Now that I have told you about my mother @cryptogranny, it's my father's turn!
7 months ago I stated my intention here on Steemit to publish the truth about his story for the first time. Since then I have done further research and prepared his life into chapters which will be posted one by one.
I may be one of ten children but I am the youngest son and I feel as if it is my DUTY to tell his story to the world, leaving it permanently fixed on the blockchain and in history forever.
My father is the tall one. He changed his name to Stonehill before he enlisted in the army to fight in the Philippines against the Japanese.
Born into a poor, hard-working Jewish family in 1917, he excelled in business but after being posted in the Philippines, he stayed there for 30 years... mostly because he fell in love with the country & its people, but also because he saw opportunity.
He was ultimately responsible for the industrialisation of the Philippines and as personal friend to Macapagal, the President at the time, he was untouchable.
But as one of the most powerful & influential men in the country he became a threat to America who lost their grip on controlling this nation as they had intended, and after years of undercover U.S. surveillance he was illegally deported, robbed of his 17 corporations and never permitted to return.
He battled against his own government for 40 years in the supreme courts to prove his innocence, yet he died penniless and unvindicated.
I am no longer interested in my lost inheritance. Only in my firm intention to vindicate the Stonehill family name.
![who got Stonehill's assets.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmYnWsdYD33NF9zDQcW9MtAbS7NfZ2G7sQ7W1xAY3ycuoa/who%20got%20Stonehill's%20assets.jpg)
I wrote the outline for his story back in 2002, shortly before he died, after asking him to record his entire life onto an old-school tape dictaphone which I used to create this important document.
A biography was published 20 years ago by Lewis E. Gleeck, JR. who was an American.
And as such he was influenced by his allegiance to the United States.
It is an accurate portrayal in many ways but omits many controversial subjects and never once alludes to the possibility that the U.S. government broke the law by spying on him for years to find a suitable blackmail situation which would force the Philippine government to deport him.
His close friendship with Stan Lee (creator of Marvel Comics)
My father was best friends with Stan Lee after they served alongside each other in the Philippines.
Dad offered Stan a job working for him in the Philippines after the war, which Stan turned down because he had some crazy idea about a bunch of animated cartoon characters called Spider-man & The Incredible Hulk.
"Yep, any time my ego needs deflating I remember how I was too smart to leave comic books and go into business with ol' Harry."
--- Stan Lee
I was lucky as a child to spend some time at Stan's home in the Hollywood Hills where I pitched him the idea of turning dad's story into a film. He liked the idea very much and told me the only reason the world doesn't already know the name Harry Stonehill is because this film has not yet been made!
For years Stan and I talked about the project but after he sold Marvel to Disney for the meagre sum of $4 Billion he has been a busy man and instead of retiring like any normal person, he has instead pushed himself to work even harder! And consequently has little time now for projects such as this.
If you're interested, you can read more about dad's friendship with Stan Lee here:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2011/10/10/stan-lee-was-smarter-than-he-knew-when-he-turned-down-harry-stonehill/#3e2a8f1febbc
Harry in his Philippine office, Manilla 1965.
At that time he was a true patriot who still put an American flag next to his family picture.
If he were alive today I can assure you he would not permit this flag to be anywhere near his office or home!
I was born in his 60s so I did not experience his glory days.
Only the torment of his ongoing court case which was ripping him up from the inside.
But today I choose to remember him as the kind, loving & generous soul he was.
This photo shows me with my mother and father in 1980.
Thank you my friends for taking the time to read this very personal story and if you found it interesting, please keep following for the full history of his life which will blow your minds.
He was no ordinary man and I am blessed to have had him as a father.
I am particularly blessed to have experienced the perfect mix of a natural earthy spiritual mother and a money-driven, corporate-minded, business genius father.
THANK YOU UNIVERSE!
You have shown me both sides of the coin and I have evolved now beyond the lives of my parents to see a whole new coin.
A coin called STEEM :)
Betrayed by both governments..would be interesting to know the manipulated story and accusations they made against him. You know am a Filipina, right? I thank your dad for all the help he did for my country and am sorry that, sometimes we forget the good times, and remember only the bad ones. He must be doing something great in the Philippines for uncle sam to discredit him. The universe have been good to you..you think it's the Balinese air?
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Yes, I am very aware of your nationality and it is such a pleasure to have you as a non-judgmental friend here on Steemit. I have met other Filipinos who were not so friendly, because they believed the lies that were spread around the media to prevent him from every returning to the country. Lies relating to drug smuggling, gun running and brothel ownership. NONE OF WHICH WERE TRUE! If you had ever met him you would know instantly he did not have the capacity to run these kind of businesses. He was an old-school gentleman who LOVED your country more than anywhere in the world and even married Miss Philippines! :)
The magical Balinese air has brought me much. Steemit included!
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Oh wow, which Miss Philippines? I believe in you Sam, i can see your heart. A wrong won't be tolerated, even from your dad. A lot of Filipinos are awakened, brought on by President Duterte. A lot of lies are coming out too. This is very timely in our history. There were 5 Filipinos listed and accordingly, a lot of your dad's companies are still successful till now. @pjmisa
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Touching story :) thanks to your dad for his service here in the Philippines.
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Thanks for commenting. Had you heard of him?
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Unfortunately not.but I was much too young when he was an influential person here.
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Very intriguing story !
Will wait for new part...
=]
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thanks. coming soooooooonnnnnnn...... :)
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Wow, thanks for sharing and being open! I hope to see lots of open/vulnerable stories like this here. Being open encourages others to be open. The truth needs to come to light!
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Let the truth be told. It's time.
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Yes! LET THE TRUTH BE TOLD! Thank you so much for your support. Knowing your nationality it means a lot to me :)
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I actually shared it in Facebook..so a group of Filipinos are waiting for the series Sam. They are intrigued and wants to know the truth. Obviously, we have not heard of your dad, but a lot in the group have. It shows their age, isn't it? @pjmisa @bennydelacruz
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Good story l like this post thanks for share...........fr
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thank you
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...really appreciate you posting this honest - from the heart story of your father!
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Thank you. I believe this platform is a place for truth and honesty. Recorded on the block chain forever!
Look out for the full story :)
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Hi Sam, I am from the Philippines. Thank you for sharing the story of your Dad and how he spent time in our country. Resteemed.
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Thanks for your message. I appreciate the resteem and hope to meet you one day in the Philippines!
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Looking forward to that, cheers :)
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Thanks so much for this interesting story. I am currently in the Philippines but I have never heard of this tale before.
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Thanks for the message. It tends to be only the older generation who remember him now. He would be 100 years old if he were still alive today!
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nice post to pay tribute to your Dad who is also a participant in liberating the Philippines during WWll against the Japanese invasion and decided to stay to build this nation from ashes thru his businesses. But what intrigues me is, what has he done and why was he spied on by the U.S. intelligence, illegally deported and robbed off of the 17 corporations he owned and banned from returning.
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To put it in one word.... TOBACCO
He was the first person to grow tobacco in the Philippines and very quickly everyone was growing it. Prior to this the US had been selling US band tobacco to the entire country, making a fortune.
My father stepped on the toes of Uncle Sam and when he was asked to do certain favours for the US in exchange for the money they were no longer making, he said F**K you and that was the beginning of the end for him.
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This is a wonderful tribute your dad! :D Im just now discovering your profile,and gave you a follow!Keep up the good work mate
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Many thanks. I very much appreciate your comment, follow & upvote.
Am excited to finally share his story publicly and have just set up a #history tag in steemit.chat so that all these chapters can be viewed in one place.
I tend to post many times per day on a total mixture of subjects!
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What an amazing story! Thank you for sharing.
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Thanks very much for the comment. I look forward to sharing the full story :)
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You're welcome.
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A moving story an thank you for sharing. Just shows the mentality of the corporate world, they will crush anyone I sorry this was your father.
You need to get the film made. Get writing make you money on @Steemit :)
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The film is on the cards for sure. Documentary first. This will provide the needed funding for the feature film :)
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really well written piece. thank you for sharing stories about both your parents!
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thanks very much :)
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nice story....just discover after upvoted for you, that my power vote increase your bonus of +3.00 usd
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Thank you so much but with your Steem Power that is not possible. What happened is that while you were reading my post, other people were upvoting it. So when you placed your vote, the page refreshed and gave the appearance of a $3 jump. I have also made this mistake in the past believing that my vote was suddenly worth loads... but figured out what was going on in the end! Should probably do a post about that :)
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just read this before going to bed, touching story. Please don't wait too long before going on writing, it already felt like a cliff hanger now...
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If only there were more hours in the day.
It's already written. Just need to set myself a posting schedule... and stick to it!
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That is more than cool. How did you get your mom into crypto and steem? I just spend a week with my mum for the first time in a while and she was very curious about crypto and I'm wondering what would be best to push her along the right path.
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She understands the stock market already, so I explained it from that angle. Invest in BTC now and watch your investment grow. She was actually vey easy to persuade! And very content now after buying a bunch of BTC at $900
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Wow, what an interesting family history! I bet it was amazing to meet Stan Le when you where a child :)
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