It was in the Fall of 1973. Unknown to anyone at the time, even to the entire Scientology world, but only to a selected few, LRH had resided in Queens, New York for the previous 10 Months. Some say, he was hiding, from attempts at indicting him for fiscal reasons.
Whatever the case, he deemed it best to return to the Ship (which was in Lisbon) at that point in time.
Accompanied by his two body guards (Jim Dincalci and Paul Preston), he decided, to avoid possible FBI scrutiny on American based International flights, to take the train to Canada, and to fly to Lisbon directly from there.
Upon arrival in Montreal and after booking a room as "Mr Harris" at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Downtown Montreal, LRH was pleased to discover that Montreal Org was within a mere 10 minute walk from the hotel. Montreal had some significance for LRH, since a personal friend and one of the first people to train as an auditor in Elizabeth, New Jersey in the Summer of 1950 had opened one of the very first Dianetics Foundation, in Montreal later that year.
In spite of the obvious, if unvoiced, misgivings his companions had on the fear that he may end up being publicly recognized, LRH decided to pay a visit to the new fledging Org...
Upon emerging from my office that was adjacent to the reception area, I was introduced by a young man calling himself "Jim" who looked just like a "Sea Org Missionaire" to "Mr Harris" who was decribed as an "Old personal friend of LRH". Mr Harris appearance was anything but ordinary. A stout Man in his late 50s or maybe early 60s, he had bright red hair, penetrating blue eyes, muscular arms, and he literally exuded the Beingness of a "Seaman". Upon gazing at him, the instant thought that raced to my mind was: "By Gosh, this is LRH", but being an introverted type person at the time, I felt uneasy at the fact that nobody else's seemed to have recognized that obvious fact. I kept glancing back and forth between the Man standing in the Lobby and the large picture of LRH on the wall and the more I looked, the more I saw similarities and the less I saw differences. Finally, I almost blurted out: "This is LRH!!!", but some invisible force seemed to have gotten hold of my throat and I received a form of telepathic communication from the man who was friendlily staring at me straight into the eyes across the room.
I am not certain how much I understood at the time from that communication cycle. It must have lasted a mere few seconds, but it had enough bandwidth to have kept someone occupied for a whole hour. There was no denial about his true identity. there was nothing that could be construed as a lie, even in retrospect, but there was a definite and deliberate suggestion that I had "better things to do".
A few years later, after I joined the Sea Org at Flag, three times, when I wrote to LRH about my taking constructive steps and making concrete progress toward my goal of becoming a Class XII Auditor, I had both the incredible thrill and experience of receiving my reply, not on the standard SO-1 stationery, but in LRH own handwriting on my own letter. Those letters will continue to remain amongst my most precious possessions and clearly indicate how special becoming a Class XII has always been to LRH.
I am not aware of anyone else, having received handwritten replies on the SO-1 line (letters to Ron), and certainly not from any other Class XII that I ever worked with. I have also verified with SO-1 staff during the 1980s, that my encounter with LRH was historically possible and it was their opinion that in most probability my description of the events was entirely accurate.
