Bill Fry’s Response to a Recent Letter from Wyatt Archaeological Research
As many of you already know, about 6 months after Ron Wyatt’s death I made the decision to break away from his old organization (WAR) because of their actions toward me. These actions amounted to a veiled attempt at shutting down the Anchor Stone web site. I also perceived in the new leadership a lack of integrity in dealing with people and more importantly with Ron Wyatt’s work.
Since that time I have done everything I could to defuse the problems between us and I thought that I had been successful until I received an advance copy of the recent letter distributed by WAR. If you haven’t seen this letter you can read it in its entirety at ASI Letter to WAR Board of Directors.
I categorically deny the charges leveled at me in this letter. I guess everyone expects me to say that. Most guilty people claim to be innocent. So how can you tell the difference? Only by the documentation that backs up what is said.
Before I begin I want to say that I do not relish writing this. I have tried to cover up many of the things that WAR and its leadership have been doing since Ron’s death. My reason for this is because I feared that it would reflect badly on Ron’s memory and on the organization that bears his name.
If it were simply a matter of my personal feelings or self-justification I would not be writing this today. But because my success in this work depends to a great extent on my ability to work closely with a large number of people and because my integrity and motives have been seriously questioned, I have to respond in a manner that will clear the air to some extent.
I will not go through the letter point by point. Some of the allegations are so absurd that they are not worthy of response. Others cannot be addressed simply because the situations never occurred. However, I will share a few things with you that may give you some indication as to who is dealing honestly with the facts on these matters.
After the letter in question was distributed I sent a copy of it to about a dozen associates and asked them for counsel on how to respond. I received counsel in a number of different directions but a few people included personal testimonies about the content of Mary Nell Wyatt’s letter and the charges she makes.
One of the things that Mrs. Wyatt suggests is that Anchor Stone is doing something wrong by asking for donations in order to fund excavation work on Ron’s sites. She states,
“Personally, what upsets me the most is that Mr. Fry, while making it appear he is representing Ron’s work, is now asking for donations for “possible excavations”. Ron NEVER did that. Nor would he ever do that.”
Below is the text of a letter sent to me by a friend who worked with Ron Wyatt for a number of years before his death in 1999 and spent much of that time traveling with Ron in the Mideast and in the UK. Here is what he says on this point.
—– Original Message —–
To: Bill Fry
Sent: Tuesday, July 03, 2001 1:48 AM
Subject: Donations
I read recently that you have come under fire for asking for donations for the work of your ministry, and that it was suggested that Ron has never done that, nor would he ever have done that. But I cannot agree with that. I toured England, Scotland, Wales and Northern and Southern Ireland with Ron twice in 1996 and 1998. Each tour was 3 weeks long, so you can imagine the number of meetings we covered. I will always remember [Ron’s] words at the end of every meeting. I can practically remember them word for word as I heard it so many times…
“Now if I was out there in the audience and someone told me I couldn’t help out I’d be more than disappointed. So we’re going to give you the opportunity to help out if you want. And if you don’t then we love ya anyway. God owns the cattle on a thousand hills and he doesn’t have a cash flow problem, so this work is going to get done anyhow, but I’m not getting any younger, etc. etc.”
Then he would say that they were about to pass the plate round.
Of course it wasn’t a set statement as such, but when you’ve done as many meetings as Ron, I guess you get into habits and use the same kind of words each time. Anyway, my point is, that Ron DID ask for donations for the work. So I don’t think it is fair to say that Ron, nor WAR have ever asked for donations.
God bless you my friend,
I recently had a phone conversation with Jim Pinkoski, who will stipulate to the following in writing if that is ever needed. Jim Pinkoski was the curator of Ron Wyatt’s first museum and was the artist that drew the illustration of the Ark of the Covenant according to Ron’s description of it.
Many years ago when Ron Wyatt had his first museum in Gatlinburg, TN, I visited several times. I remember clearly that there was a sign posted on at least 2 of the displays (Noah’s Ark and Sodom & Gomorrah) which expressed the need for funds to finish that particular project. It included at the bottom a dollar amount. In the case of the Noah’s Ark sign the figure was in excess of $1 million!
I personally saw nothing wrong with Ron asking for donations for the various projects because the truth is that virtually no one has the financial resources to fund something like this. What is significant about this is that Jim confirmed my remembrance of this and stated that he had posted these signs on the displays at the request of Ron and Mary Nell Wyatt. They even gave him the exact dollar amount to post.
In her letter, Mrs. Wyatt states the following,
“After Ron’s death, Mr. Fry began ………. selling materials, including those of Jonathan Gray, that he knows Ron did not want sold as representing Wyatt Archaeological Research. Ron had given Jonathan Gray permission to use our materials in his ministry in Australia and New Zealand. But his books and videos also contain some errors……….. Ron would not allow these materials to be sold at his meetings when he was in Australia and New Zealand because they cause much confusion.”
Here is a response on this point from Jonathan Gray.
—– Original Message —–
From: Jonathan Gray
To: Bill Fry
Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2001 3:12 AM
Subject: statement by Mary Nell
Hi Bill,
Yes, it is most distressing to see the charges being raised concerning people other than WAR who are working to promote Ron’s discoveries to the world. This is very different from Ron’s attitude. Ron was a dear friend and he too would be distressed to hear such talk.
Since my name is also mentioned, I shall refer to comments made concerning myself which are definitely untrue.
To quote her alleged statements:
1. Claim: “Ron would not allow [Mr Gray’s] materials to be sold at his meetings when he was in Australia and NZ because they cause much confusion.”
Answer: FALSE. During Ron’s first Australian tour, in Melbourne there was some misunderstanding between Ron and John Paige who (after contacting Nashville several times – but without response) was selling Jonathan’s materials side by side with Ron’s materials. (Ron’s videos were priced much higher than Jonathan’s and this may have been of some detriment to Ron’s sales.) In a phone conversation with Josephine Gray, Mary Nell denied Ron had anything against Jonathan or Jonathan’s books/videos. Her single comment was that Ron had only 2 weeks to sell his videos in Australia, but that Jonathan’s would be on sale for the other 50 weeks of the year… and that Ron was selling his videos at the higher price because he had prayed about the price and felt led by the Lord to do so. There was NO ADVERSE COMMENT ABOUT JONATHAN’S MATERIALS. We remember that conversation well.
Furthermore, Jonathan’s materials WERE SOLD AT RON’S MEETINGS at several places in Australia and NZ – with Ron’s approval (e.g. Adelaide and elsewhere in Australia; and Thames and Rotorua in NZ).
Also, when Jonathan took a meeting on Ron’s discoveries in Tennessee, the Wyatts encouraged Jonathan to sell his own materials at that meeting IN THE USA.
2. Claim: “We had many, many people tell us that they were under the impression that Mr. Gray had worked with Ron on the Ark of the Covenant and had been in the cave system, which is NOT true. Mr. Gray never worked with Ron on any research and field work.”
Answer: Jonathan does not make claims to have worked with Ron in the Ark of the Covenant cave system. Jonathan’s CD-ROM (which summarize what Jonathan states concerning his involvement in the Discoveries) was put on sale at the Wyatt museum (at Mary Nell’s request) and has sold well there.
3. Claim: “Jonathan’s books and videos contain some errors.”
Answer: Jonathan supplied the Wyatts with copies of his books and videos on the Discoveries. He has NEVER received from either Ron or Mary Nell, one adverse criticism of anything in them – with one exception (see Point b). The only reactions Jonathan has ever received personally from the Wyatts are these:
(a) Concerning his book The Ark Conspiracy: In Tennessee, Mary Nell said to a third person, in Jonathan’s presence, “Jonathan has written a book on Noah’s Ark.” (She already had a copy of that book.)
(b) Concerning the book Ark of the Covenant: After reading it, Mary Nell said on the phone to Jonathan (her only comment, to this day): “It is very good, Jonathan. Maybe we could sell this in the museum. How much would it cost?” Then she added, “There are a couple names spelt wrong;y – Dan Bahat and Marty Platt. They should Dan Barhart and Marty Plott.” (In the next edition, Jonathan made the recommended changes. Accuracy is important to him.)
(c) On Ron’s second NZ tour, in Thames, Marty and Ron were sitting side by side at breakfast, when Marty complimented Jonathan on the Ark of the Covenant book. His words were, “That’s a very good book.” Ron did not correct Marty, or say there were errors in it.
4. When the Wyatt’s and Gray’s were together in the Wyatt house in October 1995 they made a pact, initiated by Ron himself. It was this: that if ever there were any questions by one concerning the other, each would approach the other directly for a personal explanation. This way, no third party could ever cause division between them. Both couples adhered to this pact. NO questions were ever raised by the Wyatts concerning any inaccuracy in Jonathan’s books or videos……..
Bill, you may use this information as you see fit or necessary.
Best wishes. Our prayers go with you.
Jonathan
Here is a letter from Margaretha Tierney of Australia who included her reply to Mrs. Wyatt about her allegations against Jonathan Gray and myself.
—– Original Message —–
From: Margaretha Tierney
To: Bill Fry
Sent: Tuesday, July 03, 2001 10:22 AM
Subject: MARY NELL’S LETTER
Dear Bill,
I am so sorry about Mary Nell’s letter. I assume you have read it, as she refers to yourself a number of times. It is so sad that this is the attitude taken, and I do pray the Lord will bless and protect you in your sharing of the truth with others. I thought you might be interested in reading my response to Mary Nell. I do not expect it to bring about a change, however, I felt compelled to write.
God bless you.
Margaretha
Dear Mary Nell,
I am very sorry you feel this way about the whole situation. Surely the artefacts belong to God, rather than man, even our beloved Ron. He did not own them, and I know he never claimed to.
I also feel sad about your attitude to Jonathan Gray. When Ron was in Australia, he allowed us to sell Jonathan’s book ‘Ark of the Covenant’, in fact, it was Ron who brought the box of books from Adelaide to sell in Melbourne. If you do not wish to sell Jonathan’s books that is fine, but it is hardly fair to downgrade Jonathan because someone else sells them.
There are hundreds of people today who are speaking publicly about the Discoveries and most of them have not been to the sites. However, this does not mean they have no right to do so. Nor is it wrong for them to speak with authority about what they have studied on the subject. You are very wrong to limit everything to W.A.R. God gave Ron the light to find them, but He is now giving many the ability and zeal to share that light. If you believe only the first person involved should speak, then none of us have any right to share Jesus; it should be limited only to the Disciples.
The most important part in the Discoveries is to bring people to a belief in the Bible and to give their lives to Jesus. This was Ron’s sole aim, and I know he would be very sad to think that the work given to him was being elevated to the level you have placed it, to the detriment of his desire to share God’s artifacts and his Saviour.
I hope you will reconsider the sentiments of your communication in the light of this letter.
Yours for the sharing of truth in the spirit of love.
Margaretha
Here is another response.
—– Original Message —–
To: Jonathan Gray ; Bill Fry
Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2001 12:58 AM
Subject: Re: statement by Mary Nell
Hi Bill and Jonathan,
God bless you both in the work you are doing for Him. I’ve been reading the emails with interest since last Sunday. Mary Nell and Richard [current President of WAR] would never listen to any advice from me, perhaps understandably as I am young in faith, young in the work… and young. So our relationship is not like that, but I would like to point out one important thing. In the two Tours of Great Britian, Ron was very happy to sell ALL of Jonathan Gray’s material side by side with WAR material.
I was on both Tours from beginning to end and I was the guy packing and unpacking the boxes of books and videos from the van… so I know!
The Tours were in October 1996 and the second half of 1998. That is less than one year before Ron’s death. So I know from my first hand experience, that Ron was happy to sell Jonathan’s material right up to a few months before his death.
Ron objected to one or two things that (M……) did, and Ron was never afraid to tell him. That is the Ron we all knew and loved isn’t it! He was not shy about telling people what he did not approve of, and was NEVER pushed into doing anything he didn’t want to do. But he never once mentioned Jonathan’s material.
I remember on one occasion, a man approached Ron with Jonathan’s video in his hand. It was (M……) copy of Jonathan’s video, as [he] was given permission to distribute them. [He] had written “Please do not copy this video. Buy it from us, we need your support.” The man politely asked Ron if he would give him permission to copy it and distribute it to all his friends. He had no money, so could not afford to buy so many. Ron looked at the video and said, “Sure”. He talked with the man about how it was no problem for him to copy the video and distribute it for free. Then when the man left, Ron turned to me (I was right by his side throughout the whole thing) and said, “Why would Jonathan write a thing like that on his videos?” He was surprised and a little unhappy about it. I didn’t say anything, then Ron repeated, “I can’t imagine why Jonathan would write a thing like that on his videos”.
Ron didn’t realize that it was (M……) that wrote that on the video and not Jonathan.
Nevertheless, right up to the last year of his life, Ron approved of selling Jonathan’s material side by side with WAR
material, and even told people they could copy it free of charge and distribute it freely. Surely he would not do this if there were grave errors in it. He was even surprised when he saw that someone had tried to stop this freedom.
Please feel free to use the above information as you please. I don’t mind anyone reading it, so long as it is reproduced in it’s entirety.
Love in His name,
I want to address two final points personally. First of all in her letter Mrs. Wyatt states:
“Meanwhile, Mr. Fry quit his job when it became apparent that Ron was probably not going to survive.”
If you read the context of this statement the bottom line is that she is saying that I was looking forward to Ron dying so that I could “take over” his work.
I cannot tell you how much it hurt to read that and how angry it made me initially. I loved Ron Wyatt and I believe in what he stood for. If I had my way he would still be with us today. Apparently Mrs. Wyatt believes she can read my mind and motives. There is no way that she could know this even if it were true, which it is not.
In her letter Mrs. Wyatt states,
“After Ron’s death, Mr. Fry began posting “updates” that contain a great deal of erroneous information.”
Mrs. Wyatt began making this accusation shortly after I published our Ark of the Covenant Update #5 in May 2000. What she doesn’t tell you is that I got every fact cited in that update directly from Ron Wyatt. Ron told me the story on three different occasions. The last time he allowed me to tape record the story so that I could reference it as I wrote that very update.
I have twice stated to WAR since then that if they can prove to me that there is any inaccuracy in any of our articles I will either correct the error or remove it entirely. To date I have received no specific response on any point.
I want everyone to know that I recognize the need for accuracy in this material. I have done and will continue to do everything possible to insure its integrity. Most of our material came directly from Ron Wyatt. That which has come from others I have personally examined and researched to make sure that it is true. I stand by what we have on our web site. It is accurate to the best of my knowledge.
Mrs. Wyatt suggests that my motive for being involved in this work is for personal gain. I want to state for the record that I am not in this work for the money or to make a name for myself. I did leave my job in April 1999 after considering it for about 9 months. I discussed the situation personally with Ron and Mary Nell Wyatt in their home about 1 month before we found out that Ron’s cancer had come back on him.
I explained to Ron that since the web site was taking up so much of my time that I was only able to get 4-5 hours of sleep a night, I had to either give up my full time job or give up the web site. I told Ron that I wanted to go full time into the web site and the work. After much discussion Ron told me that if this is what God was impressing me to do he would support my decision.
As I stated earlier, I went full time into this work in April 1999. I now make about 50% of what I was earning from my job salary, a job that I held for over 8 years. Up until his death Ron was supportive of what I was doing and wanted me to continue in the work. In fact shortly before his death I promised him that, if it became necessary, I would personally see to it that his work continued. The actions of WAR have made it necessary for me to act on that promise and I intend to keep it. I am sorry that the current leadership of WAR is doing everything they can to prevent that.
I want to leave you with a quote from the last message that Ron Wyatt wrote. It was written June 27, 1999 just a few weeks before his death and only days before he became so sick that he could not write. It was posted on WAR’s web site although they removed it several months ago. However, I saved a copy of it. You can read the entire message at Ron Wyatt’s Last Letter but I want to share just a portion.
“In our staff conversations the subject of what would happen to the work if something happened to me had come up several times. But no firm decisions had been made. Well, something has now happened and is no longer just a matter of abstract discussion. As most of you are aware, there are several researchers and writers who work with us. It became necessary for us to arrange that the presentations already scheduled be made by these individuals.
So that we don’t get bogged down in details, I’ll mention them as a group. Our meetings are now being presented by Richard Rives, Marty Plott, Bill Fry, Dr. Jerry Niswonger and others, and have been met with as good success as when I personally did them. These men have been to most all of the sites of the discoveries and have participated in their investigation for many years. And, to my pleasant surprise, it turns out that the work is going forward and seems to be accelerating.”
I think the above documentation speaks for itself. I am not the person Mrs. Wyatt makes me out to be. While I have not refuted her allegations point by point I believe I have shown enough for a reasonable person to see that much of what Mrs. Wyatt is saying is untrue and that which is true is presented in a misleading fashion. Again, it was not my desire to air these things publicly. In fact I could say and document much much more. I would not even have shared this if it were not necessary to clear the air so I can continue in this work.
I do not hate or despise the people at WAR. I am very sorry for what is happening. The only other thing that I would say about them is that if you care about them, please pray for them. They need to see that they are going down a road that will serve no one. It will only continue to cause trouble and heartache. I would encourage anyone who feels the need to express their sentiments about all of this to Mrs. Wyatt and WAR, to do so directly.
Thank you.
Bill Fry
Anchor Stone International