It's A Small World

The Daily Mail has an interesting article concerning Jeffrey Epstein and who it describes as his "first benefactor"--Donald Barr (the father of former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr). The Daily Mail article makes four primary points concerning Donald Barr: (1) he wrote a "sick" science fiction novel published in 1973 entitled Space Relations: A Slightly Gothic Interplanetary Tale "packed with graphic depictions of teenage sex slaves, breeding clinics, and aristocratic rapists" and apparently an inspiration for Epstein's later activities; (2) he "once served as headmaster at the prestigious Dalton School on the Upper East Side, where Jeffrey Epstein taught in the mid-1970s" despite his (Epstein) not having a college degree; (3) he was a former CIA (actually, OSS) officer; and (4) he was, as mentioned, the father of Bill Barr. As the article notes:

Though Donald Barr had stepped down by the time Epstein was hired, conspiracy theorists have seized on the timing, the lurid novel, and his son Bill Barr's role in Epstein's 2019 death in custody — as proof of a sinister connection. 

The article also notes:

    It's never been definitively confirmed that Donald Barr personally hired Epstein. But it's that foggy link — between the bizarre content of the novel, Epstein's inexplicable employment, and Bill Barr's involvement decades later — that has sent the internet into a frenzy. 

    Following Epstein's death at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York in August 2019, then-Attorney General Bill Barr promised a full investigation, calling the circumstances a 'perfect storm of screw-ups' — including non-functioning security cameras and asleep guards.

    He ultimately accepted the ruling of suicide, despite widespread doubts and calls for deeper scrutiny.

And it summarizes the novel thusly:

    The plot of Space Relations follows John Craig, an Earth diplomat captured and enslaved on a distant planet called Kossar, where the ruling aristocracy maintains a brutal regime of sexual domination and forced breeding.

    Craig ultimately becomes a servant to Lady Morgan Sidney, a sadistic elite described as having 'high breasts and long thighs', and is compelled to rape a teenage slave girl as part of an intergalactic breeding clinic.

     There are perhaps a few other interesting points to be made not mentioned in the Daily Mail article. 

    First is that although Donald Barr converted to Catholicism, he was Jewish by birth. So, if he maintained family ties or connections, it is possible that he (or someone else in his family) could have crossed paths with Epstein. 

    Barr also held degrees in anthropology and mathematics; his other son--Stephen Barr--was a particle physicist. (Interestingly, Epstein and Stephen Barr were the same age). Epstein was hired in 1974 to teach mathematics and physics at the Dalton School, and he was known to invite mathematicians and physicists to his properties, as well as hosting meetings between such boffins and the rich and powerful. 

    While the Daily Mail tries to downplay the Dalton School connection, Wikipedia notes that "Donald Barr, who served as the headmaster until June 1974, was known to have made several unconventional recruitments at the time, although it is unclear whether he had a direct role in hiring Epstein. Three months after Barr's departure, Epstein began to teach at the school, despite his lack of credentials." Thus, he could have directly had a hand in Eptein being hired, or, later, used his influence to get Epstein hired.

    As mentioned above, Epstein is the same age as Donald's younger son, Stephen Barr who went on to become a particle physicist. Epstein was known in high school to be very smart at math, graduated two years early, and studied mathematics at Cooper Union and NYU before dropping out. Could he have, at some point, crossed paths with Stephen Barr such as through a club, competition, seminar, or some such?  

    Finally, I would be remiss if I missed the obvious similarity between the name of the planet "Kossar" in Barr's novel and "Khazar"--the home of Turkish people called Khazars that converted to Judaism and, it was long believed, were the ancestors of the Ashkenazi Jews. I am reminded of the background of the plot of the novel Six Days Of The Condor (later made into the movie, Three Days Of The Condor) where a special CIA unit analyzed foreign novels and stories for useful intelligence unwittingly mentioned in those stories. Was Donald Barr writing about something of which he had some knowledge or inkling--perhaps through his work as an intelligence officer--disguised as the plot of a science fiction novel?