In Memory of Byron Dix

This is a photo of my step father Byron Dix with my older sister Melody and me back in the days when my name was still Gayle. Byron married my mother when I was 3 years old. My own father Virgil died when I was 6. Byron was my real dad in my eyes because he raised me until I was 14-years-old. If Byron were still alive today he would have turned 68 years old. He died in 1993; the year before my son was born.

When my mother was first married to Byron we lived in Woodland hills LA, CA. I would have been a Valley girl if we had stayed there. It is a good thing we moved. Byron worked at Rocket Dine corporation. The company laid him off and we ended up moving clear across the country to Vermont. Byron got a job in Canada along the Vermont boarder at Space Research Corporation. His boss Gerald Bull was known for building some of the largest guns in the world. His boss eventually got assassinated years later while he was building one of the largest gun in the world in Iraq March 22, 1990 but that is another story.

This is a photo of a telescope that Byron built when he was 18 years old. We grew up sky watching with it. The telescope was in the back yards of every home that we lived in, while we resided in California and Vermont. Sky watching is still one of my favorite pastimes. Byron taught us how to build telescopes and camera obscures.

After he moved to Vermont Byron would often take us exploring, hiking and cave spelunking; all over the east coast and in Kentucky where he grew up. In 1974 during one of those hikes is when we discovered some ancient ruins in Vermont. Byron dedicated the rest of his life exploring those ruins, observing them and he did his best to try to figure out who built them. He eventually wrote a book with co Author James Mavor called Manitou. Before my mother divorced him, he would sometimes take me exploring with him.

On one of the occasions he brought me along with him; we were lost on a hill, and the sun was setting. Byron was becoming scared. I felt euphoric. I was imagining myself walking through a beautiful garden. At one point I saw a spark of diamond light and I followed it. Byron yelled at me not to wonder off to far. He was still trying to figure out his way back. I followed the spark of light and I nearly fell into an ancient well. Next to the well was a stone hut that was missing a roof but it had a stone slab over the doorway. On the slab were ancient grid marks. It was soon after that Byron realized he could see the road and we found our way back safely before the sun finished setting. Byron later discovered that the hut I had stumbled upon was in alignment to solstices and equinoxes. He did not give me credit for the discovery in his book which had upset me, but I understand now that the person he gave credit too (whom wasn't even with us) was a person who helped fund his research. The hut was located inside a indentation in the top of the hill that was like a natural amphitheater.

The last time I saw Byron I was 14-years old. He took me to a convention at Goddard collage where he met with folklorist, archaeologists, anthropologists and many other people from all over the world. They were discussing their theories on who built them. Many people thought it was the Celts and many thought it was the natives. I personally think it was both. I met many famous writers there, but the most memorable was a Professor and witch named Anne Ross. She wrote many books like: The Last Druid Prince, The Pagan Celts, and Druids, Gods and Heroes. She connected with me and spent a lot of time talking with me but that is another story.

I will always miss Byron and I could go on about him for a whole books worth. He played blues better than anyone I knew. He could play any musical instrument by hand. He had a perfect ear for music. He was a genius and to this day, you can still find articles about him on the Internet.

After my mother left Byron he remarried a wonderful woman named Diane and they had a beautiful and  musically talented daughter who calls herself Sky.