Sherman Murders: We Went to the Moon in 1969
Lost among the many backward and unfounded theories and characterizations of Barry Sherman were his concrete academic contributions. I'll be publishing more on this in long form, but for now...
Of the greatest oddities surrounding the Sherman case rests the specifics of the man himself - Barry Sherman.
Much has been written and spoken about him over the course of time since he and his wife were brutally murdered in Toronto in 2017. There is, however, much that has not been covered.
Some of the more interesting content comes from his first academic pursuit at MIT in the 1960’s. He was a workhorse and had an incredible acumen in physics. A close friend of Sherman’s emphasized, through implication, that capturing the degree of his intelligence in words was a forever futile endeavor. In an interesting bit of history, he patented the his MSc and PhD studies (which were completed in just over two years).
For interest’s sake I have included some screen grabs from the patent application below. Keep in mind that this patent was filed in 1967. NASA invited him to tour various launch facilities, but despite all the promise he showed, and the opportunities he created, he still said no to a life in physics, instead fixated on Toronto, and on his business pursuits. Oh, indeed how strange history is.
Who turns down this opportunity, at that time? Well, Barry Sherman. His personality was intriguing on many fronts as personalities tend to be. My work in psychiatry perhaps positions me well to see some of the nuances, but anyone can do so with a close and intentional gaze.
Still, so much has been simplified in the press. So strange, many say, that he did not have security cameras, or care about being murdered. In some meaningful sense, that just misses the point entirely.
So much was lost with this tragedy. It just needs to be said.
I’m going to press in the next few months with a profile on Sherman. It will be featured in a major intellectual magazine based in none other than the good ol’ USA. But here’s a start.
Thanks for reading, and for your interest in this overwhelmingly bizarre case.
A lot more to come.
-d