I remember all the hoopla about 1975 as well as the brutal persecution in Malawi which was very upsetting. I remember writing several letters to the officials in Malawi as well. I didn't really believe in the 1975 date--remembering a statement in the All Scripture Is Inspired Book which was first published in 1963 (page 286):
"Does this mean that by 1963 we had progressed 5,988 years into the "day" on which Jehovah 'has been resting from all his work'? No, for the creation of Adam (4026 BCE) does not correspond with the beginning of Jehovah's rest day. Following Adam's creation, and still within the sixth creative day, Jehovah appears to have been forming further animal and bird creations.....Whatever time elapsed between Adam's creation and the end of the 'sixth day' must be subtracted from the 5,988 years in order to give the actual length of time from the beginning of the 'seventh day' until now. It does no good to use Bible chronology for speculating on dates that are still future in the stream of time."
I was surprised thast only three years after 1963 (1966) they suddenly decided it was OK to "speculate." However, I still believed in the 70 or 80 years reasoning, but it wasn't until about 1998 that I really began my journey out of the borg. I kick myself to this day that I didn't leave sooner. It would have saved a bunch of problems.
Bonnie