1998

Instructor, minister adds book author to his list of credits

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Dr. Thomas Key is a scien– tist-a microbiologist, to be pre– cise--and his decision to pub– lish two books was made only after years of sharing the in– formation now contained m those books with hundreds of p eople. His inspiration for wnting the books was the existence of puzzling "blind spots" in the scientific establishment, not to mention the fact that he 11aa ~enced the general subject matter of lus books f:o::l both the professional and the per– sonal pomt of view. " I was a pest exterminator when I lived tn lndiana, and I re~ed interested in extermi– nation even after I left the pro– fession," Key said . "I knew there were easy ways to get rid of flies, fleas, roaches, spiders, ats, mice and other p ests, but I also knew these methods were not used by exterminators." Netther were they taught in science courses, so Key began to collect ideas for control or elimination of insects and other pests. After earning a doctorate microbiology, he began to use e Ulformation he had col- en •. ~. """ u._o;ei to .:nake the list into .:ou: and called it a ' take laD project. I told the choo:;e any five of

use of pd!-.!rants and toxic cheaucals. I onl} suggest things which a;re not harmful to the en\'lrO..'lment," Key said. Strangely-or not so .: rangely, depending oo how you loo · 3.t it-Key said the methods he suggests in his book a:e not taught in science courses nor are they used by extermina– tors. Science has a "blind eye" for simple answers to pesky prob– lems with pests. There are en– tire branches of science devoted to insects and the development of chemicals to control them, but science itself appears to have forgotten that sometimes there are . simple, easy, non– toxic, non-polluting ways to handle pest infestations. And exterminators don't want to use economical, natural methods because the methods work too well and might end up extermi– nating the exterminators' jobs. "When you start spraying for insects, you have to keep m spraying. It never stops," Key said. "Some of the methods in my book are so effective they would put some of the extermi– nators out of business." Key's second book, Key to Headache Control, also grew out of a personal experience. "Back in the 1960s, my wife suffered severe headaches. We ·•,.ent to numerous doctors, but all they ever cild was give her a 'pill and a bill. We spent a tremendous amount of money trymg her head-

best whi0 did nothing to pre· vent recurrence.

Key began compiling infor– mation he had· gleaned from dozens of sources . The more he learned, and the more informa– tion he collected, the more he could help others. When stu– dents in his classes obviously had headaches, he would tell them what to do to get rid of the problem. Often, his suggestions worked. His methods were passed on, ~~~==~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-~~ of mou~ peopre

~ere ~~a~n:Ul~~g~~t~m~·----------------- and askmg for help. "One neu- ~ T_ ______ rologist in Jackson called me and said the things I suggest --------------- were never taught to him in- ---------- -–

and more mtere:oted m the prob– lem and started reading every book oo the subject he could find . He even enrolled in uni– versity science courses to find out more. As his familiarity with the problem grew, he realized th e

he collected the mformanon into a book he titled Key to .Pest Control. Key said he has tried almost all of the suggestions in his book, and the few he has not tried himself have been tested

medical school," Key said. "He has started using some of them with his patients." In 1997, Dr. Key gathered to-