July 10, 2013

Dear Ms. O’Degee,

Thank you for your letter sent upon receipt of the radio. I am glad to hear you have made a place for it in your collection. As you requested, I am making these notes about this receiving device and how I came to acquire it.

For some time now I have been intrigued by a series of towers, apparently built by the D’ni, and in evidence in several of the Ages that Mr. Oddenfen and The Devokan Trust have been involved in reviving and maintaining. It occurred to me that these towers may be, in fact, the remnants of a communications system. These may be relay towers, used to send some sort of signal from one Age to another.

I have been looking into this matter for The Trust. And, as odd as it may seem, it was necessary to determine whether the signal is still active. Obviously there would be no one broadcasting the signal at this time but that doesn’t mean some program that emits a  signal might not still be running. In the unlikely event that it is, much could potentially be learned from this.

I acquired this radio a couple of months back. I had some business in my native time, the 1950s, and when this business was complete, I was ready for a little R&R. A friend had suggested I spend a week in his summer home as it was the off-season and the area would be quiet. This radio was in his living room and I made much use of it during my stay. It had exceptional sound quality and I enjoyed listening to music programs, evening dramas and comedies and sporting events. Of course, it was a treat to be listening to the programs of the 1950s on a device of that time while actually in the time.

One night, while listening to a ball game, my mind turned to the question of the towers in the Devokan Ages. I realized I would need a wireless set that was built to receive a signal from quite a distance away. I started to laugh at the fact that I just happened to be visiting a time period known for its high-quality radios, built for long-distance listening. As I laughed, the great Mickey Mantle was hitting a home run and the roar of the crowd caused me to turn and look directly at the radio. A light bulb went on in my head. I could use this very radio! I would have called my friend to ask the favor right then and there but he had gone out of the country on business and this was a time when an overseas telephone call was not the everyday occurrence that it became in later decades.

So at the end of my stay, I “borrowed” this radio to bring it to Evergreen and some of the other Devokan Ages for my research. I had every intention of returning the radio on a future visit but when I last heard from my friend, he had sold his summer house, a package deal with all furnishings included, not an unusual arrangement when selling a summer home. The buyer had seen the house without this radio in it and the seller – my friend – had sold everything that was in the house. Neither of them would miss the radio I had “borrowed.” And anyway, they are living in the 1950s, nearly 60 years before this writing.

Once I was done using it for my research, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with the radio. I didn’t want keep it and have my friend visit and see it on my table. He is not a professional like me, but more of a hobbyist time traveller. Still he gets to these times now and then.

So when I heard you mention at one of our Devokan Storytellers gatherings, that you were looking for artifacts for your museum, I thought a donation of this item would sort of…get me off the hook.

I am very glad this has all worked out.

Best Regards,

Danko Whitfield

Danko Radio photo

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