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Show But to understand his fascination with the past, Craig explains another connection that started in his childhood. If you look closely at his collection, you will eventually notice a pencil sitting on a phonograph with the name Thomas Edison lettered on. It is this three-inch writing utensil that gives Craig his greatest link to the past. The pencil belonged to Edison and it was in the inventor's pocket when he passed away in 1931. Craig was born on the same day as Edison and his dog bears the inventor's namesake. As far back as he can remember, Craig has had a deep admiration, perhaps even an obsession with Edison. During his elementary school days, he voraciously read every encyclopedia and book about the great inventor. "As a kid, I used to write all my papers on Edison, all my English papers were on why Shakespeare wasn’t as good as Thomas Edison," Craig remembers. On the playground, one day, he and some friends started talking about reincarnation and Craig boldly announced that he was the reincarnated soul of the man who died with over a thousand patents to his name--phonographs, light bulbs and hundreds of other electrical applications. Years later, Craig was assigned to do a report on the Thomas Edison museum in New Jersey. On their way to the museum, he told his photographer of this past life connection to Edison, who thought that was pretty funny. But when the tour guide took them into a laboratory, Craig’s fantasy didn’t seem so farfetched. The tour guide explained that the lab had been restored to the way it had been when Edison-worked there. But Craig interrupted the tour and pointed to a blank wall, "No, there was a back door right here." CANYONLANDS REALTY 131 N. Main St. P.O. Box 400 Moab, UT 84532 Office: (435) 259-7870 Fax: 259-7294 WU ‘ ‘ net Lenore Beeson: 259-9419 Dave Bierschied: 259-8217 Tyson Lesmeister: 259-1621 "Frankly, my dears We DO give a damn. g Skeptical of Wirth’s comment, the museum curator pulled out the old blueprints for the lab and...sure enough, there was a back door exactly where Craig had indicated. Next, he told the museum personnel that Edison had performed his golden rod experiments in this room. The staff nodded; he was right again. Over the years, he developed a strong relationship with the museum and the staff eventually gave him the lettered pencil that was The April/May issue of The Zephyr will be on newsstands in late March. in the inventor s pocket when he died. AUTOM ie SERVICE "I don’t really recall carrying this pencil, so it probably puts a hole in my theory of being Thomas Edison reincarnated, but it makes for a good story." If Craig Wirth wasn’t the great inventor in a past life, he still has a great admiration for the man, who failed far more times than he succeeded. "He probably would have been fired from every company today because he wasted money doing experiments that had a very small chance of succeeding. But he.dreamed; he thought.ahead. Can you imagine running a company today where you are experimenting on something that you hope you can develop in 15 years? Today if you don’t have something to show for your work in 15 minutes, you're out of there. "So, I admire the fact that he had that sense of looking ahead and saying ‘I could care less if this doesn’t work." And it’s Edison s sense of vision that keeps Craig looking back to a time that seems just a little simpler. @ MOTOR @ TIRES. @ BRAKES. . @ BATTERY li @ GREASING DEPENDABLE FAIR SERVICE <1 Va a nw AME AAR TS 259.7909 AND A FAIR PRICE WITH 900 Peaae ay, STORES COAST-TO-COAST. vi Alexandra L. Woodruff is a regular contributor to The Zephyr. RENTALS SALES SERVICE CHIP'S GRAND » a ae (ae a4 e - < Biking is a time-honored institution and a great way to escape into the Past... So Stiles... ent bereeatridi WHY WON'T YOU Wie todo Ge RIDE YOUR BIKE??? “swehcinie he y i 4 ay fame. '| Ot dowleg :9 full tnt forms i Nome. 100 40d aame of roan, ii —— alte “Ss i Low‘prions sement, |