Preliminary proposal letter (09/Jan/00)

As our numbers dwindle, owing to age, disease, and reaping what we have sown; there needs to be a permanent and official means of noting those, living and dead, who have made their mark and have personified what it is to be a doodlebugger. It is my suggestion that a committee be established; peopled by those, who themselves, have toiled as doodlebuggers in the field, to determine and recommend those outstanding individuals to be officially recognized as members of the GSI Doodlebugger Hall of Fame.

It is proposed that members of this award be limited to those who earned their reputations in field operations. That does not disqualify those, who later performed lesser duties as desk wallahs in the Dallas office or elsewhere. Those who have distinguished themselves in other pursuits, such as data processing et cetera, already have a plethora of accolades and awards available. To my knowledge, there has never been an award for a field guy.

It must be clearly noted here that this neither an award for technical excellence, scientific achievement, nor outstanding performance as a GSI employee per se. This is only about the character of the individual, or in some cases, the lack thereof. It is legends and those of memorable character who are being sought. People to whom we fondly refer or to whom we raise a glass when doodlebuggers congregate to reminisce.

It will be the duty of the committee to organize and work out the details of determining who should receive this award, and in what manner and form it shall be bestowed. A bonze bust of the recipient, for example, is not envisioned at this time.

Inasmuch as this is my idea, I will presume to ask a number of distinguished doodlebuggers to form the committee, of which I initially will be a member. My continued participation will ultimately depend on what later develops as the program is evolved by the committee.