My father was a world-renowned oceanographer whose most astonishing discovery arose from his unwavering dedication to the truth. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/09/science/earth/richard-p-von-herzen-explorer-of-earths-undersea-furnaces-dies-at-85.html One day, in the middle of the open ocean, his instruments marking heat flow on the sea floor thousands of feet below returned measurements that were unexpectedly hot -- hundreds of degrees Fahrenheit at a depth where everything known to mankind was cold, lifeless, and black.
The other scientists on board the research vessel at the time guessed that my father's instrumentation had malfunctioned. In truth, instrument failures were not uncommon at depth, where pressure and temperature extremes exerted remarkable forces on every gauge an oceanographer could devise.
But my father was not satisfied. If his instruments were malfunctioning, all of them were malfunctioning in the same direction at the same time.
The other scientists thought my father was wasting his time on bad data.
My father thought he had encountered a mystery.
It turned out that my father was right.
There, thousands of feel below the ocean's surface, hidden from human eyes, a seam in the earth's crust was releasing super-heated water into a Jules-Verne-style ecosystem, teeming with life. Instead of photosynthesis, this chain of life depended upon chemosynthesis -- an entirely novel form of energy production -- as yet unknown on earth.
For my father, this discovery elevated him into a pantheon of a rarefied handful of scientists who had altered our understanding of the planet. For me, the rest of my childhood was spent meeting scientists who said, "You're Richard Von Herzen's daughter? Wow. Lucky you."
My father merited the "wow." He was a man of great integrity, honor, courage, wisdom, faith and stoicism -- and all of these together conferred upon him a certain noble quality that others immediately recognized. He was true, as in True North -- and nothing was going to alter his admirable character.
I am my father's daughter.
When I first encountered evidence of falsified law enforcement reporting for anti-democratic objectives, the moment was akin to my father's discovery of super-heated temperatures on the floor of the ocean -- unlikely, unexpected, inconvenient, and disbelieved.
Most people stated that the anomaly was explainable due to "faulty instrumentation," a misperception on my part, or a single Sheriff's Department which appeared to be defying the Freedom of Information Act.
Yet, it was more.
My journey associated with this discovery has also required integrity, honor, courage, wisdom, faith, and stoicism.
I have insisted on the truth, even when others urged me to abandon it, because I believe the truth is necessary for our benevolent, enlightened, wise progress in this world.
And I have risked my life in that endeavor, because for me, a life dedicated to the truth is sustaining, rewarding, meritorious, and necessary.
My father witnessed storms in the open ocean with waves that were one hundred feet high, winds that punished and buffeted his progress, currents that opposed and diverted his course.
So have I.
But he didn't give up for the simple reason that his character exceeded the weather.
So does mine.
My father was a brilliant man, a gifted sailor, a world-class scientist, a generous guide. He taught me to waltz by allowing me to stand on the tips of his shoes. He taught me to reason by asking me the most difficult questions. He taught me to commit myself to the truth no matter the circumstances.
I loved him with limitless devotion, without understanding the ways in which his gifts would become necessary to me.
Sometimes, insisting on the truth leads to the discovery of a lifetime.
Sometimes, as in now.
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