The Golden Gimmick of Honest John

This is a true story about my inside participation involving a con man named John Milton Addison.

Honest John Addison began laying the foundation for his future monetary gains as early as 1954. At a later time the government agencies became suspicious and they came after him. Addison was hounded by the federal government with multiple charges; conspiracy, bankruptcy, income tax evasion, securities exchange and others. A whole host of federal attorneys, very little jail time and he beat them all. HHHow did he do this for 5 years?

Quite by accident, by being in the right place at the right time, I got involved with Addison in 1959. This story is not about me; it is an incredible story about the frailty of human nature and total mind control.

One of Addison’s many promotions was taking worthless low grade uranium ore and making it high grade through a uranium upgrader mill. I volunteered to help build the upgrader Mill in the hot Arizona desert which took 9 months. We worked 7 days a week in the beginning, slept on an army cot and got fed.

Being recently married and just out of college, why and how does one make it through 9 months of dedicated work without any pay? Oddly enough, looking back, the experience was gratifying, just being in the middle of a very bizarre set of circumstances. Also, I met and worked with a lot of good folks and the work enhanced my construction expertise.

I am a pseudo comedian; I believe my written descriptions will enhance your reading pleasure. My fondest hope is for somebody to make a movie out of this experience; the mystification would captivate you and be very entertaining.