A Conversaton with Elizabeth
1998
Where in the world is Larry Mixson

….of course I was going to reply but what to say. Even at this early stage of the wild wide web there were scammers, I had read about it in the trade journals. Of course I was going to reply, what if it really was Elizabeth. I replied cautiously.

From:    LARRY M. MIXSON
To:      Elizabeth
Date:    2/17/98 11:00am
Subject: Re: Where in the world is Larry Mixson
 
Yes, I am.
Elizabeth?
How did you find me? Larry

She was quick to respond, 43 minutes later. No she wasn’t psychic and send her reply fifteen minutes before I sent mine, she was in the central time zone as I found out later. 

Some may not have caught the play on words in the subject, but I immediately did. One of Elizabeth’s favorite books was Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged which started with the opening line, "Who is John Galt", and the phrase is repeated throughout the novel as an expression of hopelessness. But the book’s female protagonist Dagny Taggart turns the phrase around making it into a rallying cry when asked "Who is John Galt?", she replies "We are!" Elizabeth had loaned me her copy of Atlas Shrugged to read in 1974 which I liked although I did skip over much John Galt’s 100 page speech.  She came by unexpectedly when I wasn’t home and picked it up and left me a note.

In the note she wrote:

I think I struggle inside between three men: Fred, you and someone I never met (John Galt!).

 I wrote in my journal...

“So was the note supposed to make me feel good?  She came by when I wasn’t home, stayed, ate my food but didn’t stay until I got home from work.  The book Atlas Shrugged was hers, she had loaned it to me to read.  She had said it was one of her favorite books and she thought I would like it which I did.  It gave me some insight into Elizabeth as she associated with the protagonist and heroine in the story Dagny Taggart, a woman executive at a large corporation, unusual for the 1800’s in which the book was set.” (see Elizabeth 1974)

From:    Elizabeth
To:      LARRY M. MIXSON
Date:    2/17/98 10:43am
Subject: Re: where in the world is Larry Mixson
 
Yes.
Easy. On "break" at work, Yahoo People Search. Forgot your middle initial. Forgot wife's name. Recollected you mentioned relocating. Several L.M.'s in Florida. Didn't try. Guessed you would have e-mail at home and work, unless working independently. Only L.M. listed in country with two e—mail addresses. "Video" raised question, but imagined in your domain. Had checked Melbourne phone book some (?) 2-3 years back, but saw no listing. Hesitancy (?) about replying, once you did. Will try to reflect on impulse, if I hear back again. Autonomous work situation, but "break" is over. Don't know about reply separators! Automatic? EJ

The wonders of the Internet. By 1998 email was becoming essential for business with much internal business communication being conducted by email and it was becoming standard practice to put your email address on your business card. The Yahoo that Elizabeth used was an early Internet search engine that by 1998 had been around for a few years. Yahoo was an acronym for “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle” The “Yet Another” phrase begin in the early 1970’s at Bell Labs when the computer scientist Stephen John created YACC, “Yet Another Compiler-Compiler”.  Yahoo was probably the most popular Internet search engine until it was largely replaced by Google a few years later.

Ok, I still wasn’t totally convinced, OK she found me by searching the internet, I had no I idea that information about me could be found on the Internet. Ok, I still wasn’t convinced that it was her, she needed to give me something more, something that would convince me it was her. I replied, still cautiously.

From:    LARRY M. MIXSON
To:      Elizabeth
Date:    2/17/98 02:48 pm
Subject: Re: where in the world is Larry Mixson
 
Elizabeth,
 
Is that you? I have often wondered what has happened to you and where you are. I now live outside of Washington, DC in Reston VA. I did a search on the internet last year but found about 100 Elizabeth Jones with no way to tell if any of them were you.
How are you?
 
Larry

And then she again.

From:    Elizabeth
To:      SMTP("larry.m.mixson@bvs.com")
Date:    2/17/98 1:25pm
Subject: Re: Finding yourself on the Internet
 
I'm on "lunch break." None of the Elizabeth Jones are me. I've checked several times. No cyber-identity? How am I? Certainly older, heavier(!), possibly wiser. Working in hospital teaching center as medical librarian/researcher-75% of my day is on the net or in some database. Interesting diverse tasks. City of Montgomery is somewhat boring (understatement). I think I thought of you a week or so back when I was in Atlanta at a major Picasso exhibit because some of your art was as good, and I wondered at the developmental paths which different lives take. When I am "secure" I get existential. I need to spend part of my "lunch break" actually eating— EJ

I was busy with work that afternoon and could reply until I got home that evening and sent the following. It sound like the Elizabeth I knew and thought it was here, or at least I wanted believe it was her.

From:    LARRY M. MIXSON
To:      Elizabeth
Date:    2/17/98 6:43pm
Subject: Re[2]: Finding yourself.
 
Elizabeth,
It is really good to hear from you. I know about older and heavier. Even with 6 or more hours of racquetball each week and 600 or so miles of bicycling a year (summers only) it is still hard to maintain an even weight. So much for getting older, who knows about wiser. I am currently working for the Phone company (Bell Atlantic) in their Video Services company, still doing computer work. Job was good initially but lately has had a real turn for the worse. I have been interviewing the past couple of months and most likely will accept a new job tomorrow. Fourth company I been with since coming up to DC area eight (or is it nine?) years ago. Jobs are easy to come by up here and I love the area. There is always something to do with the Smithsonian, hiking, bicycling, art museums, etc. In December I saw a special Escher exhibit at the National Art Museum. Escher has always been one of my favorite artists with the drawing Waterfall being one of my favorites. While visiting his exhibit at the Smithsonian I bought a print of Waterfall which now hangs on the wall in my house in 2024.
   
 
As for my own art, I haven't painted in a long time but still have my paints and brushes and long to do so again but never seem to make the time. Ah, to think of the path I have taken to where I am now and to think of how it might have been different if at some point I choose differently.
 So what is "secure" but a frame of mind? Larry

The following reply came later that night and I didn’t read it until the next day when I got into work. After reading it I was convinced that it was Elizabeth. Wow, after thirteen years, and she finds me on the Internet.

From:    Elizabeth
To:      SMTP("larry.m.mixson@bvs.com")
Date:    2/17/98 3:40pm
Subject: Jobs and Culture
 
I'm on my "afternoon break." Do you remember ever studying Maslow's hierarchy in psychology classes? Its a triangle. At the base are all the "basic things" such as food, shelter, survival needs. (Somehow I can't make that into a "frame of mind" even when I try hard!) I think in modern terms that means a good job with no threat of being downsized or outsourced. At the peak of the triangle is "self actualization." That's things such as "painting" or "writing" which we usually give up or let go of in our society in order to achieve the "base" of the triangle. Then, as we approach 50 (ME!), some people have a major mid-life crisis. About in 1993 I finally abandoned the 10 speed which I had all those years since Gainesville. I moved and left it chained to an apartment I moved out of.        

I miss bicycling more than anything and wonder why I left the bike, except it was quite worn and weathered. Bicycling is an extremely rare site in Montgomery. Absolutely no paths anywhere. Ditto jobs--I'm on my third professional job since moving to Montgomery in 1993. This one seems okay; others were deficient. I think I'd collapse if I even attempted to play racquetball. If you get a new job tomorrow, what about this e-mail I'm sending. Escher--Is that the artist who did the hands--that's all I vaguely recall--Escher-Bach or something. You could probably get a job anywhere. Biking, racquetball--what else? Sounds active. I read, walk, pool exercise (early knee arthritis probably from so much karate). I'm a "law student" in evenings--my retirement career. Contracts, torts, prenuptial agreements, divorces. Last semester was a killer with working 40. Cut down this term. Keeps me too busy with not much reflective time--except occasionally. Are you a major computer junkie, addicted to the net, etc. You certainly saw the future! No E-mail at home. Can only reply on breaks, lunches, quitting time. EJ

The following day at work I responded to her second email about Jobs, Culture and my life.

Jobs, Culture and Life