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R: How do you feel about nuclear energy and nuclear bombs?
D: I feel that nuclear bombs are a perfectly horrible idea. I think that
nuclear energy may be a very necessary thing and I think that it can be
very safe.
R: Did John think so?
D: Yes, he thought so more than I do. He did a lot of work on the Turkey Creek
plant down in Miami. They couldn't figure out what to do about the hot water
that they had and they didn't want to let it into Biscayne Bay, so he finally
came up with the idea that they could build trenches that could go back and
forth, around the place that let the water cool and then let it out, which
they did.
R: Did they do that at Crystal River too?
D: I don't know, he didn't have anything to do with that.
R: I feel edgy about the nuclear industry and would prefer that we didn't
have any nuclear installations whatsoever. Of course, I don't know as
much about it as John did. Well, Emma I wanted to thank you so much for
talking to me this afternoon and giving us your life history. Is there
anything else you'd like to say before we close it down?
D: I don't know, unless you want to know the date at which John died.
R: Yes, I do.
D: In January of 1978.
R: He had a rather long illness.
D: He had a pacemaker which was not too successful. But, it was actually
only one year that he couldn't do anything. He managed to do a little bit
of consulting after he got the pacemaker, but very little. He had the
pacemaker for two years.
R: What age was he when he died?
D: He was seventy-six. He would have been seventy-seven that summer.
R: He had a very productive life and made friends with many. I know you miss
him very much, but you seem to be having a wonderful life now and I hope
that you get back to China and I hope that you get to Africa.
D: As you know, it takes quite a bit of money, too!
R: We want to thank you for telling us about your life and as you know this will
go into the Florida State Museum and be available to anybody who wants to do
research on the last of the women in the Gainesville University during the
good old days. Thank you so much.