After 5: Telecom pioneer envisions future as novelist

A pioneer in the telecommunications revolution, Hedges’ company Dial US, founded in 1983, blazed a trail in long-distance and local-calling competition. Its success made it an acquisition target, and it was sold to publicly traded McLeodUSA Inc. in 1998.

Hedges’ latest vision of things to come is in literary form. And like George Orwell’s “1984,” it is a warning.

Inspired by his Uncle Frank Hedges, who wrote “In Far Japan; Glimpses and Sketches by Frank H. Hedges” in 1935, Jim Hedges has been writing for most of his life.

In 2005, he became a published author.

His futuristic novel “2040,” written under the nom de plume of Brink Hudlee, was published by Dan River Press in Thomaston, Maine, which is owned by the nonprofit Conservatory of American Letters. “2040” is available in hardcover and softcover via Amazon.com.

The story

In “2040,” Hedges as Hudlee details a society in which security has eclipsed personal freedom. Violence-weary nations have given up sovereignty in favor of a world government, a decision driven by the bombing of the Eiffel Tower in 2018 and enabled by a major power shift in the United States and United Kingdom in 2008.

The Planet Council is based on the former United Nations and is dominated by the Directorate, comprising the United States, China and Russia.

The world’s citizens are implanted with body chips – computer chips that continually monitor their whereabouts, make them immune to AIDS and the effects of illegal drugs, and control fertility. The chip also can be used to disable the individual, as in the case of terrorists or violent criminals.

Marriage and pregnancy must be approved by committee, and euthanasia is standard for the ill and elderly. Starvation, overpopulation and homelessness are but memories.

All guns have been confiscated from homes, but they are allowed in designated hunting areas. Meanwhile, everyone is equipped with stun guns for personal protection.

The result of these changes is a peaceful world from which terrorism has been eradicated, along with most basic human freedoms.

But discontent is on the rise. Enter the protagonist, Lawrence Holmes.

Holmes is a People’s Advocate, one of 15 at-large delegates to the Planet Council.

He proposes legislation to slowly reintroduce personal freedoms, beginning with voluntary deactivation of the chip’s personal location feature for noncriminals age 40 or older.

When even this limited measure is defeated by backstairs deal-making, Holmes’ son Byron – a free-spirited poet – defies the law and goes into hiding with his bride-to-be and their best friends.

The story concludes with Holmes achieving his goal of reform and freedom but at a terrible cost.

The writing

“2040” is an ambitious attempt by a first-time author.

A work of considerable imagination, it also is rooted in reality. For example, implanted computer chips are already being used for security clearance, and the idea of vaccinating against the effects of illegal drugs made local headlines only weeks ago.

Overall, “2040” is a promising first attempt. And we are likely to see more from its author.

Hedges is intent on developing his abilities and is already working on his next project, a trilogy about politics. He is now working with an editor.