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The Body Electric
lem, but never mind; they were still accusing me of stealing from the
taxpayers. If the charge was upheld, I would have to pay back part of my
salary and grants based on all the time I'd spent researching, preparing,
and giving the evidence.
Soon a company spy showed up in my office. I knew anything I said
would be carried straight to the top, so I mentioned, "just between you
and me," that I was in a position to reveal infractions committed by the
local administration that were more serious than their charge against
me. The next day I got a call from the director: There was no audit
being planned; that was just a rumor; it was all a big mistake.
Soon I got word that my funding ploy had worked. The rehabilitation
proposal was approved in routine fashion, and we were in business
through 1979. I'm sure there was hell to pay at VACO when the phan-
tom leader of the posse found that one of the director's underlings had
let us slip the noose. However, I knew there was no way we'd ever
finagle another grant, and I told everybody to start lining up another job
well in advance. As for me, I'd decided to retire as soon as I became
eligible in 1978. I was tired and discouraged. There was almost no
interest in the evidence I'd accumulated for the DC perineural system,
and I was pretty sure I'd never be able to do any research after this latest
grant ran out.
Then a magazine article provided some support that induced me to
continue for a while. In 1976, Smithsonian ran a piece called "If a Newt
Can Grow a New Limb, Maybe We Can." The author, Robert Bahr,
had written a popularized but accurate account after looking through the
scientific literature and finding, among others, our papers on rat limb
regeneration. Shortly afterward, I received a call from Don Yarborough,
a congressional lobbyist for the American Paralysis Association, a group
of people who were dissatisfied with the then-prevalent idea that nothing
could be done for paraplegics. Obviously, spinal cord regeneration was
the ultimate answer if it was possible. Yarborough asked if what Bahr
had written was true.
When I said it was, he enthusiastically asked for more details. I told
him the problems we'd encountered, both scientific and political, and
the fact that I was soon to retire and disband the lab. He asked me to
make no final decisions until he brought this situation to the attention
of his contacts in Congress.
Shortly thereafter, I was asked to see Senator Alan Cranston, then
chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairrs. Steve Smith was
also
invited.
Also
present
were
representatives from NIH and
other
agencies, who soon established their position. If the senator wanted to