I first met Duane in 1974 at his BMW shop in Marin when I stopped there to get my brother a few parts for his R75. Duane waited on me, and I got the parts I was looking for and went on my way.
My family and I lived in a very small and remote town of Ft. Bidwell in the very Northeastern part of California. So I was surprised when a short time later while riding my dirt bike down the street, I came across the guy that had helped me at the BMW shop walking down one of the streets in Ft. Bidwell. The big news in town was that Duane and his friend and fellow BMW rider Rod Miller had purchased properties and were new members of our community.
The next year I was a junior in high school, and I enjoyed spending as much time as I could at Duane’s shop working on motorcycles, playing pool, and discussing the economy and politics.
Duane loaned me many books that I would read so we could discuss. I enjoyed learning about the banking system, the federal reserve, the trilateral commission, etc., subjects I was not learning about in school. One of my favorite books that I remember, Non-Dare call it Conspiracy, left a last impression.
In 1975 I joined the Navy, and sometime in 1976 was stationed in Alameda for a couple of years.
Rod moved back to the Bay Area during this time, and my Navy friends and I were all riding BMW motorcycles, so the motorcycles helped us all stay in touch and maintain our friendship.
In 1980 while visiting with Duane in Ft. Bidwell, I mentioned that I was going to Oakland to interview for a job. Duane asked about the job and wanted to know about my resume and letters of recommendation.
I told him I didn’t have letters of recommendation, so he quickly typed up a couple of letters (see below) that I used. I got the job, so the letters must have worked.
Duane and I have managed to stay in touch thru the years even though I have spent almost 30 years living and working outside of the United States.
