I'm finding this to be a fascinating thread. Something that "Helen" just posted above gave me this thought: Over the years, I have run into several people that have seemed to have incredible power over others. I'm very pleased to say that a couple of these people have become my friends, but most have not. These "other ones" I chose to avoid as much as possible. In some cases, avoiding them was quite difficult as they and I were forced into a relationship because of employment or family relations.

I'll describe one man I'll just name "John Doe." He was a force and a power. He had/has a manner about him that forced you to notice him. Ninety nine out of one hundred people would go to almost any extreme to avoid him. Yet that one person in a hundred completly fell under his influence and became his disciple. From the first day I met this man, I knew he was a person capable of great harm. And for the seven years I knew him, great harm indeed happened.

I could take "John Doe" and place him in America one hundred years ago, and I would know that he would cause great harm. I am also comfortable in saying that if he had access to the tools we have today, he would be even more deadly.

Helen, I have another book suggestion for you and your class. Check out "Van Loon's Lives," by Hendrik Willem van Loon. You might some some meaty writing assignments there. CHEERS, Bob