Garrow's https://www.facebook.com/jim.garrow.1?fref=tsFacebook page states that he lives in Casa Grande, Ariz. (He has a second Facebook site as Dr. Jim Garrow). The FundRazr campaign lists the same city as its base. Garrow's permanent residence is on Alma Street in Guelph. He said in a recent interview that he is not an American, but indicated he attended high school in Michigan and has a great love for America.

During an interview in the driveway of his modest, two-storey Guelph home, Garrow said that in the interests of "safety" he will never reveal information about the inner workings of his Pink Pagoda Girls operation, information that could verify his claims.

After repeated email requests for additional information, he refused to provide the names or locations of the Chinese orphanages he is purported to be affiliated with, the names and locations of the families that are purported to have adopted Pink Pagoda Girls rescued babies, or offer the names and locations of his language schools in China.

Garrow was asked to provide information to verify his claim of having saved babies in China, but refused.

"It's called safety," he said. "It's a safety and security issue for the babies and those who take them into their charge."

On May 29, he was asked via email to provide information to prove his claim of having rescued 48,000 babies in China. "Can, but will not," he wrote in response.

Asked during an in-person interview whether Bethune Institute and Pink Pagoda Girls had been shut down, Garrow said both are still active. He said in a previous Guelph Mercury report that Bethune Institute was affiliated with more than 165 schools in China. The Bethune Institute website features four schools — Living Waters, New Life, New Hope, and Grace — but withholds their locations.

"No, they're not gone," he said in his driveway of Bethune Institute and Pink Pagoda Girls. "Just because you can't find them online doesn't mean they're gone."

He said the land line numbers connecting to the organization were discontinued.

"We went to cellphones like everyone else," Garrow said. He would not provide those cellular numbers when requested to do so in a followup email, or contact information for schools in China.

He added that he continues to run language services in China, and TESOL (teaching English as a second language) workshops in the U.S.

Bethune Institute's 3-304 Stone Rd., Suite 300 address is only for mailing purposes, he added. The address is the location of a UPS Store in Guelph, with a mailbox rental service.

In recent times, Garrow has been sporting long grey hair and a long grey beard, and has been seen wearing a black leather motorcycle vest with the words "Veteran Bikers" on the back. According to information available on the group's website, it is an independent motorcycle club based in the U.S. Its activities appear to be based in right-wing political advocacy.

"They are American vets, people who have served the nation in one service or another," Garrow said, explaining the vest. "They asked to give me the honour of holding a special evening where they presented me with colours."

Garrow has a three-wheel Piaggio MP3 scooter parked in his driveway and said during the in-person interview that he rode it in a motorcycle rally in the U.S. last year. He said he also owns a Honda Gold Wing Trike.

Garrow's biography on the Pink Pagoda Girls website states he was the runner-up for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, a claim that cannot be proven due to a 50-year embargo on revealing the names of Nobel nominees. He claims to have been the runner-up to U.S. President Barack Obama for the prize in 2009.

Garrow began using the honorific "Dr.," after receiving an honorary degree from a theological college in North Carolina. Garrow told the Guelph Mercury in 2010 he received the honorary degree for his work in China.

Over the last few years he has made several appearances on right-wing radio and online political broadcasts in the states.

He has stated at various times that U.S. President Barack Obama plotted to detonate nuclear bombs in the U.S., that the president introduced a new "litmus test" requiring U.S. military personnel to be willing to fire on Americans, and that the Obama administration would claim to have made contact with extraterrestrials to boost its sagging popularity.

In the interview in his driveway, Garrow indicated that Obama may have had a hand in his current legal challenges. "I'm not very popular with Mr. Obama," he said, referring to the charges against him for firearms possession. Garrow said in the interview that he found a pistol in his trailer that he said was put there deliberately, or planted by someone. That is what the weapons charges against him stem from, he said.

Last year, he asserted on one of those programs to have worked as a covert operative for the American government for 45 years, but was relieved of his duties because of his criticism of the Obama administration.

The statement has been often referenced in online right-wing subculture forums. But Garrow declined to answer a question sent to him by email asking what the word "operative" referred to, or what government agency he worked for and what his duties were during a career that would have started in his late-teens.

He was also asked to provide the names of some people in Canada or the U.S. who had adopted babies from Pink Pagoda Girls. He provided two names with email contact information for them. One email bounced back as undeliverable.The other was for Joe Umanetz. Umanetz, who lives in Chatsworth, Ont., did not respond to several phone calls and email messages. His wife, Liz Laird, said Umanetz worked with Garrow in China, but added that the couple was not adoptive parents.

Umanetz was listed along with Garrow as Bethune Institute representatives on the agenda for a March 26, 2008 Bluewater District School Board public input meeting. The minutes of the meeting indicate Garrow was pitching the idea of providing online Ontario high school credits to students in China.

Asked in a followup email to again provide names of those who adopted babies through Pink Pagoda Girls, Garrow refused.

"The safety of those whose lives are ultimately in my hands are not to be compromised," he wrote in an email response. "I … will never give up the whereabouts or names of the girls or their parents."

Erik Rush is listed as the vice-president strategic alliances for Pink Pagoda Girls on the organization's website. Rush is an online talk show host and right-wing columnist. Garrow has appeared on his broadcasts. He backs Garrow's claims of rescuing babies in China, but in an email correspondence he did not offer information about the operation that could be independently verified.

"It's absolutely true, all of it," said Rush. "While I realize that the clandestine nature of such an operation (adopting out babies within China is very illegal unless you are the government, and can get one shot in the head) makes it somewhat difficult to verify, I know that Jim was separately vetted by his publisher (who has a reputation to look after, and so would not carelessly publish such an account), myself, and several other parties I know, some of whom are very well-connected people in the international and intelligence communities."

He added that "some people dislike Jim because of his politics," he said. "I've worked with Jim on a project or two, and people with that sort of talent, connections, and of that calibre simply do not spin China baby-saving yarns from whole cloth."

But Brian Stuy has a different opinion on Garrow's claims. He runs Research-China.org, a Utah-based organization that helps families with adopted children from China learn more about the child's history. He has reviewed Garrow's book "The Pink Pagoda: One Man's Quest to End Gendercide in China," and investigated its claims. He has been unable to verify or disprove Garrow's assertions regarding Pink Pagoda.

In 2012, Stuy wrote a lengthy review of Garrow's book and drilled down into Garrow's claims.

"Grandiose, unsubstantiated, and unverifiable," said Stuy, speaking of Garrow's claims related to his alleged accomplishments in China.

"I reviewed his book, I did some research, and interviewed him," Stuy said. "I would think that, at a minimum, somebody should be able to find out whether he runs any schools. It's not like schools are going to be top secret."

Stuy said Garrow's book weaves an entertaining tale. Garrow has claimed to work with orphanages that Stuy was familiar with, but Stuy found no evidence of Garrow's involvement with them. He said he has been unable to substantiate Garrow's baby rescuing claims.

Garrow was informed via email that a source in the U.S. said he was unable to find evidence of Garrow's affiliating with the orphanages, and was asked to offer proof of his affiliation with Chinese orphanages.

"Your source has lost revenue as a result of a severe drop in those seeking information regarding adoptions to which he provides that information," Garrow replied by email. "Make sure that your 'sources' don't have reason to suggest things that 'punish' those that have reduced their income."

Via email, Garrow responded that this commentary was offered by someone whose income was reduced by the work of Pink Pagoda and that must be considered by all who weigh it.

roflanagan@guelphmercury.com