt 1 #johndavidnorman

 

I try to imagine myself a very young adult walking the green grass near Lake Michigan, post our WWII victory - taking that all in after coming from the sands and sauna air of the southwest. Can you imagine being that young student walking the grounds of your new home, new school - with all of that swirling. Nevermind the fact that your school, Northwestern University, was a crazy hub of veterans on GI Bills and others moving forward with disembarking service nearby - all those memories, those dreams, those tears - all that trauma suffered, life changed forever, all that fear -never able to erase what you now knew. Each life passing by carrying their own versions experienced by a system built from different life lessons - all trying to absorb an impossible. 

That was the tail end of the 40s for kids stepping towards the rest of their life, as it was for a young Oklahoma man who made it to Evanston, Illinois by way of a few years in Houston interning at the radio station housed at the Rice Hotel. John David Norman's hard work on productions known like Experiment in Radio had actually paid off. They paid off via scholarships like one from the Houston Committee of Constitutional Government, whose parent organization was Committee of Constitutional Government who at the time was chaired by Norman Vincent Peale.  

Welcome to Progressive Evanston. 

I spent a significant chunk of the 70s and my childhood in Evanston. I knew it well, at least the streets, alleys and gates I could pass through while the streetlights remained off. I've come to learn even more and what those conversations may have been about beyond the windows I passed. 

They would have been many of the same windows my father and his brother passed in their youth, same streets, same houses. In mid to late 40s Evanston they would have been in their high school years attending St. George High School for boys, also in Evanston.  In their adventures one of the homes they most likely passed was on Fowler and occupied by William Hamling who was toiling in a basement with his own endeavors-  a publishing company, but not your typical kind. His publications would cater to a niche audience of a burgeoning science fiction fan base, one who wanted more than martians and spaceships - they wanted to crawl into erotic imagination, for adults only. The world would come to know it by the call letters in it's phone number, Greenleaf Publishing. 

I found out about Greenleaf yesterday and only after a news blurb appeared on my feed - it was about a newsstand in Chicago and a car that went through it's doors. I immediately thought about that newsstand in Evanston on Chicago Avenue and Main, the one I passed every day of my world back then I wondered to myself if today they were owned by the same person - and yes, they are... So, yes, this rabbit hole was kicked open by that - I know. Weird. 

In five minutes from there I knew about Greenleaf Publishing - which then some of these puzzle pieces started making sense or at least, are taking shape. 

Evanston is and was a hub. Surrounding it is Chicago, Great Lakes Naval and then too Fort Sheridan, along with O'hare and Midway airports within range. Quick access to Canada- over those lakes - it's a natural site of defense, sitting on a lot of wealth - it is a healthcare center and science and tech leader in many ways. It was the heartbeat of innovation, production, education and faith - all rural roads took you to the Yards.  

Norman was at Northwestern during this time- there is no explanation why that summer he was in Philadelphia 1948 however the GOP, the DNC and the Progressive Parties held their conventions there that year.

Now, back to Norman. That young man he was and the infamous pedo ring leader he would become grew up in a family where his older brother was a pilot but not just any pilot, rather one affiliated with Chinese National Airways Corp. Now, like most reading this, that meant nothing to me until I looked in further and found out those pilots and those planes took part in covert missions during and after the war - often connected to OSS which turned to CIA. 

https://www.cnac.org/norman01.htm 

Norman's brother would have been one of them, the ones who flew in the shadows of pilots like Capt. Julius Barr who took part in harrowing escapades as a pilot to Eastern world royalty - including Madame Chiang Kai-shek and as an "air chauffeur" for warlord Zhang Xueliang.  

https://www.cnac.org/barr01.htm

An interesting bunch of characters and what many now call war heroes. And yes, if you are like me - you caught something , that last name, Barr.  It is and has been repeated quite a bit in stories and history connected to covert operations, pedo rings, Epstein and beyond. I noticed it too, especially since knowing that Donald Barr, former OSS officer to CIA cheerleader of Jeffrey Epstein at Dalton as a college drop out Math teacher. It kinda smacks, doesn't it?  Even if I don't know whether or not they are related, it stills feels like a period at then end of a sentence.

https://chewedupandspatout.blogspot.com/2026/02/1-1-jeffrey-epstein-alphabet-math-weird.html

Then....

One twisted - rare - little detail about Donald Barr now makes sense more than ever before , doesn't it? He was a science fiction fan and author - remember Space Relations...?? 

Before I leave you for a small break in writing - 

I want you to remember that in this same span of time, mid to late 40s, Project Paperclip, Bluebird and MK Ultra, were either in the making and or being utilized with Paperclip utilizing Hitler regime scientists to our own liking - 

But also take in that beautiful meandering drive down famous Lake Shore Drive where Bunny ears were about to be erected in the decade to come signifying his, Hefner's, accomplishments. He was still busy self publishing from a kitchen table in this Chicago home - all happening at once in Union and Mob fighting Chicago. 

To Be Continued.