The Secret Armchair Treasure Hunt,

The Secret Podcast,

and the End of an Era

By John Michaels

For about 10 years now I have been involved in what is perceived to be one of the longest running armchair treasure hunts in existence, The Secret – A Treasure Hunt. Over the last decade, I have undertaken an immense amount of research on the subject. If you can imagine the amount of time spent on a dissertation, then multiply that by 10, you’re getting close to the amount of research I’ve put into this hunt. I never thought, in the beginning, that I would end up in the position I’m in today. Much of this article is going to seem like an ad for my podcast, but there is good reason.

To tell the complete story of The Secret and all its branches and follies, I would need to write a small book. I started the podcast a year ago for several reasons, one of them being to perpetuate the big story of the The Secret and all its tales and characters, from the actual people involved. Many of the interviews done on the show are first-hand accounts from the people who have searched for these casques most of their lives, some who have found them, and some of the people who worked on the book and were close to the author.

I’m going to give an abridged account, a brief history if you will, of what the book is, and the events surrounding the book from its release date to the present time. Many of the stories will be accompanied by a tag for a certain episode of the podcast where you can hear the more detailed account.

Another reason for this article is that the podcast, at least my involvement in it, will come to an end. My involvement of trying to solve a 40 year old treasure hunt is also coming to an end. It was my intention to pass on the info I had to all the hunters out there, and to rebuild a core group of people interested and excited about solving the puzzle. This has been accomplished and more. So it is now time for me to step away and attend to other life projects that have been on hold for 10 years. I do however, leave all of the podcast listeners and team members, with secrets from my 10 year time involved in the hunt.

The Secret – A Treasure Hunt was an idea from the mind of Byron Preiss, which was produced into a book for Bantam in 1981. The book was not a commercial smash success, like other similar Armchair Treasure hunt books before it, and it was an immense work of passion by its creator and his friends to complete. Over the last 10 years I’ve come to know some of the people who worked on this book, including some of the artists and the photographer.

The book’s creator died, tragically, in an auto accident while on his way to Temple, on July 9th 2005. Everyone I’ve spoken to who knew him said he was an incredible man with a big heart. It seemed he had many friends who cared for him deeply. It also appears that he was very tight-lipped about The Secret his whole life. Byron’s widow, Sandi Mendelson, commented to me “It’s the only thing Byron has kept from me.”

Sometime in 1980, Bryon buried 12 hand-painted ceramic treasure casques about 6-8 inches tall and about 5 inches wide on each side. The casques were created and painted by artist Jo-Ellen Trilling. Byron sealed them in 1/4” thick plexiglass boxes, placed a piece of tissue paper on the top, and stuck hand made stickers around the outside which say “The Keepers of The Secret.” Inside the casque itself is a ceramic key, which, when returned to the author, entitled the finder to a gemstone assigned to the casque recovered. Below are pictures of what the original casque and key looked like in and out of the ground.

Artist John Jude Palencar created 12 original paintings, to complement 12 verses (created by Preiss) which, when paired together correctly, will lead to one of the 12 sites where Byron buried the casques. Then it’s up to the hunter to decipher all the clues hidden in the verse and the painting, and find the exact spot to dig for the buried boxes. The paintings and verses are layered with hidden clues.

The paintings hide clues in all sorts of clever ways, hiding maps, numbers, things you see on the ground while on the hunt, and using wordplay games with pictures to give out information. In each painting there is a gemstone pictured, the prize for solving that puzzle. These gemstones are the 12 birthstones for each month and also in the image is the corresponding birth flower for its gemstone. Some of the paintings have nods to famous works of art which may contain clues, and there appear to be different layers to the clues in the painting.

The verses are also similar, more puzzles and games, and nods to other published literature, books like Treasure Island, Pierre by Melville, and The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Longfellow. In addition to the Paintings and the Verses, an immigration fable was created around the game, a tale of mythical creatures called “The Fair Folk” who came to America and hid the precious gemstones they brought with them. As if that wasn’t enough, Preiss contracted National Lampoon staffers Sean Kelly and Ted Mann to write descriptions for 40 descendants of the mythical Fair Folk, and as these descriptions were written, artist Jo-Ellen Trilling would create mixed media sculptures to represent these ancestral creatures.

He then hired another childhood friend, photographer Ben Asen, to shoot photos of these mixed media sculptures in different settings all over North America, all geared to complement the stories written by Kelly and Mann. In addition, two other illustrators, John Pierard and Overton Loyd, were hired to do black and white illustrations for the stories as well. It was a year’s worth of work for all who were involved. Personal accounts of Jo-Ellen Trilling and Ben Asen and their work on the book can also be heard on the New York and New Orleans episodes of Shhh — The Secret Podcast.

There were a set of general rules in the back of the book. Very simply stated, the treasures were not buried in dangerous areas like an active railway, or in the median of a busy highway. They are not buried in cemeteries. They are not on the properties of any of the collaborators of the book. It was also said that it wasn’t the intention of the “Fair Folk” to destroy the beauty of natural surroundings, therefore the casques would not be buried in a flower bed. There were also instructions for one to write in a correct solution to the author. In one interview Byron claimed to have received over 700 letters from different hunters. There were no instructions though, for how to do the puzzle — that part was completely left up to interpretation.

Byron did a number of interviews to promote the book; you can find press on it from newspapers in Chicago and St. Louis, as well as a writeup on the book in a 1980’s issue of Heavy Metal Magazine.

In the fall of 1983 a group of 5 kids in Chicago who played D&D together, David James, Eric Gasiorowski, Rob and Tim Wrobel, and accompanied on the final dig by their neighbor Eddie Douglass, found the first one in a corner of Grant Park in Chicago after many failed attempts and some help from the Author himself. One can see the location on Google Maps by searching “The Secret Treasure – Byron Preiss” in Chicago, as we have now cataloged the finds as historical markers. Rob’s personal story on the find and his interactions with Byron can be heard on the “Roanoke” episode of Shhh — The Secret Podcast.

I had a chance to catch up with Rob in Chicago and he let me photograph his casque and some of the correspondence between him and Byron.

For many years, up until the mid 90’s when the website GeoCities popped up, there was no way to even know if the treasures were real. Even though one had been recovered in Chicago, and was publicized locally on the news and in print, the word didn’t spread outside of Chicago. Other factions of searchers had no clue if any had been found or if they were even real. Longtime Secret Treasure Hunter Matthew Sparks, who has been studying the secret since it arrived at the bookstore where he worked in the 80’s, gives his assessment on the checkered online history of the hunt in the Chicago episode of The Secret Podcast.

It was in 2003/2004 that many people gravitated to the website Quest for Treasure, a simple message board which hosts topics on all kinds of armchair and real treasure hunts. A thread for “The Secret” was opened up and users began to gather and share knowledge. It was about this time that the word started to get around that there was one found in Chicago. Nobody could verify the correct location of the find though, as all of the members of that former D&D group who recovered it had since gone into the Military and had mostly forgotten about the hunt.

It was in July of 2008 when user “tenbythirteen” showed up on Q4T, this is Rob Wrobel’s handle and he verified what he could remember about the find at that time. Important side note – user “Forest Blight” posted the original Chicago Tribune article on Q4T. Eric eventually showed up on the message board “tweleve.org” in 2006, in response to a note from Wilhouse. Shortly after this, Eric and Rob both signed on to Q4T.

There were some other developments on the hunt which came from the collaborations on the Q4T website. For example, user Robert Fox (or “Fox” online) discovered that the numbers being found hidden in the images correspond to latitude and longitude coordinates for cities. Once the cities were proposed, much teamwork by these original users brought into the light a picture of where these remaining casques may be buried. Prior to the internet in ‘94, not much is known about what progress individuals made on the puzzles.

In 2004, a couple of friends from New Jersey, Brian Zinn and Andy Abrams, who had been studying Image 4 and Verse 4 for many years, and acting on new information given to them by Q4T user “Johann,” drove to Cleveland, OH and found the 2nd casque to be unearthed in a planter box on the backside of a wall in the Greek Cultural Gardens. When I visited Brian in Florida a few years ago, he brought his casque with him when he met me. It was in a hundred pieces, and is now on display in his office, exactly as I saw it. Brian had the gemstone, which was actually the wrong gemstone for the puzzle he solved, mounted into a setting, pictured below.

He was given the St. Augustine Gem, not the Cleveland one. Brian’s find can also be looked up on Google by searching “The Secret Treasure#2” in Cleveland, and his and Andy Abrams’ in-depth personal accounts about the find and then meeting the author can be heard on the “Cleveland” episode of Shhh — The Secret Podcast. Additionally, Brian joins Rob Wrobel on the “Roanoke” episode where they both share additional stories of their finds.

During this same period of time, another longtime hunter and active Q4T user, who posts under the handle “Wilhouse,” was also deep into the hunt. He felt, after many years, that he had located the area where a casque was buried in Houston. Wilhouse was also in contact with Byron regarding his search and received a letter from him within a week before Byron’s passing, stating that he “needed to check the vault” to accommodate his latest request. Wilhouse’s full story, as well as first-hand accounts from Hermann Park employees from that time period, can be heard on the Houston Podcast parts 1 and 2.

After Byron’s passing in 2005, BP Visual Publications declared bankruptcy and all its property was sold on the chopping block, reportedly for $125k, on October 19th 2006, to John T. Colby of Brick Tower Press. Colby bought over 2500 contracts and works, including The Secret. A few thousand per title if reports are correct. When the mania of The Secret reached a fever pitch in 2015, Brick Tower re-released the book, however the printing quality was even more inferior than the 1981 original Bantam release. The images in the reproduction are so dark and blurry that it is difficult or impossible to use for hunting the actual treasures.

This re-production skyrocketed the value of any of the original 27k run of books. There are also blue hardcover editions out there, but they are re-productions as well. In addition, recently it was discovered by online Q4T user “Goldengate” that a Japanese version of the book had been released. This version contained verse hints due to the difficulty in translating American idioms to Japanese. George Ward, my Co-Host of the Podcast hired a translator to decipher the Japanese, and this conversation was recorded and is available on the Podcast Website as well.

As the tale goes, after Byron’s unexpected passing, the solutions to The Secret were never found, although a news article from The St. Louis Dispatch October 25th 1982 states that in the event of Byron’s death, the solutions had been entrusted to a friend. We don’t know if this ever happened or not, and so the mystery of the lost solutions was born. A bit of controversy existed about the gems as well. First it was reported that they we not found, then around 2013, when Akron journalist James Renner announced on the Q4T message board that he was beginning a documentary on The Secret, and according to Sandi, the game is still on and the gems are still in play.

Many people postulated that Renner himself was providing the gem (working through Sandi or Brick Tower) to anyone who dug up a casque, so he would have a proper ending to his documentary. Since a casque has not been found since Byron’s passing, we still don’t know the backstory to this claim.

In 2013 I started to gather like minded hunters, as well as the old guard from the Q4T website. A private “supergroup” was formed and has since grown to over 15 of the most influential people on the hunt. Many of them guests on the first season of podcasts. This group is maintained today, and is a healthy think tank for all things related to The Secret.

In 2015 a reporter from Vice magazine did an article on The Secret interviewing myself and a former treasure hunting partner as well as some of the other players on the scene. In addition, earlier this year Expedition Unknown host Josh Gates aired a one-hour special on The Secret, also this year James Renner released a documentary about his quest to find one of the treasures.

Over the past 38 years, groups and individual searchers from all over North America have tried to decode the clues in the book to find the hidden treasure casques. Two groups met with success, and many others suffered the frustration of defeat. A whole subculture was born surrounding this book, and it exists online in forums, on social media groups, and among groups of friends banding together to continue searching, some for a casque, and some, like me, just for a solution to the puzzle itself.

In 2017 I launched “Shhh — The Secret Podcast” a monthly show which set out to cover the 12 known or suspected casque sites, one per month. As I write this I am preparing to tape the final installment of the series. Through doing my own research on the hunt, back in 2013, I befriended artist John Palencar’s son Kit, who, like his father, is an acclaimed artist. I was curious as to whether he ever tried to solve the puzzles his father helped make. Over the years we continued our conversations about the curiosities of the puzzle. Kit was our guest on the Charleston episode of the podcast and he talks about his time growing up in the Palencar house as well as his own follies with the puzzle.

At one point we had even decided to go ahead and work on our own Armchair Treasure Hunt, but it was put on hold until earlier this year. After an interview I did with artist Jo-Ellen Trilling on the podcast, I learned that she still had the very first, original casque which she designed from clay. This is the casque which was used to make the mold for the others produced for the hunt. She was kind enough to donate it to me, for the purposes of creating a one-off “Tribute” hunt.

It was only natural that I contracted Kit Palencar to follow in his father’s footsteps and create the painting for our hunt. The original casque was given to a longtime friend and fellow treasure hunting partner Betsy Grueninger and her husband to be ornately painted — the whole casque, including the lid. The casque was then put into a 1/2 inch thick plexiglass box surrounded by foam, and sealed airtight. A fitting treasure was procured, a 3 ct. Pink Tourmaline Gemstone valued at $1500. In addition, we added 10 one-ounce bars of fine silver and about 100 rough uncut gemstones. The treasure casque was buried this year, somewhere in North America, and the painting, verse and lore to accompany the 13th Casque will be released no later than Feb 14th of 2019.

As of writing, 10 casques remain in the ground, and people are still searching for them. For me, personally, the quest to dig up a casque is now part of my past. I never dreamed that my path would lead to me producing a tribute hunt alongside Kit Palencar, or befriending amazing people like Ben Asen and Jo-Ellen Trilling. In the process of doing all this, I was lucky enough to hear the story of a very loved man, someone larger than life, who left this world all too early.

Learning the story of Byron Preiss and some of the amazing things he did in this world was my treasure, and it’s hidden in all the episodes of Shhh — The Secret Podcast. In 2019 Kit Palencar and I will release the tribute hunt with a new painting, verse, and a tale of the continuing legacy of The Secret. For myself, I rest easy knowing the torch has been passed to a new generation of hunters, and that the old fire which carried the torch before it, is still burning brightly on it’s own. I wish all of you the best of luck in your quests and I hope the work that I’ve done, can somehow contribute to the work you are doing now.

More information can be found at not only Shhh — The Secret Podcast, but also its Facebook Group Page with over 1000 subscribers!

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