Turning on the Juice

A couple years ago, I was in an antique shop and stumbled across “Assignment in Space” by Blake Savage. Ah, a cherished tome from my youth. The exploits of Rip Foster, a young space cadet, published in 1958. Outer space was heady stuff back then.

A few weeks ago, I was browsing through a funky little used book store and made another find. “The Rocket’s Shadow” and “The Phantom Shark,” both part of the Rick Brant Electronic Adventures series, authored by John Blaine. In fact, the former was the first book in the series. Think Hardy Boys, except that every time Brant ran up against a tricky adversary, he “invented” an electronic device to defeat him. Had me assembling Heathkits for years.

Heathkits were ham radios, stereo amplifiers, measuring instruments and other devices you made yourself. There was a lot of wire stripping and soldering, not simply snapping in a couple circuit boards. Lessons in electronics were woven into the instructions.

The connection between the two book purchases? Savage and Blaine were pseudonyms for Hal Goodwin, who had a rich career in the military and science (including NASA). He imbued his books with a good deal of science, making them educational as well as interesting.

There was more than scientific inculcation going on here, in the midst of the Cold War. Foster was a cadet in the military of the Federation of Free Governments – the good guys. FFG for short. They did everything the righteous way.

The claim-jumping, sleazy opposition was the Consops – the bad guys. Connies for short. Connies, commies? Not real subtle.

But, Goodwin was writing for the youth market, so his blatancy was welcome. A decade later, I was struggling to detect the symbolism in Hemingway, so I appreciate any signposts provided, even the overkill. You are tipped off from the start of the Rick Brant series. The skinny scientist is named Dr. Stringfellow. The villain is Wessel (weasel?). No danger of spraining a brain lobe trying to noodle this out.

Not all lessons were benign. In one book, Brant converts the ignition coil from a car to a shocking device. The forerunner of the taser? It gives a mild jolt to the bad guy, enabling Brant to get the jump on him. I was into tinkering with cars and this caught my fancy.

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out, and I had access to a lot of junk cars. A couple fittings and a few minutes; I had my shocker. Now, how do I test it?

Even though the shock in the book seemed little more than a slight discomfort, I dismissed the idea of trying it on myself. I ruled out Boots, my dog. That would be cruel. I thought about trapping a muskrat by the river, but even that seemed inhumane.

Then, Steve occurred to me. The Eddie Haskell of the neighborhood. I had administered some “corrections” to Steve a couple times, but it left telltale marks and had gotten me into trouble. Giving him a remedial dose of current might be a better alternative. In his case, it wouldn’t be cruel. More like a service to mankind.

You never had to wait long for Steve to give you a reason. I applied the mild correction. Except, it turned out to not be that mild. And, it did leave a mark, since he slammed up against the wall like he was shot out of a howitzer. Oh well, live and learn.

Steve reminded me of this incident at a recent high school reunion. If I didn’t regret it then, I sure didn’t now. Steve would be a lot better person today if he had been electrocuted on a weekly basis.

I feasted on these books as a youth. So, I couldn’t wait to dive into them, now.

Yeah, things are never quite the way you remember them. I’m older and more experienced, and certainly the information and style are dated. But, it was still a kick to share a soldering iron with Rick Brant, again.