Before his illness overcame him, Doug was pursuing a degree in Liberal Arts at Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California. I was honored to be one of those asked to write a letter of recommendation for him to the Director of Admissions. What follows are excerpts from that letter:
"You willl understand by reading his letter to me that he takes the responsibility for such an application with a good measure of wisdom and sense of responsibility. He has visited the college many times, read Escape from Skepticism and has a good knowledge of he College's program.
"Of our six children it can be said that I have been closest to my son Douglas. He has accompanied me on trips to China, France, Spain, Argentina and Mexico. He has joined me at more Thomas Aquinas seminars that my other children. At these he has shown a lively interest in history, philosophy, theology and religion.
"Like me, he is an entrepreneur. He was chosen by his brothers and sisters to be the one who accompanied me to board meetings and semi-annual conferences for Gray family enterprises in Indiana.
"He continues to have a keen interest in intellectual pursuits. We have taken Spanish lessons together in recent years. Although he lacks my level of fluency, he has even better skill than mine in acquiring vocabulary.
"Doug was always a good student. He attended Kent school in Connecticut and graduated cum laude near the top of his class. He shared my interest in the exotic, visited China and began the study of Mandarin. He emerged from school with a deep respect for religion and high ethical standards, but minus the Catholic Faith.
"The most outstanding aspects of his character are his friendliness, deep concern, empathy
and compassion for others. These qualities are profound, impressive and spontaneous. I find myself wishing and praying that such qualities, to the extent that he possesses them, would become mine as well."Doug was in no way responsible for certain misfortunes that occurred in his life, but they affected him profoundly.
"After leaving Duke, Doug had a successful, productive and happy life as an inventor and organic farmer in Oregon. He gained skills and knowledge, largely self-taught, in construction and electrical and mechanical engineering. His friend Mott was a strong positive force in his life.
"He lived in France for perhaps a year. I visited him.in Paris. At that time despair had driven me to loss of my own faith. Doug perceived this and in a very wise, quiet and unassuming way invited me to come with him to visit Sacre Coeur. That visit and some prayers miraculously restored my faith.
On returning to Oregon Doug continued to pursue his career as organic farmer and inventor. Several projects were pursued with his eccentric and close friend Mott, son of David Friedman, New York physician and professor, who directed the clinical training program for the medical students from the Caribean island of Grenada.
Together with a third partner, a native Grenadian high school graduate, they successfully implemented a plan to build a vertically integrated, profitable chocalte business in Grenada. Their humanitarian objectives were very clearly spelt out: good wages for the employees, fair trade compensation for the cocoa growers, creation of jobs, restoration of a thriving cocoa industry in Grenada, concern for the environment through production of a product certified as organic, and use of solar power. The product was to be a dark chocolate, superior in all respects and made by classical methods that aree no longer employed. See: grenadachocolate.cnom.
The obstacles they had to overcome were as follows: 1. Neglected cocoa groves due to inadequate grower compensation by an exploitative and monopollistic
national buyers'association. 2. Normal xeophobia that is the lot of all foreigners. 3. Complex business and trade regulations. 4. A climate where chocolate bars melt at room temperature. 5. Huge energy costs for electricity produced by diesel fuel. 6. International competition from the likes of Hershey, Nestle and Ghirardelli. . Hurricanes that destroyed the cocoa crop and tore the roof off their factory two years in a row.
"Doug provided the capital for the enterprise. The partners paid twice the going wage rates to the workers and never more that the same wages to themselves. Farmers were paid well for their cocoa and met the high production standards they demanded. Last year they received the bronze medal for their product at the International Chocolate Fair in London. Their product is sold in North America, Europe, the Caribbean and on the internet. Their only problem is not having enough product to meet the demand.
"I tell you this story so that you will have some idea of his abilities, character, experience and determination to carrhy through on any commitment that he makes. He has sustained misfortunes in life with fortitude and without bitterness.
"I pray that he will be admitted and that this will start him on a path of return to the Faith. In any case he would receive and education superior to that which he could receive anywhere else. Because of his accomplishments, experience, genuine charity and wisdom he would be a source of inspiration and instruction to his fellow students."
Sincerely,
Harry Gray Browne
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