The Family groups used to be like Amway. There was pressure to find more families/students. There was a guy in central mass in the 70's that was responsible for bring a bunch of families on board. He was in the mental health field and knew were to find the crazies. Hyde/Joe eventually pissed him off and he walked. I wonder if that was part of hyde going under in the late 70's early 80's. Joe just kept pissing people off.
I know exactly who you are talking about. I think his name was Smith. But I thought he was kind of a nice guy. The family had at least two kids at Hyde: the oldest, Phil, and a younger son, Jamie. I'm not sure what made the elder Smith walk; I might be out in left field on this, but I am under the impression it was something to do with or during the tenure of the younger son. The parents divorced not long after this. One can only speculate the contribution that Hyde made to that turn of events. I remember that Mrs. Smith was frequently picked on in the family meetings and I have memories of her crying in front of everyone, a LOT, from all the confrontations she had to endure. I think Dr. Smith probably initially bought into the program just like many of the parents did, with all the best intentions. And with Phil, things were a little different than they were with Jamie, both from the standpoint of their respective personalities as well as how Hyde was dishing it out. But the truth will out...
It was my impression that the decision to make Joe a bit more on the sidelines predated Dr. Smith's seeing the light. If I recall correctly, Joe was still Headmaster and Legg was still Assistant Headmaster during the 1974-75 school year. The situation was supposed to change the following year, i.e., the 1975-76 school year, with Ed Legg assuming the headmastership and Bob Thurrell becoming the new Assistant Headmaster. During that time, Joe was to devote more attention to "The Book", as well as the America's Spirit campaign, although this last little impression is a bit more hazy in my memory, as certainly Ed Legg was very involved in America's Spirit...
