Archive - March 19, 2014

INTO THE STORM: Journeys with Alzheimer’s Collin Tong (Thailand 1968-69), Editor Book Publishers Network, $16.95 170 pages 2014 Reviewed by Dan Close (Ethiopia 1966–68) In 1953, the brilliant scientist and science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke wrote a short story entitled “The Nine Billion Names of God.” In a few short pages, he described how the monks of a lamasery high in the mountains of Tibet hired a couple of technicians to install a program on their computer. The monks are dedicated to reciting all the names of God, and it is their belief that when all nine billion names have been chanted, the world will end. To accelerate this process, they need a computer program. The technicians install a program, but don’t believe it will work. Fearing the wrath of the monks, they leave in the middle of the night, making their way down the dark mountain trails as . . .