New Web Site Reveals the Truth about John Ramsey’s Political Site

aurora..........

can you or someone get that new web site in the michigan papers???

or somehow let the michigan people know about this
new web site???

THE TRUTH!

again, excellent job ....Tricia, ACR, and WY!

purr

 

Purr

I was thinking the same thing. Perhaps an article in the open forum featuring Johns site and then Tricia's site ...so people that check John's can also use their brains to know the truth.

 

How about a guest book on the website?

 

More TIDBITS of TRUTH

I just updated the top section of www.acandyrose.com with some more tidbits of truth that possibly the voters of Michigan might want to be aware of.

Like Patsy says, why have a web page if nobody knows about it. :flash:

ACandyRose
http://www.acandyrose.com

 

Love It!

ACR - you are such a valued treasure to us. I love finding new goodies while combing your site!

RR

 

Haven't read ANYTHING since Friday! Lovely weekend!

Tricia - I hope you don't mind, but I have passed to my 'invisible' friends the new S.O.R.T. web site :mears:

By the way - it looks GREAT!! You guys did a fantastic job!

Oops - got to go - I heard hockey - Stanley Cup finals on!

see ya all later! Have a good week!

 

Didn't John use company funds at one time for something personal ? Anyone remember that? Think that deserves some space.

ACR, you have outdone yourself!

 

I think JR used company funds to fix his car. Details are somewhere, just read them recently. CRS.

 

Wy?

Was that in Atlanta? I think that was in ST's book. Somewhere....I don't know where my book is right now, if I have time I will try to find it.

 

Hmmm, yes

Hmmm, I do recall reading that somewhere but where? Was it in a news article or in one of the books?

ACandyRose
http://www.acandyrose

 

Found it !!

Found two postings on John Ramsey bio/history in the Justice Watch Forum archive posted by two separate posters, "Starling" is here on this post and "Anton" on next post.

I am copying them here "as is" from the archive files.

The reference to John Ramsey using company money for personal use is here from "Starling's" bio:

*Took a managing positon at Southern Peripherals and Instruments in Atlanta. (His bosses were unhappy with him because he tried to expense about 5k's worth of repairs on his Porche and personal flying costs.)

Now the question is, where did Starling get this information and is there reference to this another place?

=================================================
9. "More Bio on JR"
Posted by Starling on 22:44:48 4/17/2000
NOTE: This message was last edited 22:44:48, 4/17/2000

*Born December 7, 1943 in Lincoln Nebraska
*Attended Randolph Elementary School the same year Jeff Ramsey was born
*Attended Lefler Junior High in Lincoln Nebraska
*Attended High School in Okemos Michigan 1957
Summer jobs at an engineering company and the state highway department
*Attended Michigan State University (worked for his father while attending college, lived in
Emmons Hall) 1961
*Joined ROTC and became president of the "Theta Chi Fraternity"
*Announced his engagement to Lucinda Pasch in 1965
*Earned a degree at Michigan State in Electrical Engineering in June of 1966.
*Married Lucinda Lou Pasch in July of 1966.
*Navy Service - OCS at Newport
*Civil Engineer Core School at Port Waneenee
*Fullfilled ROTC obligation at Subic Bay Phillipines (assigned to the Public Works Center,
Facilities Engineer over the Naval Supply Depot Facility - traveled to Taiwan, Hong Kong,
Japan & Thailand)
*Beth was born 1969
*Active Duty ends 1970
*Stayed in the Reserves for 8 years (drilled with the Naval Air Station in Atlanta, Cecil Field
Group in Florida and was Officer in Charge of Construction for the Southeast 70-78)
*Earned his Master's Degree at Michigan State University Business School 1971
*Melinda was born
*Hired in Chicago - Moved to Columbus to work with AT&T. 1972
*Was fired from AT&T 1973
*Moved to Huntsville Alabama and took a job in technical sales. BCS Associates 1973
*A year and half later moved to Atlanta Georgia 1975
*Worked for Vidar (Mountain View California 5 year work period)
*Worked for Accurex (electrical engineering)
*John Andrew was born
*Had an affair, seperated from wife and his mother died, 1977
*Divorce finalized 1978
*Took a managing positon at Southern Peripherals and Instruments in Atlanta. (His bosses
were unhappy with him because he tried to expense about 5k's worth of repairs on his Porche
and personal flying costs.)
*Starts dating Patsy Ramsey in 1979
*Married Patsy Ramsey on November 5, 1980
*Became a deacon at Peachtree Presbyterian Church
*Borrowed money from Don Paugh and moved to Dunwoody and launched Techinical
Equipment Specialists, Inc. known as TecSpec.
*Moved the business to the airport so he could fly in his spare time.
*Joined two other entrepreneurs to create MicroSouth. (he was president/last I heard Jeff
Ramsey still works for this and they had 6 warehouses at one point)
*MicroSouth linked with a California firm, Calcomp.
*Advanced Products Group was also created in 1986.
*Burke Ramsey is born 1987 and his name came from a dream John had of a man in a white robe
telling him to do so.
*APG merged with CAD Source and CAD Distributors to form Access Graphics 1989
*John Ramsey's commutes to Boulder 1989-90
*JonBenet Ramsey is born August 7, 1990
*Lockheed Martin Acquires AG during 1991.
*Ramsey's move to Boulder 1991
*December 18, 1992 AG, CAD Source are sued by Archetectronics - for "for trade secret
misappropriation, breach of contract, tortious interference with contract rights, and copyright
infringement" - U.S.D.J Mike MuCasey of New York presides.
*January 8, 1992 Beth dies.
*His father James Ramsey died in 1992.
*Rearguement granted in part and denied in part in AG scandal before U.S.D.J. MuCasey.
(Tsk.Tsk.Tsk)
*JonBenet Ramsey found murdered in Boulder home 1996
*GE aquires AG when LM unloads it 1997
=================================================

ACandyRose
http://www.acandyrose.com

 

Now Anton's bio/history

Anton's is a little more detailed. Again, I am posting "as is" from the archive files of the Justice Watch Forum.

=================================================
The Talented Mr. Ramsey
Posted by Anton on 23:07:41 4/13/2001

I posted this several months ago. I've had requests to repost it, so here it is. I think this information gives us a much clearer perception of John Ramsey and his businesses.

Here is a summary of business background gleaned from many online newspaper articles and company website articles, as well as Schiller's PMPT, Steve Thomas' ITRI and Wecht's book. Please feel free to add to this information or dispute any of it. My desire is to understand Mr. Ramsey and to comprehend the level of "talent" he actually has. Is he a mastermind or simply a master prick?

1. John Ramsey started and failed at three small businesses since AT&T released him from their management-training program in 1973:

-- his own "little business" as a manufacturers rep company, with Vidar at the "heart" of it, started in 1977, during which he also worked for established companies (Accurex and Southern Peripherals & Instruments)

-- MicroSouth, begun in 1979, with which he gained and maintained contacts with CalComp in California

-- Technical Equipment Specialists, Inc. (TechSpec), begun in 1981 when MicroSouth failed; however, his brother Jeff took over MicroSouth

2. In 1986, TechSpec failed and John created Advanced Products Group (with funding from Don Paugh), which he operated from his own garage; the company dealt with PC based CAD products, primarily hardware: plotters, digitizers, pins, etc. A primary supplier was CalComp.

[Steve Thomas's book shows a different history. JR borrowed money from Don Paugh, moved to Dunwoody and started TechSpec, with PR helping with phones and Nedra helping with sales. JR then brought in 2 other entrepreneurs and created MicroSouth, which became very successful. JR was president and when the company reached $500,000 in sales, they threw a party. With success, MicroSouth created Advanced Products Group, apparently associated primarily with CalComp, with Don Paugh as president. They decided the next step was to go national, so APG merged with the other two CAD companies and moved to Boulder with the purpose of selling Sun Microsystems products.]

3. In 1989, three CalComp distributors merged into one business, Access Graphics:

-- Advanced Products Group

-- CAD Sources Inc., owned by Eric Crod in Piscataway, NJ

-- CAD Distributors, owned by Jim Hudson in Boulder, CO

Access Graphics was established in Boulder. This would indicate that Hudson had better contacts, better business and political roots in Boulder than John had in Atlanta or Crod had in New Jersey. This would indicate that Hudson would have been the prime know-how man in the new business. John had certainly not shown any great business acumen during his years of entrepeneurship (after failing to make the grade with AT&T). There may be other reasons for locating in Boulder, such as being located in the center of the country and the fact that Boulder was already established as a sort of Midwest "Silicon Valley". Sun Microsystems was anxious to develop an independent reseller channel, so AG developed contracts to be a major reseller of Unix workstations from Sun Microsystems and Silicon Graphics (both in CA). AG continued to add products, including Oracle data processing software and Hewlett-Packard products. John was vice president for marketing.

4. In merging these three distributors/resellers, CalComp acquired a 20-25% equity.

5. Background on CalComp:

-- founded in 1958 and headquartered in Anaheim, CA.

-- developed, manufactured and supported a broad line of plotters, printers, digitizers and scanners for professionals in engineering, graphic design and architecture, providing tools of the trade for virtually every computer graphics application (was a major innovator and invented new technology)

-- was owned by Sanders Associates of Nashua, N.H

-- Lockheed purchased Sanders, and thus acquired CalComp, in 1986

-- In 1991, Access Graphics obtained a major contract with Sun Microsystems and needed financing to increase production in order to cope with the added workload. Heavily-regulated banks declined to make loans for relatively high risk investments. "Access had a heavy demand for cash flow and thin profit margin."

-- In May, 1991, CalComp offered to exercise its 25% equity option, purchase Access Graphics (its largest distributor), and provide funds for expansion. The deal gave John Ramsey $8 million and ousted Jim Hudson (the partner whose company, CAD Distributors, had been based in Boulder and who presumably was the reason AG was located in Boulder). AG became a wholly-owned subsidiary with its same management and about 120 employees.

-- CalComp's president, William P. Conlin, described the acquisition as "an attractive financial investment"; AG accounted for 4% of CalComp's $400 million in revenue in 1990 and posted revenue of about $120 million for all of 1991 and as a result of the acquisition, CalComp's sales were boosted by about $80 million for all of 1991

-- In 1993, Access Graphics was separated into a distinct unit. Daniel M. Tellep, Lockheed's chairman and chief executive officer, said the decision reflected a careful review of CalComp and Access Graphics' business performance and potential. "Separating out Access Graphics permits us to provide the focus necessary for this rapidly growing and profitable business to realize its substantial potential," Tellep said. Access Graphics became a stand-alone subsidiary, one of six companies in Lockheed's electronics systems group; CalComp was another of the six.

-- Evidently, CalComp was not happy about the separation; William P. Conlin, president, and Larry Sanders, senior vice president of field operations, left CalComp "to pursue other interests." This left CalComp without any top management; Val P. Peline, Lockheed group president of electronic systems, was appointed interim CalComp president.

-- CalComp and Summagraphics merged in July 1996 and became CalComp Technology Inc. It assumed the Summagraphics seat on NASDAQ. Lockheed Martin owned about 90 percent of the new company. (Some sources say that Lockheed acquired Summagraphics and combined it with CalComp to form the new company.)

-- Also in 1996, Lockheed Martin acquired Loral Corporation's defense electronics and systems integration businesses for $9.1 billion (FYI, Loral is the company which, in Feb. 1996, was accused of the illegal transfer of technology to China) and eliminated 1,600 jobs as it looked for savings; the layoffs were announced in November.

-- In November 1996, CalComp Technology laid off 235 employees and sold its Anaheim headquarters as part of a consolidation following the company's acquisition of Topaz Technologies, a Sunnyvale, CA, based company. About 75% of the job cuts were in Orange County, where CalComp employed about 400; the company had 1,100 employees worldwide The company eliminated manufacturing and assembly positions as well as some engineering positions.

-- Also in November, 1996, CalComp, the world leader in professional graphics tablets, entered the "edutainment" market with Learn 'n Sketch, a computer drawing tablet aimed at children of all ages. The Learn 'n Sketch tablet had a US suggested retail price of $89.95.

-- Over the next three years, CalComp was a major drain on Lockheed's resources, totaling operating losses of more than $176 million as it made an unsuccessful transition from manufacturing CAD output and input devices to manufacturing graphic arts-quality wide-format digital printers. In July 1998 CalComp cut prices on some of its products by 50% (these products varied in prices from $4000 to $40,000 before the discount).

-- The major problem for CalComp was Sunnyvale-based Topaz Technologies (acquired by CalComp in November 1996), developer of the piezo inkjet head system trademarked by CalComp as CrystalJet. The CrystalJet print system debuted as prototypes at trade shows in 1997. Interest was high for the product, and CalComp set its release date for late 1997 or early 1998. However, the CrystalJet technology, a major improvement, was also very expensive to manufacture due to precise tolerances needed for the piezoelectric crystal, as opposed to the heat-stimulated diaphragm that was standard in inkjet printers. Topaz was unable to meet production goals and deadlines. Release date after release date came and went, and the CrystalJet was still not ready. Finally, the CrystalJet started shipping, more than a year late. CalComp reported that it fulfilled fewer than 400 orders for the CrystalJet before it ceased shipping in December 1998 (one month after beginning to ship). Late delivery of the CrystalJet gave time for the competition to beat CalComp to market with piezo inkjet systems that stole CrystalJet's thunder and even exceeded its print quality. "It was a new technology, and CalComp had never manufactured anything out of silicon before," noted one observer. Since 1959, CalComp had been an engineering graphics company. Then in 1996, the company decided to become a player in the digital large-format color printing market.

-- Rather than force CalComp into Chapter 11, Lockheed agreed to keep the company running in a reduced capacity until it could sell off its various divisions and technologies.

-- On January 15, 1999, the NASDAQ Stock Market« announced that the trading halt status in CalComp Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLCP) was changed to "additional information requested" from the company. Trading in Calcomp Technology/CLCP had been halted on 1/15/99 at 8:16:36 a.m. for News Pending at a last sale price of $0.25. Trading would remain halted until CalComp Technology, Inc. had fully satisfied NASDAQ's request for additional information.

-- On May 14, 1999, CalComp was completely liquidated, including an auction of all assets (computer products, office furnishings, company vehicles, etc.). The company itself was sold to various competitors.

6. Summing up:

CalComp was the world leader in CAD/CAM products for nearly 40 years until Lockheed took Access Graphics away, CalComp management left and then CalComp changed market focus. From 1993 on, CalComp began a long slide to oblivion, a slide which accelerated in 1996. Access Graphics was struggling in 1991 and CalComp bailed it out. Two years later, AG became an equal with CalComp in the Lockheed hierarchy and CalComp's leaders quit. Three years after that, AG reached a major milestone of $1 billion sales, a mark CalComp never reached by half. In 1996, CalComp ceased being CalComp, the 40-year leader in the CAD/CAM industry, and became a player in a different market in which management had little or poor experience (or was unable to work with management of the newly-acquired/joined companies, Topaz and Summagraphics). Three years later, CalComp was gone.

7. In May of 1996, Jim Hudson returned to Access Graphics, as head of the European and Canadian operations. (I've been unable to find information as to what he did between 1991 when he left AG and 1996 when he returned.)

8. Lockheed was considering divesting itself of Access Graphics in 1996 and John Ramsey negotiated to acquire AG himself, take it public and move it to Atlanta. A year later, John moved to Atlanta but Lockheed sold AG to General Electric in a huge package deal of which AG was a minor component.

9. Once John formed Advanced Products Group in 1986, he proved himself to be a vicious competitor. Five years later, he had merged APG with two other companies, ousted one of the men apparently most responsible for Access Graphics being based in Boulder (Jim Hudson), fired a bookkeeping secretary who had previously worked for Hudson (Sandra Henderson), put a sudden credit hold on a company which had previously depended upon Hudson's company (Henderson Technology), fired a former friend (Jeff Merrick), used a longtime employee (Jane Stobie) to fire his in-laws (the Paughs, when Stobie was used to close the Atlanta office) and fired that employee (Stobie).

All of that since John Ramsey met the Paughs.

He met Patsy in 1979 and considered her his "Jackie Kennedy". At the time, he was divorced and failing in business. A year later, he married her. A year later, her father bailed him out of the failing business. That business, too, failed but apparently Don Paugh bailed him out again. This time, the company flourished. This time, the company merged and John became part of a bigger company, not his "own man". He was on his way to the big corporate structure he'd wanted to join in 1973 when he failed to make it with AT&T.

Once he was there, success came rapidly. The man who couldn't make it on his own flourished once he hooked up with other people. Don Paugh was proud of the new company, calling it the "Cadillac and Lincoln" of the industry. Paugh was clearly an important part of the company, as far as John was concerned. Paugh always had work there and lived in Boulder away from his own family, as did John.

Patsy and her mother and sisters were apparently a drag on the company. Nedra, Pam and Polly were dumped and Patsy, a proven advertising manager (work she was doing when John met her), was kept out. Granted, Patsy was pregnant twice and had cancer. Granted also that she may not have wanted to work at Access Graphics (although she did at MicroSouth). She did, however, have nannies and she did supervise redecorating houses and Access Graphics offices, organize company luncheons (at least one of which was a major $30,000 production). She was instrumental in local charities and schools. She obviously had the skills and desire to work.

Ironically, Patsy functioned successfully on her own, managing two pregnancies and cancer, major house renovations and other projects. She was acknowledged as being very good at organizing people and events. John, however, was essentially a failure when he was on his own. (I use the word "failure" in view of the Ramseys' own expressed point of view; money is obviously very important to them both. Many thousands of people are successful in their own small businesses, doing no better than John did with his. That is one difference I see in the Ramseys and the majority of people. It's not a bad difference, just one.) John was well-educated (arguably better educated than Patsy), had good credentials and background. He was a nice guy with a quiet demeanor that didn't fit in with the highly competitive management environment of major corporations, such as AT&T. John was quoted, after becoming successful with Access Graphics, as saying he would be comfortable living in a log cabin with little money. His background seems to confirm that.

In terms of financial success, the Paughs were a great influence on John Ramsey. Nedra and Patsy have obvious and vital ambition toward recognition on the world stage. John seemed to be satisfied being well-liked and successful in his own little world. The Paughs influenced him, apparently, to strive for more. Don Paugh financed him and followed him to the big company in the new city. Patsy made sure the city of Boulder knew who the Ramseys were (although probably only people who cared about Access Graphics, parties and pageants really knew about them).

But look what happened once John reached a peak:

-- He became part of the cutthroat business world

-- He drove people out who didn't please him or didn't produce, in his view

-- His company far exceeded the company that gave him his chance

-- He traveled extensively, far from his "own little world"; he joined, in essence, the world stage

-- He's been featured in the world-wide news media

-- He and Patsy are better known now than either would have been had Patsy become Miss America

Did all of this draw out someone who became jealous, envious and enraged enough to plan to kidnap the Ramseys' child in exchange for a relatively small amount of money? I don't know. I doubt it. None of what I've found leads me to an opinion that anything that happened was so outrageous. The fall of CalComp, while possibly tragic, does not seem to have been caused by anything John Ramsey did. I wouldn't even say he benefited from it, although it's possible that Access Graphics was placed into a stronger position in the market by being separated from CalComp.

I have the opinion that John has learned a lot about management and competition. Through numerous media presentations since the end of 1996 he's shown himself to be relatively articulate (if repetitive). Yet he seems to have been influenced greatly and almost continuously by the Paughs. Don Paugh financed the venture which proved to be successful and followed him into the new company, where Paugh was well-liked, personable and influential. Patsy influenced the presentation of the company to the cities of Boulder and Atlanta (although she was characterized as "Sherman shopping Atlanta"). Patsy influenced the presentation of "the Ramseys" to everyone and anyone.

Access Graphics and the Paughs represented a "second life" for John Ramsey. He met Patsy when he was nearly 40, divorced, unsuccessful. She was 13 years younger, a vivacious 23-year-old Miss America runner-up, full of ambition. Neither of them were truly naive. He'd been in the navy overseas, married for 12 years and had 3 children. She had been through the pageant wringer and was in the world of competitive advertising.

Something happened at the end of 1996 that the Ramseys don't want known. Maybe it didn't happen in 1996; maybe whatever the secret is happened earlier but the intense investigation after the murder threatens to expose whatever it is.

The "ransom document" points a finger at John and his business. Two gentlemen had his daughter in their possession and they didn't particularly like John; they respect his business but not the country it represents. The document said, essentially, we're foreigners who know a lot about you and your company; we don't like you but we want you to be rested and able to follow a complicated series of actions required to give us your bonus amount for that year; we're watching you and the "authorities" (law enforcement and financial) so don't try to grow a brain (which implies "they" think John is stupid). If you mess with us, there's a 1% chance you'll get your daughter back; don't mess with us and you will certainly get her back.

So what happened? Was his daughter kidnapped, held by two gentlemen? No evidence of that. Was his daughter beheaded, even though he disobeyed orders? No, although a cord was wrapped very tightly around her throat and her skull was nearly split in half. Did he get his daughter back, even though he messed with the gentlemen by disobeying? Yes, he did. She was dead but he got her back and showed her to his close friends and the police.

"Tomorrow" and the percentages didn't seem to matter to John. The threat of close observation didn't deter him from contacting the police (he has said he told Patsy to call them). He wasn't worried about the note or the 911 call (he was cordial and joking that morning). He didn't show any emotion until he "found the body at 11:00" (according to reported statements he made to John Andrew). Then he seemed to be worried, focused on a puzzle. He wandered around, examined his mail, ignored Patsy and the friends gathered around her. Until the detective decided to give him and his two men friends something to keep them busy (her stated intention). Then he sprang into action.

Fernie didn't go along but stayed behind. White followed John into the basement, tagged along while John showed him evidence of an intruder, knelt beside John when he saw the body, then ran off yelling for someone to call 911. John picked up the body and carried it upstairs to the foyer, where the detective told him to set it down. Then he seemed to guide the detective to observe the body, then guided the handling of the body by covering it.

That day John made several calls that we know about. He called Access Graphics twice and spoke to Gary Merriman each time (possibly the only employee in the management suite). He called his pilot -- in the morning to stop the plan to fly to Charlevoix and to arrange for calls to Minneapolis to tell the older kids to come to Boulder, and then in the afternoon (30 minutes after he brought the body out) to arrange a flight to Atlanta.

Charlevoix and Atlanta were both intimately connected to his "former" life, before the Paughs. The vacation home in Charlevoix had originally belonged to his father (there is some dispute about this being the same house; regardless, John's father had a vacation house in Charlevoix when he was a kid). He had lived in Atlanta for many years with Lucinda and the kids.

It is possible, IMO, that John Ramsey simply rose to a position with which he was not able to cope. He certainly doesn't have the background of a major player but he found himself involved with a world giant (Lockheed), found himself flying around the world making deals when what he seemed to enjoy most was putzing around with computer hardware in his garage. Patsy has a great deal of ambition but on a superficial level. Her approach to life is advertising -- look good, act good, say you're good and get trophies; she's good at making a Tiffany lamp out of a Coke bottle.

John Ramsey considered Patsy to be his "Jackie Kennedy" but he doesn't seem to have ever considered himself to be "Jack Kennedy" (nor would anyone believe him if he said so). Likewise, IMO there is little legitimate comparison between Patsy and Jacqueline Kennedy. Neither John nor Patsy comes from a dynasty or even high-placed families (outside of their own small domains); this isn't meant to demean the Ramseys or the Paughs or anyone in their station of life. I simply mean that John and Patsy each seem to see themselves together as being greater than their backgrounds would indicate, a fairly common perception in America (and many other countries). Nothing wrong with that, per se, other than it can be delusional.

The reappearance of Jim Hudson puzzles me, particularly in light of the apparent results. It seems that either Hudson came back to Access Graphics and persuaded Lockheed to ditch the company or Lockheed decided, for whatever reason, to divest itself of Access and brought Hudson in for whatever reason. I don't know why Hudson was forced out in the first place. My guess is that he, Ramsey and Crod had a disagreement on who was going to do what in the new company and that CalComp management settled the disagreement in a way that was dissatisfying to Hudson, so he left voluntarily or was forced out. Schiller's PMPT says that CalComp wanted to get rid of Hudson.

In any case, Hudson reappeared about the time that Lockheed began seeking a way to divest itself of Access. Also at this time, Lockheed was negotiating with Loral to acquire all but Loral's commercial interests (which were spun off into a new company, Loral Space and Communications, headed by Bernard Schwartz, who had purchased Loral in 1971 when Loral was a struggling minor defense contractor).

It seems more likely that Lockheed was simply trying to consolidate holdings into a package to divest in order to fund the purchase of Loral. A year and a half after the merger with Loral, Lockheed did just that. Access was blended with several other holdings and traded to GE in a stock/cash transaction.

I think the Ramseys had decided that they wanted/needed to leave Boulder. John lived there with Don Paugh for nearly 2 years (AG was formed in 1989 and CalComp purchased AG in 1991) before Patsy moved the family to Boulder. In itself, this isn't odd. John was a pilot and probably flew back and forth on weekends, a pattern he maintained for many years. Also, Patsy was pregnant with JonBenet for a good portion of 1990 and had a toddler (Burke) to care for, although she had a nanny to help out.

John's reason for moving the family to Boulder: "When my son told his teacher that his mother lived in Atlanta and his dad lives in Colorado, we decided that wasn't a good idea. So we decided to go ahead and move the family." (I had assumed this was Burke, but he was only 4, so this must have been John Andrew, who was 15, unless Burke was in preschool.)

John's reason for moving back to Atlanta: Patsy couldn't find her lipstick in Boulder.

During the time they lived in Boulder, John apparently spent much of his time running about the country and overseas. Patsy spent her summers in Michigan and the rest of the time going back and forth with JonBenet to pageants and to Atlanta for various reasons. There didn't seem to be much reason for them to live in Boulder.

It would seem to be more characteristic of John to have taken the $8 million he received when CalComp acquired Access Graphics and left the big corporate world to start his own company again. However, it would seem more characteristic of Patsy, Don and Nedra to want John to stay where the money was. As Nedra said, "As long as Mr. Ramsey makes the money, we'll spend it."

So it's ironic that the Paughs preferred John stay with the company in Boulder to make the money, although Nedra called Boulder "that hell hole" and Patsy didn't like the city, either.

I think that being in Boulder was a sore point in the relationship between John and Patsy. John was a lifelong Republican, quiet and conservative. Patsy styled herself as a Southern belle, ambitious and showy. Boulder was a New Age city, liberal, casual, progressive, ambitious but isolationist (the city recruited high tech businesses but virtually walled itself off from the rest of the world through zoning regulations that created a wide buffer of undeveloped land around the city limits). Patsy said, "Here I am! Look at me!" John said, "Look at my stuff, don't look at me." Boulder said, "Hey, chill, brother. Let it be."

Other than the mountains, Colorado isn't so different from Michigan but it's a whole world away from Atlanta, in terms of climate and culture. John's an engineer, a literal concept guy. Patsy's an advertiser, an image concept woman. Boulder is California light. Atlanta is Southern heavy.

John was in his 50s and Patsy in her 30s. John was probably looking to establish a comfortable retirement and was glad to finally achieve success. Patsy was probably dreading "the end", when she would be 40. There's nothing wrong with being 40 and over -- John certainly knew that -- but it's tough to be 40 or more and still play the image games you enjoyed when you were 20. It's not impossible but the more you try the more obvious the differences are. In order to grow older gracefully, you must first learn to be graceful.

It's possible that John was embarrassed by her flamboyance, and yet was charmed at the same time. It's possible that Patsy was angered by his lack of flamboyance, yet comforted by his solid personality. This couple had been married for 11 years before the big money came to them (Access was probably bringing in a good income prior to the acquisition by CalComp/Lockheed but certainly not in the millions of dollars). Their relationship would have been well established by then. The influx of $8 million dollars plus must have had a serious impact on them, and not just in terms of what they could purchase. Suddenly, with good legal representation, either could live quite well without the other in case of divorce. As Patsy herself said recently, "The almighty dollar does strange things to people."

These people's lives changed dramatically when the "almighty dollar" came into their lives. John stayed up late with a calculator in bed working out finances. Patsy traveled around with a six-year-old girl made up to look like a 20-year-old Las Vegas showgirl.

Then -- wham! The end of 1996 was the end of that. John spent his money on lawyers and Patsy lost her showgirl.

Why?

Anton
=================================================

ACandyRose
http://www.acandyrose.com