This memoir is about some embryonic thoughts and experiences with what is now often called the Direct Boundary Integral Method for boundary value problems in ‘classical elastostatics.’ It covers a very early period for me, from about 1954 to 1965, when I wrestled with relevant theoretical and mathematical issues, which I thought were important, primarily in the last two or three of those years. This was before I became aware of other contributors to the method, who are not mentioned here, and before they became aware of my work. So this is not a memoir largely filled with recollections of people and places; although I believe that subsequent interactions with fellow contributors and users of computational methods have become the most important part of my research experience. In any case, I understand that memoirs and papers of a more technical nature, written by some of those contributors, are part of these EJBE volumes. Those writings have bearing, no doubt, on the present memoir and much more, over a long period of time, and I look forward to reading them all....