Who Wrote the Walker Letter?

[Jon G. Tidd]

I don't know who wrote the "Walker Letter".

Greg Parker has written here that a native-speaking acquaintance of his studied the note and judged it was written by Ruth Paine.

I've had the letter studied by my 32-year-old daughter, who has no dog in this fight. She has taught Russian language at an Ivy League university and is expert, although not native speaking, in Slavic languages and literature. My daughter does not give a fig about the letter. She analyzed it as a teacher in Russian I in an Ivy League University.

My daughter tells me her first semester Russian language students would not make the mistakes of this letter. They wouldn't because she would have taught them not to make such mistakes. IOW, in my daughter's view, and she is an American expert on the Russian language, whoever wrote this note did not know written Russian well.

I asked my daughter whether a native speaker would get the written language wrong. She said no.

I offer this information FWIW.

Edited April 21, 2015 by Jon G. Tidd

[Greg Parker]

I don't know who wrote the "Walker Letter".

Greg Parker has written here that a native-speaking acquaintance of his studied the note and judged it was written by Ruth Paine.

I've had the letter studied by my 32-year-old daughter, who has no dog in this fight. She has taught Russian language at an Ivy League university and is expert, although not native speaking, in Slavic languages and literature. My daughter does not give a fig about the letter. She analyzed it as a teacher in Russian I in an Ivy League University.

My daughter tells me her first semester Russian language students would not make the mistakes of this letter. They wouldn't because she would have taught them not to make such mistakes. IOW, in my daughter's view, and she is an American expert on the Russian language, whoever wrote this note did not know written Russian well.

I asked my daughter whether a native speaker would get the written language wrong. She said no.

I offer this information FWIW.

So what does this say about Oswald being a native speaker of Russian (as per your theory)?

By the way, your daughter seems to agree with my former site member.

"Walker note contains more mistakes than `While in Russia` one" "while in Russia one" is a reference to a letter penned in the Soviet Union by Oswald.

http://reopenkennedycase.forumotion.net/t50-lho-and-russian-things

He concluded, as I said before, that Ruth authored the Walker letter

Edited April 21, 2015 by Greg Parker

[Jon G. Tidd]

Greg,

My take is that whoever wrote the "Walker Note" did not have a good grasp of written Russian.

[Greg Parker]

Greg,

My take is that whoever wrote the "Walker Note" did not have a good grasp of written Russian.

Okay.

My man sez other letters written by Oswald had far fewer mistakes. That should rule Oswald out. There are not too many other options, except Ruth - without positing some bizarre theory that is.

[Greg Parker]

Some quotes from the thread I pointed to:

Russian speaker:

Walker note contains more mistakes than `While in Russia` one (however, I was able only to read first and half of second paragraph, other text is too blured to be understable).

Walker note certainly is written by non-Russian, while `While in Russia` one only shows few elements indicating the Russian in not mother language of author. My conclusion is both notes in terms of grammar and orthography is not written by the same person.

I have heard rumors claiming Ruth Paine knew Russian better than Oswald and he became mad when he was not able to understand conversation in Russian between Ruth and Marina. I find this untrue - author of both notes should know Russian good enough to be able understand conversation, even if his own speaking skills are not so great.

Me:

Okay. Got it. The Walker note and the "in Russia letters" were either written by different people or, if both written by Oswald, his ability had greatly diminshed between the times of those writings (even though for lot of that time, he was still living in Minsk).

Here is some Warren Commission testimony that may interest you:

From Ruth Paine:

Senator COOPER - 1 have just one or two more. You said at one time you came to the conclusion that he wasn't an agent or spy because you didn't think he was intelligent enough. I believe you said that.

Mrs. PAINE - That and the fact that as far as I could see had no contacts or any means of getting any information that would have been of any interest to the Soviet Union.

Senator COOPER - Yet he was intelligent enough that he had learned to speak Russian.

Mrs. PAINE - His Russian was poor. His vocabulary was large, his grammar never was good.

From Peter Gregory:

Mr. GREGORY - Yes, sir. It was in the middle of June 1962. On that particular morning, I was in the office, my telephone rang, and the voice on the other end told me that my name was given to him by the Fort Worth Public Library. He knew I was teaching Russian at the library, that he was looking for a job as a translator or interpreter in the Russian and English languages, and that he would like for me to give him a letter testifying to that effect. He spoke to me in English, so I suggested to him, not knowing who that was, that he might drop by my office and I would be glad to give him a test. He did. He came by the office, about 11 o'clock that morning, and I gave him a short test by simply opening a book at random and asking him to read a paragraph or two and then translate it. He did it very well. So I gave him a letter addressed to whom it may concern that in my opinion he was capable of being an interpreter or a translator.

Mr. LIEBELER - What happened after you gave Mr. Oswald--this individual was Lee Harvey Oswald?

Mr. GREGORY - Yes, sir; that individual was Lee Harvey Oswald. After that, I asked him--I noticed that he spoke with what I thought to be a Polish accent, so I asked him if he were of Polish origin, and he stated that he was not, that he was raised in Fort Worth, Tex., but that he learned Russian in the Soviet Union where he lived for 2 1/2 or 3 years. He also told me that he married a Russian girl, and that he brought his wife with him, and that they also had a baby. I told him that I knew of no openings at the time--I didn't know of any--for services of a translator or interpreter, but that if he would leave his address I would be glad to get in touch with him if and when I learned of any such openings. He gave me his address. He lived with his brother at that time at the western edge of Fort Worth.

Me:

Since I do not believe Oswald 's ability in the Russian language diminished to any degree,

and since I do not believe Oswald took any kind of pot-shot at Walker,

then I have to conclude that someone else wrote the so-called Walker note and tried to imitate what they thought was Oswald's level of ability.

and since Ruth Paine though Oswald's level of ability was not that high...

Senator COOPER - Yet he was intelligent enough that he had learned to speak Russian.

Mrs. PAINE - His Russian was poor. His vocabulary was large, his grammar never was good.

despite the more expert opinion of Peter Gregory... (I gave him a short test by simply opening a book at random and asking him to read a paragraph or two and then translate it. He did it very well. So I gave him a letter addressed to whom it may concern that in my opinion he was capable of being an interpreter or a translator.)

I would have to conclude Mrs P is a likely candidate as the author.

[Thomas Graves]

Some quotes from the thread I pointed to:

Russian speaker:

Walker note contains more mistakes than `While in Russia` one (however, I was able only to read first and half of second paragraph, other text is too blured to be understable).

Walker note certainly is written by non-Russian, while `While in Russia` one only shows few elements indicating the Russian in not mother language of author. My conclusion is both notes in terms of grammar and orthography is not written by the same person.

I have heard rumors claiming Ruth Paine knew Russian better than Oswald and he became mad when he was not able to understand conversation in Russian between Ruth and Marina. I find this untrue - author of both notes should know Russian good enough to be able understand conversation, even if his own speaking skills are not so great.

Me:

Okay. Got it. The Walker note and the "in Russia letters" were either written by different people or, if both written by Oswald, his ability had greatly diminshed between the times of those writings (even though for lot of that time, he was still living in Minsk).

Here is some Warren Commission testimony that may interest you:

From Ruth Paine:

Senator COOPER - 1 have just one or two more. You said at one time you came to the conclusion that he wasn't an agent or spy because you didn't think he was intelligent enough. I believe you said that.

Mrs. PAINE - That and the fact that as far as I could see had no contacts or any means of getting any information that would have been of any interest to the Soviet Union.

Senator COOPER - Yet he was intelligent enough that he had learned to speak Russian.

Mrs. PAINE - His Russian was poor. His vocabulary was large, his grammar never was good.

From Peter Gregory:

Mr. GREGORY - Yes, sir. It was in the middle of June 1962. On that particular morning, I was in the office, my telephone rang, and the voice on the other end told me that my name was given to him by the Fort Worth Public Library. He knew I was teaching Russian at the library, that he was looking for a job as a translator or interpreter in the Russian and English languages, and that he would like for me to give him a letter testifying to that effect. He spoke to me in English, so I suggested to him, not knowing who that was, that he might drop by my office and I would be glad to give him a test. He did. He came by the office, about 11 o'clock that morning, and I gave him a short test by simply opening a book at random and asking him to read a paragraph or two and then translate it. He did it very well. So I gave him a letter addressed to whom it may concern that in my opinion he was capable of being an interpreter or a translator.

Mr. LIEBELER - What happened after you gave Mr. Oswald--this individual was Lee Harvey Oswald?

Mr. GREGORY - Yes, sir; that individual was Lee Harvey Oswald. After that, I asked him--I noticed that he spoke with what I thought to be a Polish accent, so I asked him if he were of Polish origin, and he stated that he was not, that he was raised in Fort Worth, Tex., but that he learned Russian in the Soviet Union where he lived for 2 1/2 or 3 years. He also told me that he married a Russian girl, and that he brought his wife with him, and that they also had a baby. I told him that I knew of no openings at the time--I didn't know of any--for services of a translator or interpreter, but that if he would leave his address I would be glad to get in touch with him if and when I learned of any such openings. He gave me his address. He lived with his brother at that time at the western edge of Fort Worth.

Me:

Since I do not believe Oswald 's ability in the Russian language diminished to any degree,

and since I do not believe Oswald took any kind of pot-shot at Walker,

then I have to conclude that someone else wrote the so-called Walker note and tried to imitate what they thought was Oswald's level of ability.

and since Ruth Paine though Oswald's level of ability was not that high...

Senator COOPER - Yet he was intelligent enough that he had learned to speak Russian.

Mrs. PAINE - His Russian was poor. His vocabulary was large, his grammar never was good.

despite the more expert opinion of Peter Gregory... (I gave him a short test by simply opening a book at random and asking him to read a paragraph or two and then translate it. He did it very well. So I gave him a letter addressed to whom it may concern that in my opinion he was capable of being an interpreter or a translator.)

I would have to conclude Mrs P is a likely candidate as the author.

How about the handwriting involved?

Is it Oswald's?

-- Tommy

Edited April 22, 2015 by Thomas Graves

[Paul Brancato]

Correct me if I am wrong, but there is no fingerprint evidence linking Oswald to the note in question. If that is the case, seems to me that Ruth, or whoever forged the note of it was forged, had plenty of time to work on getting it right. Ruth would have had samples of Oswald's writing. I think I agree with Greg and others on this one - Ruth played her part in the incrimination of Oswald. Peter Gregory seemed convinced that Oswald was fluent, and spoke with a Polish accent. How interesting...

[Thomas Graves]

Correct me if I am wrong, but there is no fingerprint evidence linking Oswald to the note in question. If that is the case, seems to me that Ruth, or whoever forged the note of it was forged, had plenty of time to work on getting it right. Ruth would have had samples of Oswald's writing. I think I agree with Greg and others on this one - Ruth played her part in the incrimination of Oswald. Peter Gregory seemed convinced that Oswald was fluent, and spoke with a Polish accent. How interesting...

Well, at least Poland is next to a Baltic country (Lithuania).

--Tommy

[Robert Prudhomme]

Some quotes from the thread I pointed to:

Russian speaker:

Walker note contains more mistakes than `While in Russia` one (however, I was able only to read first and half of second paragraph, other text is too blured to be understable).

Walker note certainly is written by non-Russian, while `While in Russia` one only shows few elements indicating the Russian in not mother language of author. My conclusion is both notes in terms of grammar and orthography is not written by the same person.

I have heard rumors claiming Ruth Paine knew Russian better than Oswald and he became mad when he was not able to understand conversation in Russian between Ruth and Marina. I find this untrue - author of both notes should know Russian good enough to be able understand conversation, even if his own speaking skills are not so great.

Me:

Okay. Got it. The Walker note and the "in Russia letters" were either written by different people or, if both written by Oswald, his ability had greatly diminshed between the times of those writings (even though for lot of that time, he was still living in Minsk).

Here is some Warren Commission testimony that may interest you:

From Ruth Paine:

Senator COOPER - 1 have just one or two more. You said at one time you came to the conclusion that he wasn't an agent or spy because you didn't think he was intelligent enough. I believe you said that.

Mrs. PAINE - That and the fact that as far as I could see had no contacts or any means of getting any information that would have been of any interest to the Soviet Union.

Senator COOPER - Yet he was intelligent enough that he had learned to speak Russian.

Mrs. PAINE - His Russian was poor. His vocabulary was large, his grammar never was good.

From Peter Gregory:

Mr. GREGORY - Yes, sir. It was in the middle of June 1962. On that particular morning, I was in the office, my telephone rang, and the voice on the other end told me that my name was given to him by the Fort Worth Public Library. He knew I was teaching Russian at the library, that he was looking for a job as a translator or interpreter in the Russian and English languages, and that he would like for me to give him a letter testifying to that effect. He spoke to me in English, so I suggested to him, not knowing who that was, that he might drop by my office and I would be glad to give him a test. He did. He came by the office, about 11 o'clock that morning, and I gave him a short test by simply opening a book at random and asking him to read a paragraph or two and then translate it. He did it very well. So I gave him a letter addressed to whom it may concern that in my opinion he was capable of being an interpreter or a translator.

Mr. LIEBELER - What happened after you gave Mr. Oswald--this individual was Lee Harvey Oswald?

Mr. GREGORY - Yes, sir; that individual was Lee Harvey Oswald. After that, I asked him--I noticed that he spoke with what I thought to be a Polish accent, so I asked him if he were of Polish origin, and he stated that he was not, that he was raised in Fort Worth, Tex., but that he learned Russian in the Soviet Union where he lived for 2 1/2 or 3 years. He also told me that he married a Russian girl, and that he brought his wife with him, and that they also had a baby. I told him that I knew of no openings at the time--I didn't know of any--for services of a translator or interpreter, but that if he would leave his address I would be glad to get in touch with him if and when I learned of any such openings. He gave me his address. He lived with his brother at that time at the western edge of Fort Worth.

Me:

Since I do not believe Oswald 's ability in the Russian language diminished to any degree,

and since I do not believe Oswald took any kind of pot-shot at Walker,

then I have to conclude that someone else wrote the so-called Walker note and tried to imitate what they thought was Oswald's level of ability.

and since Ruth Paine though Oswald's level of ability was not that high...

Senator COOPER - Yet he was intelligent enough that he had learned to speak Russian.

Mrs. PAINE - His Russian was poor. His vocabulary was large, his grammar never was good.

despite the more expert opinion of Peter Gregory... (I gave him a short test by simply opening a book at random and asking him to read a paragraph or two and then translate it. He did it very well. So I gave him a letter addressed to whom it may concern that in my opinion he was capable of being an interpreter or a translator.)

I would have to conclude Mrs P is a likely candidate as the author.

Question time.

Did Marina continue to live with Ruth Paine following the assassination? If so, for how long?

Did Michael and Ruth Paine ever re-unite? I so, how long after the assassination?

P.S.

Excellent work, by the way.

Edited April 22, 2015 by Robert Prudhomme

[David Lifton]

I don't know who wrote the "Walker Letter".

Greg Parker has written here that a native-speaking acquaintance of his studied the note and judged it was written by Ruth Paine.

I've had the letter studied by my 32-year-old daughter, who has no dog in this fight. She has taught Russian language at an Ivy League university and is expert, although not native speaking, in Slavic languages and literature. My daughter does not give a fig about the letter. She analyzed it as a teacher in Russian I in an Ivy League University.

My daughter tells me her first semester Russian language students would not make the mistakes of this letter. They wouldn't because she would have taught them not to make such mistakes. IOW, in my daughter's view, and she is an American expert on the Russian language, whoever wrote this note did not know written Russian well.

I asked my daughter whether a native speaker would get the written language wrong. She said no.

I offer this information FWIW.

Jon:

Some years back, I went over Oswald's Russian fluency. Oswald, I learned, was an "aural learner"--and a very good one, at that. An aural learner picks up a language the same way a parrot functions--they learn by "hearing" as opposed to studying a textbook which contains information re grammar, syntax, etc. If Oswald was an aural learner--and I have been persuaded this was in fact the case--then I would assume it is entirely possible that his spoken Russian could be quite good, whereas when he sat down to write a note--like the one he left for Marina--he made a variety of errors (as your daughter noted). Anyway, I see no reason to extrapolate from these errors to the notion that Oswald was not the author of the letter. And incidentally: Marina never questioned that it was her husband who wrote the Walker note. Nor is there any evidence at all that Lee Oswald ever said, "I didn't write that note. Someone must have gotten into the apartment and left that note for you to read; it was not me!" etc.

My conclusions:

1.Oswald wrote the note

2. Oswald came rushing into the apartment, just as Marina has described, breathless, etc. --and said (I stress "said") that he shot at Walker. That doesn't mean he did shoot at Walker; but he definitely said that he did. And then he sat down in front of the radio, and was twirling the dial, looking for news coverage of the event.

DSL

4/21/15 - 9:10 p.m. PDT

Los Angeles,California

[Thomas Graves]

I don't know who wrote the "Walker Letter".

Greg Parker has written here that a native-speaking acquaintance of his studied the note and judged it was written by Ruth Paine.

I've had the letter studied by my 32-year-old daughter, who has no dog in this fight. She has taught Russian language at an Ivy League university and is expert, although not native speaking, in Slavic languages and literature. My daughter does not give a fig about the letter. She analyzed it as a teacher in Russian I in an Ivy League University.

My daughter tells me her first semester Russian language students would not make the mistakes of this letter. They wouldn't because she would have taught them not to make such mistakes. IOW, in my daughter's view, and she is an American expert on the Russian language, whoever wrote this note did not know written Russian well.

I asked my daughter whether a native speaker would get the written language wrong. She said no.

I offer this information FWIW.

Jon:

Some years back, I went over Oswald's Russian fluency. Oswald, I learned, was an "aural learner"--and a very good one, at that. An aural learner picks up a language the same way a parrot functions--they learn by "hearing" as opposed to studying a textbook which contains information re grammar, syntax, etc. If Oswald was an aural learner--and I have been persuaded this was in fact the case--then I would assume it is entirely possible that his spoken Russian could be quite good, whereas when he sat down to write a note--like the one he left for Marina--he made a variety of errors (as your daughter noted). Anyway, I see no reason to extrapolate from these errors to the notion that Oswald was not the author of the letter. And incidentally: Marina never questioned that it was her husband who wrote the Walker note. Nor is there any evidence at all that Lee Oswald ever said, "I didn't write that note. Someone must have gotten into the apartment and left that note for you to read; it was not me!" etc.

My conclusions:

1.Oswald wrote the note

2. Oswald came rushing into the apartment, just as Marina has described, breathless, etc. --and said (I stress "said") that he shot at Walker. That doesn't mean he did shoot at Walker; but he definitely said that he did. And then he sat down in front of the radio, and was twirling the dial, looking for news coverage of the event.

DSL

4/21/15 - 9:10 p.m. PDT

Los Angeles,California

Was Oswald ever confronted with the note?

--Tommy

[Greg Parker]

Was Oswald ever confronted with the note?

Good question.

He was long dead by the time Ruth handed in a Russian book belonging (allegedly), I think, to Marina, in which the note later conveniently found.

[Greg Parker]

I don't know who wrote the "Walker Letter".

Greg Parker has written here that a native-speaking acquaintance of his studied the note and judged it was written by Ruth Paine.

I've had the letter studied by my 32-year-old daughter, who has no dog in this fight. She has taught Russian language at an Ivy League university and is expert, although not native speaking, in Slavic languages and literature. My daughter does not give a fig about the letter. She analyzed it as a teacher in Russian I in an Ivy League University.

My daughter tells me her first semester Russian language students would not make the mistakes of this letter. They wouldn't because she would have taught them not to make such mistakes. IOW, in my daughter's view, and she is an American expert on the Russian language, whoever wrote this note did not know written Russian well.

I asked my daughter whether a native speaker would get the written language wrong. She said no.

I offer this information FWIW.

Jon:

Some years back, I went over Oswald's Russian fluency. Oswald, I learned, was an "aural learner"--and a very good one, at that. An aural learner picks up a language the same way a parrot functions--they learn by "hearing" as opposed to studying a textbook which contains information re grammar, syntax, etc. If Oswald was an aural learner--and I have been persuaded this was in fact the case--then I would assume it is entirely possible that his spoken Russian could be quite good, whereas when he sat down to write a note--like the one he left for Marina--he made a variety of errors (as your daughter noted). Anyway, I see no reason to extrapolate from these errors to the notion that Oswald was not the author of the letter. And incidentally: Marina never questioned that it was her husband who wrote the Walker note. Nor is there any evidence at all that Lee Oswald ever said, "I didn't write that note. Someone must have gotten into the apartment and left that note for you to read; it was not me!" etc.

My conclusions:

1.Oswald wrote the note

2. Oswald came rushing into the apartment, just as Marina has described, breathless, etc. --and said (I stress "said") that he shot at Walker. That doesn't mean he did shoot at Walker; but he definitely said that he did. And then he sat down in front of the radio, and was twirling the dial, looking for news coverage of the event.

DSL

4/21/15 - 9:10 p.m. PDT

Los Angeles,California

Your conclusions are seriously flawed.

Did you miss the part where it was determined that OTHER Russian writings of Oswald contained only a small fraction of the errors contained in the so-called Walker note?

"Nor is there any evidence at all that Lee Oswald ever said, "I didn't write that note." Damned sorry I missed the seance where Oswald was given the opportunity to deny authorship!

Do tell us all about it, Mr Lifton, sir!

[Thomas Graves]

I don't know who wrote the "Walker Letter".

Greg Parker has written here that a native-speaking acquaintance of his studied the note and judged it was written by Ruth Paine.

I've had the letter studied by my 32-year-old daughter, who has no dog in this fight. She has taught Russian language at an Ivy League university and is expert, although not native speaking, in Slavic languages and literature. My daughter does not give a fig about the letter. She analyzed it as a teacher in Russian I in an Ivy League University.

My daughter tells me her first semester Russian language students would not make the mistakes of this letter. They wouldn't because she would have taught them not to make such mistakes. IOW, in my daughter's view, and she is an American expert on the Russian language, whoever wrote this note did not know written Russian well.

I asked my daughter whether a native speaker would get the written language wrong. She said no.

I offer this information FWIW.

Jon:

Some years back, I went over Oswald's Russian fluency. Oswald, I learned, was an "aural learner"--and a very good one, at that. An aural learner picks up a language the same way a parrot functions--they learn by "hearing" as opposed to studying a textbook which contains information re grammar, syntax, etc. If Oswald was an aural learner--and I have been persuaded this was in fact the case--then I would assume it is entirely possible that his spoken Russian could be quite good, whereas when he sat down to write a note--like the one he left for Marina--he made a variety of errors (as your daughter noted). Anyway, I see no reason to extrapolate from these errors to the notion that Oswald was not the author of the letter. And incidentally: Marina never questioned that it was her husband who wrote the Walker note. Nor is there any evidence at all that Lee Oswald ever said, "I didn't write that note. Someone must have gotten into the apartment and left that note for you to read; it was not me!" etc.

My conclusions:

1.Oswald wrote the note

2. Oswald came rushing into the apartment, just as Marina has described, breathless, etc. --and said (I stress "said") that he shot at Walker. That doesn't mean he did shoot at Walker; but he definitely said that he did. And then he sat down in front of the radio, and was twirling the dial, looking for news coverage of the event.

DSL

4/21/15 - 9:10 p.m. PDT

Los Angeles,California

Your conclusions are seriously flawed.

Did you miss the part where it was determined that OTHER Russian writings of Oswald contained only a small fraction of the errors contained in the so-called Walker note?

"Nor is there any evidence at all that Lee Oswald ever said, "I didn't write that note." Damned sorry I missed the seance where Oswald was given the opportunity to deny authorship!

Do tell us all about it, Mr Lifton, sir!

"Marina or Mrs. Paine or somebody .... say, would you mind loosening these handcuffs again?... uh, Marina or Mrs. Paine or somebody's gonna give you a note, or maybe you're gonna find it, anyway it's written in hardly recognizable Russian and it's about some instructions for Marina about our post office box and the bridge near the jail and some other stuff back in April about the time someone took a pot shot at General Walker, and I want you to know right now -- I did not write that note. It's a ... it's a ... forgery!"

--Tommy

[Robert Prudhomme]

I don't know who wrote the "Walker Letter".

Greg Parker has written here that a native-speaking acquaintance of his studied the note and judged it was written by Ruth Paine.

I've had the letter studied by my 32-year-old daughter, who has no dog in this fight. She has taught Russian language at an Ivy League university and is expert, although not native speaking, in Slavic languages and literature. My daughter does not give a fig about the letter. She analyzed it as a teacher in Russian I in an Ivy League University.

My daughter tells me her first semester Russian language students would not make the mistakes of this letter. They wouldn't because she would have taught them not to make such mistakes. IOW, in my daughter's view, and she is an American expert on the Russian language, whoever wrote this note did not know written Russian well.

I asked my daughter whether a native speaker would get the written language wrong. She said no.

I offer this information FWIW.

Jon:

Some years back, I went over Oswald's Russian fluency. Oswald, I learned, was an "aural learner"--and a very good one, at that. An aural learner picks up a language the same way a parrot functions--they learn by "hearing" as opposed to studying a textbook which contains information re grammar, syntax, etc. If Oswald was an aural learner--and I have been persuaded this was in fact the case--then I would assume it is entirely possible that his spoken Russian could be quite good, whereas when he sat down to write a note--like the one he left for Marina--he made a variety of errors (as your daughter noted). Anyway, I see no reason to extrapolate from these errors to the notion that Oswald was not the author of the letter. And incidentally: Marina never questioned that it was her husband who wrote the Walker note. Nor is there any evidence at all that Lee Oswald ever said, "I didn't write that note. Someone must have gotten into the apartment and left that note for you to read; it was not me!" etc.

My conclusions:

1.Oswald wrote the note

2. Oswald came rushing into the apartment, just as Marina has described, breathless, etc. --and said (I stress "said") that he shot at Walker. That doesn't mean he did shoot at Walker; but he definitely said that he did. And then he sat down in front of the radio, and was twirling the dial, looking for news coverage of the event.

DSL

4/21/15 - 9:10 p.m. PDT

Los Angeles,California

Your conclusions are seriously flawed.

Did you miss the part where it was determined that OTHER Russian writings of Oswald contained only a small fraction of the errors contained in the so-called Walker note?

"Nor is there any evidence at all that Lee Oswald ever said, "I didn't write that note." Damned sorry I missed the seance where Oswald was given the opportunity to deny authorship!

Do tell us all about it, Mr Lifton, sir!

Excellent response, Greg. I fear another has gone over to the Dark Side.