OCCASIONAL BOOK CORNER
'Proteus 9 dedicated to
prisoners of conscience
Morris West's latest novel.
"Proteus." focuses on inter
national terrorism and vio
lence and is dedicated to "the
prisoners of conscience, of
whom to our shame there are
too many."
West is a. practiced story
teller, and this one shifts back
and forth between New York,
Rome, Buenos Aires and other
settings, his protagonist being
an Italian-American indus
trialist, the highly successful
head of a miltinational corpor
ation. But West doesnt intend
to give the reader the simple
vicarious pleasure of witness
ing the exercise of power in a
corporate board room or of
visiting in a patrician Italian
household.
There is prison brutality,
rape and murder, related not
for sensuality but to rouse
one's awareness of the prac
ticed cruelties of dictatorial
regimes in South America and
Europe.
John Spada's public image
is that of a tycoon, at ease as a
corporate executive, fluent in
six languages, ruthless with
enemies in the marketplace
but a loving husband and
father.
His secret role is that of
Proteus, head of an interna
tional undercover organiza
tion that seeks to free political
or religious prisoners wher
ever they might be.
In a sense, he becomes a
modern-day Scarlet Pimper
nel, although this simile isn't
used by the author. The
symbol of Spada's organiza
tion is an incomplete square
enclosing a fish. He explains:
"The rectangular shape is
one of the oldest forms of the
letter P. The fish is just a fish.
The whole device stands for
Proteus, the sea-god, shep
herd and guardian of all the
creatures who live in the
deep: the seals, the dolphins,
the tunny and the shoaling
minnows. Poseidon endowed
him with knowledge of all
things, past, present and
future, and with the power to
change himself into a multi
tude of shapes : a flame of fire,
a lion, a flower, a snake or
snuffling boar.
"You see the relevance of
the symbol to what we do. We
are the guardians of those who
live in an alien element, cut off
from human concern. We have
at our disposal knowledge,
intelligence, from all over the.
world. We can assume many
identities, many functions...
When we are threatened, we
can retreat into the sea caves
and emerge in a different
shape. If one fish is taken,
there are always others to
take its place. For the present
I am Proteus, because I have
the means to move and act
more freely than most of our
collaborators.
"But if anything happens to
John Spada, then a new man
will assume my title and
function. All our codes are
based on the names of sea
creatures. We recognize each
other by this device, which a
child can draw."
Some of the horror of the
story involves Spada's own
daughter, who is married to
an idealistic, liberal Argentine
journalist, both of whom are
imprisoned.
Under the cloak of Proteus.
Spada utilizes an international
network of assassins and
secret police to free his
daughter and son-in-law.
Meanwhile, he is involved
with corporate intrigue. The
story winds up with a climac
tic, and perhaps improbable,
ending on the podium of the
United Nations.
The novel represents a
different Morris West from
"The Devil's Advocate" and
"The Shoes of the Fisher
man," nevertheless a good
story. The book is new at the
Heppner Public Library.
-J.F.S.
"Haste in every business
brings failures." Herodotus
1
Merle fowett
New Heppner
officer
lleppnt'i residents will !
wrinu a new person in the city
police uniform soon because
Merle Cowett. 39, has been
hired as the new officer to take
the place of Don Lien, who
resigned to take the position of
the police chief in Condon.
Cowett is a certified police
officer with a wife and three
children. He was a tribal
police officer on the Burns
Tribal Reservation in Burns.
Oregon. He has been working
there since 1976-77.
The former Californian is
planning on moving to Hepp
ner in the next week or two.
"I enjoy the work," he said.
"It's interesting."
The Heppner Gazette-Times. Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, November 15, 1979-THREE
Alcoholism workshop to be held in Pendleton
1 ,ho n1 IJon M.r Tnn. 304 PH. from 8 a.m. to 5
iiiiedav workshop on
alcoholi' ni will he held Pec "
Southeast Patawa Hoar! in P-
New policy on
productivity
introduced
The nation will get more
productivity from its 1,550
million acres of forage-producing
forest lands and range,
an invaluable but often low
profile resource in the na
tion's goals, said Secretary of
Agriculture Bob Bergland in
announcing a new policy on
range management.
Bergland said "the policy is
designed to improve and
protect the range and its
resources and the social and
economic well-being of people
and communities that depend
on range for their livelihood."
All agencies of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture
must work the policy into their
existing policies and pro
grams within one year, he
said.
Rangeland has always been
an important source of forage
for livestock and wildlife. It
also is becoming increasingly
important as a source of
recreation and minerals, he
said.
There have been some ex
cessively pampered dogs. The
richest, a German shepherd,
was left property worth
$312,000 by his master in
Munich, West Germany, in
1971.
Potato-Onion Soup
Roast Quftfcey Dteast
Qakd tonge Qfofid 9iam
cjUugfitoom-SausagG Dieesing
Qanqeftine Sueet Potato
Ofeu; Rotate wdk WSoua ftewe Qahd
Qkm cleans with (pesk tomato
Sautced Oawiots with Beibs
JMusfiAoom
SaCad Baft
with
9ossee( (jtcen SaCad
Cofe SfouJ
Qitm Qim Qafod
Cueumbeis witd Cieam cheese
Jimmied Jduskocm
esseit et
Pumpkin
5ce Cfteam
1U25 qWei 10 3
5100
Earthquakes around the
world kill an average of 14.000
people a year, the National
Geographic Society says.
"Our fears
traitors."
do make us
Shakespeare
2F
All flitters
Now thru Nov. 20th
9 afZT
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ountynnn
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