The Tree That Knew Too Much

About the Book

“Dr. Brice and the geneticist had expected the governor to react to the news of an important scientific find with at least some interest. Instead, he instantly threw up a barrier to keep out any new ideas and expressed no curiosity at all. “‘You scientists get real excited when you find something you can’t figure out and make a big deal out of it. I’ve been following the news, and you have yourselves panting like dogs running around a tree that isn’t going anywhere. A couple tragic accidents happened on that farm and the press and the police jumped on them. Now you’re making things worse by trying to turn the tree into a science project.’ “‘For god’s sake,” the governor continued, “the tree just stood there and got run into, and a grieving son went a little berserk. I don’t care how old it is. It’s still just a tree. The kind of press you are stirring up makes Ohio look bad. One newspaper even said the tree drank blood like a vampire.’ “‘I’m directing the Ohio CDC to remove the cover, and I would appreciate it if you and the other science guys would clam up and go home.’”

About the Author

Vern Westfall is an adventurer, an explorer, a philosopher, a pilot, a teacher, a designer of fine homes, and an author. He has done push-ups in moon gravity, spent time in the Arctic, and flown at the upper edges of the atmosphere faster than a rifle bullet. He has communed with Buddhist monks on mountaintops in Taiwan, survived in the jungles of the Philippines, lived in Thailand, married a Korean woman, and raised a daughter as a single parent.