DOCSLIB.ORG

Mcginniss Gets Hit from All Sides

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Mcginniss Gets Hit from All Sides COVER STORY McGinniss gets hit from all sides Author stands By Deirdre Donahue USA TODAY behind 'The NEW YORK — An angry red flush comes and goes Last Brother' over author Joe McGinniss' face. But it the controversial despite author is angry, upset or frightened about the titantic charges of reaction — all of it negative — to his new book on Seri_ plagiarism Edward Kennedy, The Last Brother (Simon & Schuster, $25), he's not admitting it. Sitting in his publisher's office in Manhattan, McGinniss, 50, presents a calculatingly calm exterior as he defends his reputation, his techniques and his book, for which he re- ceived a reported $1 million. "This was never a book intended to contain a great deal of original reporting," says McGinniss. "I wasn't out to un- earth new facts about Teddy Kennedy. I was trying to as- semble the pieces that already existed in an original and fresh way so as to give a reader a sense of what life may have been like for this guy." Rushed into bookstores this week, the 626-page book has ignited a firestorm. The reviews have been savage. And the articles even more damaging. The Washington Post critic Jonathan Please see COVER STORY next page ► Chronicling Kennedy ► The Selling of the President A best-selling ac- By Peter Freed count of Richard Nixon's campaign and how his UNDER FIRE: Writer Joe media advisers, including Roger Ailes, were ma- McGinniss' book on Sen. nipulating Nixon's image. Edward Kennedy Is the talk ► Going to Extremes. A look at Alaska's physical of the publishing world. 'The beauty and changing economy. Last Brother' has not only ► Fatal Vision. The best-selling story of Dr. Jef- gotten poor reviews, but frey MacDonald, convicted of murdering his preg- also has other authors up in nant wife and his two daughters. MacDonald later arms saying their material sued McGinniss, claiming that the author misled was lifted and threatening to him. (He expected to be exonerated by McGinniss. sue. McGinniss' book who portrayed him as guilty.) McGinniss' publisher contains no previously settled out of court without admission of liability. unpublished information. COVER STORY `You can't copyright his Continued from 1.13 views and articles about The Last Brother stem from the Yardley judged it the worst press' love affair with the Ken- book he's reviewed "in nbarly nedys, whom it still sees as three decades." Newsweek mythic heroes, McGinniss says. claimed it contained "the "It's hard to watch a dream The first critical salvo about cheapest kind of novelistic die. ... If someone tells me, the book was heard in late May landfill." And Time said it was this wasn't really a dream, this after Simon & Schuster re- "the :'5, most slowly exe- was a nightmare, you just leased the opening chapters at c book report." didn't understand it, there's a the American Booksellers As- And there's more, incluch natural, psychological resis- sociation convention in Miami threats of lawsuits from histori- tance to that." (Damore's book, to promote the book. It con- an William Manchester, who owever, is very critical of tained a note — now removed says his 1967 account of the ennedy.) by a joint publisher/author de- Kennedy assassination, The Moreover, McGinniss be- cision — that said "some Death of a President, has been li the Kennedys are mas- thoughts and dialogue attribut- plagiarized by McGinniss. t rs without peer at public rela- ed to figures in this narrative "I'm not going to stand still ons. were created by the author or this," says Manchester. "My One fact that seems to have based on such research and his b b . is up. I'm going to do gotten lost in the controversy: knowledge of the relevant peo- some McGinniss' book doesn't reveal ple, places, and events." And Leo Dam. that anything about Ted Kennedy's McGinniss insists this was McGinnis has "virtually lift- life that hasn't been document- simply to alert readers that he ed" his book about Chappa- ed before. Readers eager — or was employing an unusual - quiddick, Senatorial Privilege. dismayed — at the prospect of though not unprecedented - "I am so shattered by this. You further revelations about Ted- technique of getting inside have to talk to my lawyer be- dy, the Chappaquiddick acci- someone's mind. It's a tech- cause I intend to file. (McGin- dent, the JFK assassination nique Truman Capote used in niss') position is that I gave him and what happened that night In Cold Blood, says McGinniss. a license to steal. I never told with nephew William Kennedy McGinniss writes that Teddy him to steal my book." Smith in Palm Beach will may have entertained these Also unhappy is historian search in vain for gory new de- thoughts as he and Eunice took Doris Kearns Goodwin, who tails involving women, wine or a walk at Hyannis after the as- wrote The Fitzgeralds and the Mafia conspiracies. sassination: "Suppose — not Kennedys. Although she does The Last Brother begins that there is any evidence he not intend to sue Simon & with its most controversial sec- considered this — he suddenly Schuster — her own publisher tion. McGinniss presents Nov. just veered left, away from his — she believes McGinniss has 22, 1963, as seen through Ted- sister, and plunged, fully ripped off her research by not dy Kennedy's eyes. It follows clothed, into the roiling, frigid including footnotes. Teddy as he looks for a phone waters of Nantucket Bay? Just McGinniss responds that lots to reach his brother Bobby and swam out into the mist until ex- of books don't have footnotes, travels to Cape Cod to tell his hausted?" including Manchester's. (The father that JFK has been mur- Although this mixing of fact Death of a President does have dered. and fiction may infuriate pro- extensive source notes and a The rest of the book is a fessional historians, not to men- bibliography.) And he points more conventional narrative tion the subject, it's not the kind out that he singles out all three that describes Teddy as an af- of writing that lands people in authors and their books in The fable, average boy warped by a court. Last Brother's afterword. mixture of parental neglect, Which is where Manchester "Quotations and facts, once family arrogance and the and now Damore are at least they are published, are in the machinations of a diabolically threatening to see McGinniss. public domain," he says. ambitious father with ties to The problem, according to Many of the outraged re- the mob. The book concludes Manchester, is not McGinniss .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Xerox University Microfilms
    INFORMATION TO USERS This material was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. While the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of the original submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand markings or patterns which may appear on this reproduction. 1.The sign or "target" for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is "Missing Page(s)". If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting thru an image and duplicating adjacent pages to insure you complete continuity. 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a large round black mark, it is an indication that the photographer suspected that the copy may have moved during exposure and thus cause a blurred image. You will find a good image of the page in die adjacent frame. 3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., was part of the material being photographed the photographer followed a definite method in "sectioning" the material. It is customary to begin photoing at die upper left hand corner of a large sheet and to continue photoing from left to right in equal sections with a small overlap. If necessary, sectioning is continued again — beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete. 4. The majority of users indicate that the textual content is of greatest value, however, a somewhat higher quality reproduction could be made from "photographs" if essential to the understanding of the dissertation.
    [Show full text]
  • The Frederick, MD, News‐Post and the Bruce Ivins Story Teaching Note
    CSJ‐ 09‐ 0015.3 PO Privacy and the Public Interest: the Frederick, MD, News‐Post and the Bruce Ivins Story Teaching Note Case Summary Journalists frequently enter the private world of individuals, their friends, family and colleagues in order to tell a story. Often, these subjects of the news participate willingly, and are keen to share their thoughts and feelings with a wider audience. But that is not always the case. Some people are uncomfortable in the media spotlight, especially if they are “private” figures unaccustomed to such a glare, or linked to scandal and reluctant to participate in what they see as a “trial by media.” Consequently, they may shun involvement. In such cases, media outlets must make judgment calls that take into account a range of interests, including their need to tell credible, interesting stories that compete with rival news organizations; the subject’s rights and wishes to retain privacy; and the public’s right to know. This case study focuses on the Frederick News‐Post, a local Maryland newspaper, and its struggle to balance such issues in its coverage of a local scientist suspected of mailing several deadly anthrax‐filled letters after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. Microbiologist Bruce Ivins, an anthrax expert, was the latest in a string of FBI suspects and faced arrest when he committed suicide in July 2008. Like other media, the News‐Post learned about the Ivins investigation only after his death, and regarded the FBI’s claims with skepticism given its previous wrongful accusations, and an embarrassing press history of rushing to judgment in cases where suspects were later vindicated.
    [Show full text]
  • Book Reviews
    Book Reviews to send him to Georgetown University for a BRACETE $10.95 DROPS OF REMEMBRANCE preparatory, graduate-level immigration law BY Juan M. Bracete course taught by Charles Gordon. Bracete Vantage Press, New York, NY, 2012. 66 pages, $10.95. grabbed the opportunityDrops of Remembrance ,and the bracing soon new memoir com from- author Juan Bracete, recounts his years as a U.S. Immigration Judge, menced work withand the the following Board period whenof Immigrationhe worked as a U.S. Foreign Service officer. Mr. Bracete relates some of the many incidents Reviewed by R. Mark Frey Appeals. Later, hebecause observed, and ofsupplies his poignant grandfather’s anecdotes regarding his terminal illness,work, he as quit well as biographicalhis job notesand about returned the nature of his job and how it profoundly shaped his career. In writing his memoir, OF DROPS A career in the United States Foreign to Puerto Rico.Bracete Bracete acts on his long-heldinitially desire to despairedshare with his readers the R totality of his life experience, and his search for ways continu- E M E Service—the allure of exotic locales, climes, about his employmentally to improve hisprospects journey through life.in Puerto MB RANCE OF cultures, and peoples, has caused many of Rico, but, as he notes, “God provides for DROPS us to consider it. It can be a great way to see madmen, children and fools,” and, not long JUAN BRACETE was born and raised in Puerto Rico. Having earned REMEMBRANCE the world and possibly play a role in world after returning,his he B.A.
    [Show full text]
  • Searching for Thereal Sarah Palin
    THE SEARCHING FOR THE REAL ROGUE SARAH PALIN After three years of research, bestselling journalist Joe McGinniss presents his already controversial and much anticipated investigative chronicle of Sarah Palin as an individual, politician, and cultural phenomenon. THE ALL-IN-ONE AUDIOBOOK In his critically acclaimed book about Alaska, Going to Extremes, the fledgling state itself was Joe McGinniss’s subject. McGinniss fell in love with the land and its people. More than three decades later, he returned to Alaska in search of its most famous resident, Sarah Palin. On Election Day 2008, McGinniss began his on-the-ground reporting that culminated, famously, in his moving next door to Sarah Palin in spring 2010. The Rogue is the eagerly awaited result of his research and writing: a startling study of the illusion and reality of Sarah Palin. Sometimes funny, sometimes frightening, always provocative and illuminating, The Rogue answers the questions “Who is she, really?,” “How did she happen?,” and “Will she ever go away?” Listeners will find The Rogue at once bitingly insightful, hilarious, and profoundly ominous in what it reveals—not just about the dark underpinnings of a potential presidential nominee but also in regard to the huge numbers of Americans who passionately support her. JOE McGINNISS is the author of the nonfiction bestsellers The Selling of the President, Fatal Vision, Blind Faith, Cruel Doubt, and The Last Brother. Over McGinniss’s forty-five-year career, his work has appeared in Vanity Fair, Portfolio, GQ, Harper’s, New York magazine, the New York Times Magazine, the New York Times Book Review, Condé Nast Traveler, Sports Illustrated, and Playboy.
    [Show full text]
  • The Conundrum of Cameras in the Courtroom
    Chicago-Kent College of Law Scholarly Commons @ IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law All Faculty Scholarship Faculty Scholarship January 2012 The Conundrum of Cameras in the Courtroom Nancy S. Marder IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/fac_schol Part of the Communications Law Commons, Courts Commons, Internet Law Commons, and the Law and Society Commons Recommended Citation Nancy S. Marder, The Conundrum of Cameras in the Courtroom, 44 Ariz. St. L.J. 1489 (2012). Available at: https://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/fac_schol/404 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at Scholarly Commons @ IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons @ IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. The Conundrum of Cameras in the Courtroom Nancy S. Marder1 Table of Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 2 I. Traditional Arguments of Proponents and Opponents ............................................................... 6 A. Proponents’ Arguments and a Critique .................................................................................. 6 1. Education ............................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Download This Article As A
    THROWING THE BOOK AT REVELATIONS: FIRST AMENDMENT IMPLICATIONS OF ENFORCING REPORTERS' PROMISES KURT HIRsCH* Introduction ........................................................ 161 I. The Conflict Between Reputational Interests and the First Amendment ................................................... 163 A. Common Law Libel ....................................... 163 B. New York Times v. Sullivan and Its Progeny ............... 166 C. The Dominance of the First Amendment ................... 171 II. Cases Presenting the Conflict Between the First Amendment and Contract Law .................................................. 174 A. Cohen v. Cowles Media Co................................. 175 B. Ruzicka v. Conde Nast Publications,Inc ................... 180 C. The Fatal Vision Case ..................................... 182 III. Resolving the Conflict Between the First Amendment and Contract Law .................................................. 185 A. State Action .............................................. 185 B. W aiver .................................................... 189 C. Balancing the First Amendment and Contract Law ......... 193 D. Proposed Standard ........................................ 202 1. Public/Private Distinction .............................. 203 2. Fraud: The Actual Malice of Contract .................. 204 3. Application of the Proposed Standard .................. 205 IV. Policy Implications and Practical Ramifications of the Proposed Rule ........................................................... 206 A.
    [Show full text]
  • In Presidential Election Discourse Emocracy Does Not Just Happen
    Photo | Pierce Media Group President Kim Mooney (left) speaks with Gene Gibbons, former Reuters White House Bureau Chief, before C-SPAN’s flming of a segment of the Fitzwater Cen- ter’s August high school media program, The Presidency and the Press, August 10. Civility in Presidential Election Discourse emocracy does not just happen. It requires, at the very ples are many: candidates shouting each other down on the least, that its citizens, leaders and media make a pro- prime time debate stage or exchanging insults via rapid fre Dfound commitment to informed decision-making at the tweets, with media headlines following every keystroke; or polls. To this end, the First Amendment guarantees Amer- the political parties refusing to reach across the aisle, while ica’s proud tradition of robust political discourse, which at protestors and supporters hurl slurs at campaign stops. its fnest and most efective includes, at minimum, respect, At the end of such an election cycle, is the voter ready to tolerance, and rationality. make an informed decision in the voting booth? What has In short, democracy requires civility. Granted, every Amer- the frst-time voter learned about how to exercise his/her ican history book includes examples of incivility in govern- responsibilities in a democracy? ment. But to many, it appears that in this election cycle the Tis collection of essays on the concept of civility in presi- volume of our nation’s discourse has risen to dangerous dential election discourse is designed to spark conversations levels, drowning out the reasoned discussion of issues, poli- in the classroom, on buses, among family and colleagues.
    [Show full text]
  • The Kennedy Administration and the Bay of Pigs by Thomas W
    The Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy Working Paper Series Speechwriting, Speechmaking, and the Press: The Kennedy Administration and the Bay of Pigs By Thomas W. Benson Shorenstein Fellow, Spring 1999 Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Rhetoric Pennsylvania State University #2000-4 Copyright Ó 2000, President and Fellows of Harvard College All rights reserved 2 This paper is about the construction of presidential leadership through public rhetoric; about the authorship of that rhetoric; and about the mediation of that rhetoric through the press. As our master example, we take the case of John F. Kennedy’s speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors on April 20, 1961. President John F. Kennedy delivered many important speeches; he is especially remembered for the Inaugural Address and his speeches on foreign policy, international crises, and civil rights. Though others might have made the arguments offered in those speeches, only the president could have said the precise words and only the president could have enacted the performances embodied in those speeches. And yet President Kennedy was not the sole author of his speeches, and many of the speeches became known to his audiences through the contexts, interpretations, and mediation of the press. How that process worked--how those utterances came to be made and understood is the subject of this investigation. My methods in this study are largely historical and critical, but I do hope to suggest something like a grounded theory of one aspect of presidential rhetoric. At the conceptual level, this research report addresses the relations among presidential speechwriting, presidential speechmaking, and press coverage of presidential rhetoric.
    [Show full text]
  • For Immediate Release
    ‘DEBBIE MACOMBER’S MRS. MIRACLE’ PRODUCTION BIOS DAN WIGUTOW (Executive Producer) – Dan Wigutow is best known for his award-winning true crime mini-series, which include “Fatal Vision,” “Blind Faith,” “The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer,” “In a Child’s Name” and “In the Best of Families.” His most recent television credits include the CBS romantic comedy “Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman,” starring Christine Lahti; “Raising Waylon,” with Doris Roberts; the mini-series “Guilty Hearts” with Olympia Dukakis Treat Williams and Marcia Gay Harden; “The Color of Love: Jacey’s Story” with Lou Gossett Jr. and Gena Rowlands; and Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World.” Wigutow’s first film was the critically acclaimed suspense thriller “Last Embrace,” directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Roy Scheider. Wigutow’s subsequent feature film credits include “The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper” (later titled “Pursuit”), starring Robert Duvall and Treat Williams, and “Heaven Help Us” (later titled “Catholic Boys”), starring Andrew McCarthy, Mary Stuart Masterson and Donald Sutherland. Wigutow’s transition into television film production came in 1984 with NBC’s highly rated, Emmy® award-winning mini-series “Fatal Vision,” based on the best-seller by Joe McGinniss, starring Karl Malden and Eva Marie Saint. Wigutow was also the Executive Producer for NBC’s Emmy-nominated mini-series “Blind Faith.” Additional television credits include HBO’s “Judgment,” a story about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church starring Keith Carradine and Blythe Danner and winner of the Writers
    [Show full text]
  • True Crime Laura Browder University of Richmond, [email protected]
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Richmond University of Richmond UR Scholarship Repository English Faculty Publications English 2010 True Crime Laura Browder University of Richmond, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.richmond.edu/english-faculty-publications Part of the American Literature Commons, and the Creative Writing Commons Recommended Citation Browder, Laura. "True Crime." In The Cambridge Companion to American Crime Fiction, edited by Catherine Nickerson, 205-28. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. This Book Chapter is brought to you for free and open access by the English at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in English Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 11 LAURA BROWDER True crime Over forty-two years ago, Truman Capote wrote a bestselling book, In Cold Blood, and loudly proclaimed that he had invented a new art form. As Capote told George Plimpton in a long interview: “journalism, reportage, could be forced to yield a serious new art form: the ‘nonfiction novel,’” and that “a crime, the study of one such, might provide the broad scope I needed to write the kind of book I wanted to write. Moreover, the human heart being what it is, murder was a theme not likely to darken and yellow with time.”1 Whether or not Capote invented something called the “nonfiction novel,” he ushered in the serious, extensive, non-fiction treatment of murder. In the years since In Cold Blood appeared, the genre of true crime regularly appears on the bestseller list.
    [Show full text]
  • Sixth Oral History Interview
    Frank Mankiewicz Oral History Interview – RFK #6, 11/6/1969 Administrative Information Creator: Frank Mankiewicz Interviewer: Larry J. Hackman Date of Interview: November 6, 1969 Place of Interview: Bethesda, Maryland Length: 63 pp. Biographical Note Mankiewicz was director of the Peace Corps in Lima, Peru from 1962 to 1964, Latin America regional director from 1964 to 1966 and then press secretary to Senator Robert F. Kennedy from 1966 to 1968. This interview focuses on Robert Kennedy’s decision to run in the 1968 campaign, including his relationship with his staff, constituent groups, and fellow politicians, among other issues. Access Restrictions No restrictions. Usage Restrictions According to the deed of gift signed March 1, 2000, copyright of these materials has been assigned to the United States Government. Copyright The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.” If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excesses of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law. The copyright law extends its protection to unpublished works from the moment of creation in a tangible form.
    [Show full text]
  • Joey, We Hardly Interviewed Ye
    Joey, We Hardly Interviewed Ye Editor's Note: This week, "The Last Brother," a biography of Ted Kennedy, was published to raucously unfavorable re- . views, which criticized author Joe McGinniss for making up the thoughts of his subjects and for sloppy research. We were going to interview McGinniss for his views on the sub- ject, but t i we figured, what the hell, why bother? 93 By Ken Ringle Washington Post Staft$Vnter s the small plane jounced through the darkness, Joe McGinniss, with increasing impatience, kept glancing A at his watch. It wasn't the time he was worried about; it was the date. His Rolex, purchased with the advance of "Blind Faith" (or was it "Fatal Vision"? No matter) showed the date and there it was. He was a day late and several hundred thousand dollars short. He'd just been sued by Jef- frey MacDonald (or was it Janet Malcolm?) whose trial he had written about in either a book or an article for Vanity Fair, he couldn't remember which, and they'd settled out of court for a sum that made him pale. He was already pale enough. The Irish are often pale and McGinniss is the sort of tousle-headed Irish that wears his shamrock on his sleeve, as if to emphasize the pallor. He has the eyes of an Irish wolfhound, with just enough irregu- larity in his canine incisors to hint at rabies. He's been emo- tionally rabid since childhood. He was born in Bemidji, Minn. (or was it New York City?) of a father whose middle name was Aloysius, for which he'd been shunned and ridi- culed by the Italian boys in the neighborhood.
    [Show full text]