Hi to all. I regret to say that Philip the Bard spent the weekend with my wife, Ina’s folks up in Mandan and drank too much Oodo. But, don’t fear, I do have stories about young Max Gavaskar, back when she was known as Melanie.
I was lucky enough to spend some time with Max’s mother when the Gavaskars first moved to Kusha. The were some of the last people to remain on the planet. Mrs. Gavaskar was a lovely woman who didn’t drink but we had some fine conversations over tea about the early life of Max Gavaskar.
Apparently her first word was “why” and her mother claims it was a very short time till she added “not” to the question. As you might expect she was an exhaustively inquisitive child.
Max was only a few months old during the Arrival, when humans from Earth showed up on Harappa. That meant that she never lived with the false myths of the Founder, Marcus Johnson. She grew up knowing that humans had occupied four planets, Earth and Harappa the first two worlds and Lava and Kusha which were settled after Harvest Day, when the Earthers attacked Paladin Thain and “accidentally” knocked Harappa off its orbit, dooming the world to an eventual plunge into its sun.
Older Harappans like myself felt betrayed by the Founder and directed a lot of anger at his legacy. Younger Harappans though, have more animus towards the SID. The SID was the face of the Earthers on Harappa and it was their starship that did the damage to our world. I don’t think you can judge Max’s actions without considering her life long distrust of the SID specifically and Earther born in general. Her run ins with the Tarsans on Lava and Kusha did not enhance her relationship with Earthers.
By all accounts Max was a lovely child. Her inquisitiveness did keep her parents hopping but she was well mannered, studious, hard working and she had a pleasant disposition.
Tomorrow, I’ll start sharing a few stories of her child hood from her mother.
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