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CALLS TO PRESSMEN 8/8/78 Sharon Amos
-I got hold of Hutton Archer who has a very high position with the Ministry of Information/ he’s above Roy VanDyke who is senior Press man. he told me that after next week he is changing his job and willno longer be with the Ministery/ I asked if he’d still be in the newspaper business and he said No/ I said “that’s too bad” and he said “well that’s how it goes sometimes”
-I talked to Kirton and asked if he could come to Jonestown/ he wouldn’t answer on the phone. told me to come into his office and he would give the answer
-Mahammed Kamalidan: said we could come we could come in to his house today and talk about it
(I personally think that very few pressmen wouldwant to leave even for one day at this time when all the hot poop is coming out about corruption in govt/ it’s the Guyanese watergate and we would look pale right now in comparison – in terms of Guyanese events. Not that I agree that we are pale right now but this is a big thing in Guyana and will probably be breaking news on various days and I don’t think professional press will want to be left out of it) – but I can still try if you want/ I think it would be a mistake in trying to put out money to arrange a charger and call everyone right now and then it not go thru again/ I think we should wait until things quiet down a bit altho I know we need press coverage.)
-I tried to reach Steve Nardine and he was out but I may still try to reach him as we want to see him anyway / he’s the one that gave the good story to the House of Israel
-Vick Forsythe will replace Hutton Archer next week – Monday as Chief Info officer and I’ll try to reach him
-it was suggested that I call Terry Holder at GBS and Raffi Khan at Radio Demarara – who is general manager
-will also try to reach George Baird/ he’s the one Mingo recommended but Wills had said he was crazy. However, when I first called him a long time ago/ he said “I’ll call you, you don’t have to call me.” he never called us but I think it was Joan Purseley ran into him and he said he could see us
-Herman Singh was on sick leave and he didn’t have a home number/he’s been friendly to us
-Pat Cameron/ I brought her some articles at her home and she invited Tony and me in/ at the time I didn’t know we were going to have her as one of the press charter. She asked that we go to the Theatre guild to see her and her daughter who both are in Antigone. I asked if we could get tickets meaning free but she kept talking about buying them. They run about $4. She introduced me to someone at her house and showed me her granddaughter. I only had a few minutes to stay as I had an appt. but felt she was very friendly. I brought her the Flemming [Tom Fleming of San Francisco Sun-Reporter] articles and the cover letter explaining them etc. also Dick Tropp’s description of Jonestown “The Last Frontier”
-I didn’t know if I should invite her now unless the others are coming because if she says yes and then we have to arrange a charter for her it wouldn’t be good. I did invite her in general to Jonestown and she didn’t say when she’d be able to come.