After the sorrow and even some tears for the death of Donald Patrick Murray , American actor and honorary citizen of the country, an appeal goes out from Simaxis: the mayor Giacomo Obinu asks that what he did for the citizens becomes an object of study.
More than sixty years ago the actor had set up a farm intended for social reintegration through the Help project. Together with his wife Hope Lange and his friend Belden Paulson he bought over fifty hectares of land to create an agricultural company that could provide work to political refugees, but also to the inhabitants themselves. The company hosted people who came from different European countries. «Our entire community cannot and must not forget the extraordinary Help project - explains the mayor - thanks to which young refugees, mainly Spanish and Yugoslavian, found arable land, livestock and homes in which to start a new life. Most of them made friends and married local girls, fitting perfectly into the social fabric, forming families that still live in the area today. As an administration - it goes on - we have already tried to bring the importance of the Help project to the attention of academics, but now that Don Murray has also left us, we feel the need to make a public appeal to Sardinian teachers or undergraduates and doctoral students: We would like the history of the Murray-Paulson Farm to become a subject of study and historical interest. We need, as a country, to know the internal details of the project through scientific and structured research and studies. The refugees sadly died; fortunately the wives, children, grandchildren, together with many elderly people of the town, can tell the story of a small agro-pastoral community which, despite the difficulties of the post-war period, demonstrated an extraordinary ability to welcome and take care of others".