By Terry Wright
To by the book CLICK HERE The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Lao-tzu
If money is the root of all evil, then the Pearl of Lao-tzu is judge, jury and executioner.
Based on the true story of the world's largest pearl
2,500 years ago, Lao-tzu, philosopher and founder of Taoism, carved a small amulet and inserted it into an oyster to begin the pearling process. Subsequent generations of followers transplanted the growing pearl into bigger clams until finally it resided in a giant clam. The pearl was meant to be a talisman of peace, longevity, and profound wisdom for all Taoists. However, in 1745, the pearl was lost at sea. May 7, 1934. The Philippines. Off the coast of Brooke's Point, Palawan, a native Dyak diver named Etem drowns, his arm caught in the cockles of a giant clam. Inside the clam the tribe finds a 14 pound pearl. The chief sees the likeness of a man wearing a turban, so he names it the Pearl of Allah. Two years later, the chief's young son, Pula, contracts malaria. Quinine is ineffective in treating the boy. A visiting archeologist, Wilburn Dowell Cobb is summoned to help. He saves the boy with the drug atabrine. In gratitude, the chief gives Wilburn a gift: the Pearl of Allah. Wilburn Cobb brings the Pearl of Allah to the United States. In November 1939, he writes an article, complete with pictures, which appears in the American Natural History Museum magazine, detailing the true events surrounding his acquisition of the pearl. During this same time, he displays the pearl at Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum in New York. It was shown there for about two months. There is no record of him showing it anywhere again. To this day it remains in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest pearl. The strangest part about this story is that Wilburn Cobb never sold the pearl. Why? It must've meant something to him much more valuable than money or fame. What could that have been? This haunting question is examined in The Pearl of Death. Upon Wilburn's death in 1980, his widow sold the pearl to a California jeweler for $200,000 dollars, and then it was transferred to Victor Barbish, a restaurant and bar guru in Colorado Springs. The pearl would eventually be appraised at 59.7 Million. Money begat greed begat murder, and in 2005, the Pearl of Allah became part of the largest wrongful death suit in Colorado history. Follow the journey of Etem's son, Timoteo Matito, as he fights for survival against the Japanese on Bataan, the Death March, and his imprisonment at Camp O'Donnell, before he leaves the Philippines for the United States in search of Wilburn Cobb and the pearl that caused his father's death.
Click Here to Visit the Official Pearl for Peace Foundation Web site.
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