A Curtailed Barnesian Year-End Letter - 2024
Last year’s potentially “Last Hurrah” letter, I am happy to say, is “back by popular demand.” This one is much curtailed, (please, hold the applause… 😊), but still heartfelt….
It was Thomas’s idea to hold “Thanksgiving” at a more convenient time for the family. So, on Friday, November 1st, Sebastian and Sandy graciously set out a table-for-twenty-four at their spacious Fort Lauderdale home. Everyone flew in for the occasion. Along with Cynthia and me (upper left), here are my five children and their spouse/partners (from the left): Gavin & Erika, Sandy & Sebastian, Bert & Natalia, Ariel & Nate, with Emma & Thomas down front. Little grandson Noah is smack in the middle on his daddy’s lap—the first bearer of great Barnes DNA for a next generation.
Thomas is an attorney in Wash., D.C., practicing before the Court of Appeals for Veteran Claims. Emma is a CPA. Sebastian is at home with high-tech Okta, Inc., while Sandy is an executive at Weatherby Healthcare. Gavin is in Denver as a system architect for SAIC, and Erika is working in tech. Natalia is a Physical Therapist Assistant in Baltimore, and Bert is a chef, while Ariel and Nate both work in the film industry in Los Angeles. I am so proud of this well-rounded, extraordinary group of individuals.
The big news is that Bert Fusco and Natalia will tie the knot on February 22nd, 2025. The Barneses and Fuscos, plus dozens more, will gather for the joyous occasion.
Natalia and Bert on Halloween
For my private investigations, I thank John Solomon of the Just-the-News news service for asking me, in 2021, to write a definitive report on whether it was Hunter Biden’s signature on the receipt for the laptop at the Delaware repair shop—which, of course, it was. Since then, I have had a few dozen clients clamoring for someone to clarify signatures—on a deed, their father’s will, a transfer of shares of stock—a plethora of cases to determine which ones are valid. Big-city attorneys across the nation turn to my services. I also created a niche in determining the authorship of hurtful, and sometimes life-threatening graffiti, for clients where much hung in the balance—life-and-limb, and the mental health of many. Happily, I haven’t missed the mark, and don’t plan to, all solved sitting at my desk in Plantation, FL.
The most serious issue for the current day is something for which I solicit the assistance of any of you who might be able to help. I have two completed manuscripts, written in the narrative nonfiction genre. One is my part in the historic investigation to identify the spy in the FBI, from 1998—who turned out to be Robert Hanssen. Two movies and 14 books set out how he was “caught in the act” of passing classified documents, but none dealt with how he was identified, so we knew who to catch! That is my story in Catching the Traitor Among Us.
The other is The Signature Whisperer, with the basics of signature reading for personality analysis and determining forgeries—and now, also, graffiti. Many unusual cases have become chapters in this never-before-covered topic.
If any of you have connections or contacts in the publishing world, including the important first step of securing a literary agent, please, please, let me know. It took the FBI Prepublication Review Unit a full seven years (2016-2023) to approve Catching the Traitor Among Us, the first, ever, for a nonfiction FBI spy story. It is FBI history, Cold War Intelligence and American history that should see the light of day.
Noah and Cynthia’s granddaughter, Mila. Precious and few are the moments we share…
I have had 14 articles published in The Epoch Times on Art and Feel-Good pieces, and have written over a hundred essays. A few dozen are posted here: www.WayneBarnesWriting.com Feel free to wander through the website and peruse them, along with several videos from interviews and speeches. Any suggestions or introductions would be welcome. I would rather not have the process of publication outlive me. I would hate to match the timing of Stieg Larsson, author of all The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo books, who passed away before even the first one was published. It isn’t that I want to bathe in glory, but rather to know that the product of two careers-of-a-lifetime (catching spies and analyzing signatures) will find a place in the recorded knowledge of man.
At 77, I am fit and healthy, growing my silver mane for a second time to make another foot-long donation in a year or two. Another little girl suffering the throes of chemotherapy will have a full-head of hair to walk about in public and feel more comfortable with herself. Wayne.Barnes.Investigations@gmail.com
Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and Happy New Year to all!