Peter Fokes

Ah, well, Stone's portrayal is somewhat accurate ... Then again, Stone's portrayal of Garrison was the heart of the movie .... and we all know how accurate that portrayal was(n't)! :-) Having written a book on this subject, and done much archival research on it, and edited an academic journal that did much writing about New Orleans and Garrison, and been asked by Stone to do a thirty minute AV essay for his film on the new documents on the subject, just how off was Stone? 1. Garrison commissioned an investigation of the Kennedy case the day of the assassination. TRUE 2. Ferrie's name came up. TRUE 3. Ferrie was called in for an interview and gave some strange replies. TRUE 4. Garrison referred Ferrie to the FBI. And the FBI not only let him go without batting an eyelash, they then announced it was not their idea to interview him. If you can believe it, the above is TRUE. 5. The WC was then appointed by LBJ with some very strange people involved like Dulles, McCloy and Ford. They issued a cover up which JG did not buy. TRUE. 6. Garrison's interest was later revived. PARTLY TRUE. The latest evidence here says that he never really completely lost interest. 7. Garrison discovered that Oswald was not really a communist, partly through the 544 Camp Street address on his flyers. And partly through Martin's animus toward Banister striking him. TRUE 8. Garrison then discovered the morass that was Banister's office, and that it was a cover for anti Castro activities and the CIA. TRUE 9. Garrison then discovered that the mysterious Bertrand character was Clay Shaw. TRUE. (And by the way, the FBI knew this was so way back in 1963 and they covered it up deliberately to make Garrison look bad.) 10. Garrison's office was wired for sound. TRUE. (What the film does not reveal is that this was done twice. Once by Gordon Novel working with Walter Sheridan, and once by the FBI.) 11. Ferrie died under mysterious circumstances while he was on the verge of cracking and right before JG was going to arrest him. TRUE 12. Garrison met with a mysterious character who told him about the secret Cuba and VIetnam operations as a motive for killing Kennedy. PARTLY TRUE. Garrison did meet with Nagell in NYC, and he told him about the Cuban angle. At the time of his inquiry a professor from Ohio University wrote him a 25 page handwritten letter about Kennedy's intent to withdraw from Vietnam and how this was likely a reason for his murder. JG did adopt this position at the time. Garrison did not actually meet Prouty until well after the trial of Clay Shaw. 13. Garrison called in Shaw for questioning and Shaw gave some rather equivocal answers. TRUE. 14. While preparing for the SHaw trial, Garrison's office was infiltrated and his progress was fouled up and many attempts were made to smear him personally. TRUE. But very much understated in the film. This covert aspect has now been partially declassified as one of the most important works of the ARRB. THe infiltration of JG's office began way before what is depicted in the film. It actually began with CIA heavy Bernardo De Torres walking into Garrison's office in late 1966 and offering to help his inquiry with former JM WAVE Cubans in Miami. A couple of months later, within 24 hours of Ferrie's death, del Valle ends up dead also, his body cut up gangland style right near De Torres' apartment. Needless to say, Ferrie and del Valle worked together and De Torres then split. 15. The media made numerous attempts to smear Garrison. TRUE. But again, understated in the film. We know today that Sheridan was actually in contact with the CIA during the making of his infamous special. We know today that NBC, at the highest levels, cleared SHeridan to do all kinds of unethical things in order to produce his hit job. This means bribing and intimidating witnesses, tailing them at all hours of the day and night, even to church on Sundays. Threatening their livliehoods by contacting their employers and also threatening them with IRS audits. We also know that Sheridan was getting a black budget through a CIA law firm in New Orleans in order to pay infiltrators like Novel. We also know that the Life Magazine special issue on the Mafia was done in part to smear Garrison with the Mob brush and that it was worked on by FBI asset Sandy Smith, Billings, and Blakey. 16. The Paines were suspicious characters who aided the cover up. TRUE. But again very understated. Today its almost overwhelming they were undercover surveillance agents at the time and later. And they willingly participated in the cover up. (IMO at the request of Allen Dulles through his former employee and paramour Mary Bancroft.) 17. George DeM introduced Oswald to the rather odd WHite RUssian community. TRUE. WHat the film leaves out is that it was a the request of the local CIA station chief. 18. Garrison took Shaw to trial even though some in his office resisted it to the point of helping the other side. TRUE 19. Shaw was seen with Ferrie and Oswald in CLinton -Jackson. TRUE. Today there are dozens of witnesses to this and even a picture was discovered. 20. Shaw was taken to trial and Garrison played a part in the proceedings. PARTLY TRUE. Garrison did examine some witnesses and he did deliver a summation. But two assistants handled most of it since Garrison was very sick with Hong Kong FLu and a back injury. 21. Pierre Finck testified at Shaw's trial and blew open the military role in controlling the autopsy. TRUE. Though underplayed. 22. Garrison thought of calling a barmaid at Ruby's who saw Ferrie there with Oswald. NOT TRUE. 23. Willie O'Keefe was a witness for Garrison. PARTLY TRUE. This was a composite character made up of actual testimony from Dave Logan, Ray Broshears and Perry Russo. The scene where O'Keefe is introduced at a prison is based on the Alcock interview with Logan. 24. Clay Shaw had a wild gay sex life. TRUE. But I wish it had not been depicted in the film. 25. Shaw was acquitted and Garrison ran for office again and won. TRUE. But simplistic. The CIA was so angry at Garrison for bringing Shaw to trial that they plotted with local allies on the ground to recruit Harry Connick, a Justice Dept lawyer who had worked on Shaw's defense. They then brought phony charges against him, timed with a later election so even though Garrison was acquitted, it created such a distraction that Connick won. As part of his Faustian deal, Connick then began to incinerate Garrison's files left behind, and even grand jury records. Gary Raymond did not follow instructions so we have some grand jury records. Peter, the Dave Reitzes stuff doesn't fly here. You will have to talk to David Reitzes about his stuff. TRUE. I've never met him or talked to him. TRUE. "His stuff" is not in my cupboard. TRUE. I commend your efforts. TRUE. Our opinion on the accuracy of the portrayal of Garrison differs. TRUE. Regards Peter

Ah, well, Stone's portrayal is somewhat accurate ... Then again, Stone's portrayal of Garrison was the heart of the movie .... and we all know how accurate that portrayal was(n't)! :-)

I did a little bit of digging, and although as a researcher I do not particularly trust him or agree with his conclusions, Edward J Epstein asserts in the article [see link] that he located the passenger manifest of the SS Maasdam, also see Pieter Didenko, ostensible Russian-speaking steward of the Maasdam, and also maintains the SS Maasdam employment history was destroyed. http://www.maryferre...082&relPageId=4 The ship passenger manifest would have approximately 1,400 names if Edward J Epstein is correct, although his citation re Didenko is attributed to Priscilla McMillan, another "researcher" whom I believe echoes the party line, and I don't mean the Commies...lol Thanks Ed for the friendly words! I will do my best. And Robert: thanks for the interesting find. I did some more searches at MFF and found a very interesting article: http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=90661&relPageId=27 Mark tried to contact me in 2006 shortly after I published the list on the web. It appears he used a Printscreen copy of the Oswald page on my website for this Dealey Plaza Echo article. Fine with me :-)

Years ago I was politely asking this guy, "Perry Vermeulen", for a copy of the ship log/passenger manifest of the Maasdam showing Oswald. He shined me on for weeks. He repeatedly said he would email me a copy. He continued making excuses why he couldn't like he was on a trip, must be a long trip as I'm still waiting to see it. Now I was not asking for it to see Oswald's name, I was looking for other names. Whom else was aboard, etc. I notice he uses crops of the pages with LHO and his ship cabin neighbor. Never going to get him to share it...Does anyone have a Maasdam passenger manifest besides this dead end? The passenger list made its first appearance on the internet in 2006 on my website. After publishing the complete passenger list, I had several online discussions with Perry. Mark Bridger also tried to contact me. The "Oswald" page first appeared in May 2006. Here is the URL: http://www.toronto.hm/ss_maasdam7.html You can go through the list page by page by clicking the "next" at the bottom of each page. Start here: http://www.toronto.hm/ss_maasdam.html If anyone wants paper copies of the list, ask, and I'll dig them out of my old files. Regards, Peter Fokes, Toronto

Beats me. That's a mystery indeed. Anyway, in her 5/24/11 interview with Gary Stover, she did say that she stepped into the street TWICE prior to the President's car arriving in Dealey Plaza. She took pictures of two different motorcycle police officers prior to JFK's car getting into the Plaza....and she said that she was IN the street when she took both of those pictures. Mary also made a specific point in her May 24 interview to say that the second motorcycle policeman she snapped a photo of was in the CENTER LANE of Elm Street, thereby allowing her to step into the street without risking getting run over. Obviously, such was not the case when she took her famous picture of President Kennedy at the time of the fatal head shot. There were motorcycles taking up the left (south) lane. No way she'd be in the street at that point. Mary Moorman has given very few interviews since '63. She gave at least two on 11/22/63 and was part of the CBS-TV program "November 22nd And The Warren Report" in 1964 -- see my webpage on Moorman and Jean Hill HERE to see or hear all of those interviews. In the KRLD-Radio interview linked above, Moorman does, indeed, say she had "stepped out in the street, we were right at the car" at the time of the fatal shot. Why she would use those exact words "in the street" is a mystery, because it couldn't be more obvious from the Zapruder Film that she was not "in the street" at all. She was very CLOSE to the street, yes. But she certainly wasn't "in the street". Perhaps she meant to say she was "at the curb of the street", instead of using the word "in". ~shrug~ Gosh, I wouldn't stand in the street in front of an oncoming motorcade, especially a Presidential motorcade! Did one of those two fellas, shown sitting on the curb after the motorcade had passed, stand in the street as the limo drove by, or was he on the curb or sidewalk? One of them waved but was he in the street? I would edge back to, at least the curb, and more likely the sidewalk or grass beyond! Shouldn't we allow Mary a slip of the tongue, especially since she HAD been in the street a few moments earlier? Peter Fokes Have a great day!

I wonder why she said that, when during her interview on Elm Street with Gary Mack, he had to prevent her from saying "we stepped out into the street" multiple times? Curious. The video can be viewed here. The Video - Mary Moorman Breaks Her Silence You are a scholar and a gentleman ... thank you very much. Nice to be able to refresh one's memory and notes!

Sounds like you are talking about Jean Hill not Mary Moorman! Cheers

I wonder why she said that, when during her interview on Elm Street with Gary Mack, he had to prevent her from saying "we stepped out into the street" multiple times? Curious. Yes, she did step out on the street before the President's limo arrived. She stepped into the street to take a picture of Police Officer George Lumpkin. Moorman said she stepped back onto the edge of the curb on the grass before taking her infamous photo. Duncan has posted a link to the interview, so you can hear her make this comment yourself.

Strange silence here in response to Moorman's interview last night on iAntique.com. Moorman said she was on the grass, not the street, when taking the infamous Polaroid picture. She heard three shots. She was not approached by any sinister people. She was not threatened in any way. She tactfully suggested that Jean Hill was good at telling stories because she was a teacher! And more ... Apparently iAntique.com is holding a live event panel discussion next week to discuss Moorman's interview. Have a nice day. You never know .... tomorrow could be disappointing! Peter Fokes, Toronto

Excerpt from.eon.businesswire.com: NEW INFORMATION FROM ONE OF THE LAST LIVING WITNESSES Among the questions Mr. Stover will tackle is Ms. Moorman’s precise position when she took the photograph of JFK slumping over. That positioning is a key factor in many theories about the assassination. “The popular view is that Mary was standing on the grass,” Mr. Stover said. “While there are photos that might indicate she was on the grass at one point, her exact location when she snapped the photograph has long been a matter of debate. We believe Mary plans to set the record straight with this interview.” http://eon.businesswire.com/news/eon/20110520006022/en/JFK-assassination/Mary-Moorman/Zapruder I assume you have to register at iAntique.com to view this interview, correct? Here is the correct url announcing the show: http://www.iantique.com/event/1027 <quote on> Gary Stover, an iAntique video host, will interview Ms. Moorman, now 78, and talk about that fateful day in Dallas, why she never talked to the Warren Commission and the three Polaroid photos that remain in her possession. Date 5/24/11 Time 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM <quote off> Peter Fokes, Toronto

The main character's mission is to prevent the assassination by using a time portal. Due out Nov. 2011 http://www.stephenking.com/promo/11-22-63/announcement/ Probably be a bestseller! Peter Fokes, Toronto

http://www.conservapedia.com/Lee_Harvey_Oswald <quote on> JFK conspiracy theories usually gloss over Oswald's marriage to the daughter of a KGB colonel. She was allowed to marry him and they were allowed to emigrate, but the KGB had no plans for him? Occam's razor could use a good stropping here.[1] <quote off> Where does Footnote [1] take you? Here: http://www.amazon.com/Guilty-Liberal-Victims-Assault-America/dp/030735346X/ Gotta love it! hehehe Cheers!

Can someone help me? I am sure I commented here on this Forum about a movie that resembled Mary Pinochet Meyer with Donald Sutherland. You are probably thinking of An American Affair directed by William Olsson and starring the fetching Gretchen Mol. Donald Sutherland, recently honoured with a Hollywood Star, was not in this movie. <quote on> Catherine is clearly inspired by Mary Meyer, the real-life Washington socialite who trysted with Kennedy and was slain within a year of his assassination, but "An American Affair" is more focused on Adam than D.C. lore. <quote off> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/26/AR2009022603742.html See also: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0899138/ Cheers

I'm afraid I do not have an answer to your question, but ... I wonder if George's brother Dimitri had ever told George of his connection to Ruth Forbes Paine? Bruce Adamson claims Dimitri Von Mohrenschildt had ties to Ruth (Forbes)Paine [Michael Paine's mother]. Even if Dimitri had mentioned his alleged ties to Ruth Forbes Paine, George might not have been familiar with the Paines of Dallas at the time of that telling (so to speak), and consequently never connected Michael Paine with the Ruth Forbes Paine his brother knew! Oh, what a tangled web we weave.

On Wednesday, 23 October 1963, Allen Dulles was making plans for his Oct 25-29 trip to Houston, Ft. Worth and Dallas. His telephone call diaries reveal he spoke to a Mr. Meyer and a Mr. Wisner on Oct. 23, 1963. No details about these conversation appear in the diaries. While in Texas, Dulles was promoting his new book, The Craft of Intelligence. He gave an address to the Houston Post Book and Author Luncheon on Sat. Oct. 26. On Sunday, he gave an address to the Friends of Ft. Worth Library. On Monday, Oct. 28, he addressed the Dallas Council on world Affairs, then visited Dallas book stores. He return to Washington on Tues, Oct. 29, 1963. http://www.princeton.edu/~mudd/finding_aids/MC019.09/Correspondence_Appointment_Call_Diaries_1945-1968/19631022_0000032450.pdf Cheers

Thanks, Peter. I LOVE the part where they believe the documents are real, and that Peter Jennings is performing a hatchet job for the big bad evil KENNEDYS. Classic. Reznikoff now has a business in Westport called University Archives. He has a number of Lee Harvey Oswald relics, including several group photos of Oswald in the Marines. Oswald wrote the names of some of his fellow Marines on the back of one photo. Here is a recent You Tube video displaying Reznikoff's collection: Home page of University Archives: http://www.universityarchives.com Peter Fokes, Toronto

<quote on> In 1997, John Reznikoff thought the Kennedy family and the mob was out to get him. The collector of rare historical items felt he inadvertently made some powerful enemies when he came across documents linking John F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe and the mob together. "I'm thinking that someone's going to kill me, basically, said Reznikoff. That's what's going to happen, that this stuff was not supposed to be released." The only problem is that the documents turned out to be fabricated. His best friend who unearthed the documents turned out to be a con man. ..... To listen to the latest episode of This American Life, go to the official website. The Reznikoff segment begins 26 minutes into the episode. <quote off> http://westport.patch.com/articles/westports-ties-to-jfk-the-mafia-and-marilyn-monroe To hear the Reznikoff segment, click on the link below and then click "Play Episode" and use mouse to move play bar to about 26 minute mark for Act 2 of the program. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/427/original-recipe Peter Fokes, Toronto

Not according to Cartha 'Deke' DeLoach! "For a practiced marksman, it was like shooting pigeons on the ground." from Hoover's FBI by Cartha DeLoach, p. 115 Believe it or not ..... Peter Fokes, Toronto

The list was sold tonight. See Item #240 240 JOHN F. KENNEDY'S PERSONAL SECRETARY LISTS SUSPECTS IN HIS MURDER - Hammer Price: $11,000.00 Sold http://auctions.alexautographs.com/asp/results.asp Wonder who bought it? Would have been a nice addition to Sixth Floor Museum. Peter Fokes, Toronto

From "My Twelve Years With John F. Kennedy" by Evelyn Lincoln. p. 370 <quote on> For many weeks my life resembled that of a sunflower in darkness. The source of energy and direction gone, I could only stand aimless and bewildered. <quote off> By the way, Abe Fortas told Evelyn repeatedly that he thought JFK shouldn't go to Texas. Evelyn relayed Abe's concern to JFK. In her book she recalls he said: "If they are going to get me, they will get me even in church." Evelyn never liked LBJ or Nixon for that matter. According to Evelyn, "President Johnson had seen her on TV severely criticizing his decisions on the Vietnam War and said: 'I ought to throw that black-haired bitch into the Potomac.' Evelyn did eventually winnow down her list of suspects. <quote on> She ...."viewed the assassination ... as a political coup d'etat, carried out by Lyndon Johnson, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover and the resources of the Central Intelligence Agency. She also insisted it was the first successful coup in american history. <quote off> Ibid, p. xvii Evelyn had no evidence though. It was "intuition." Peter Fokes, Toronto

This is no fairy tale; its the only believable possibility and it is based upon facts all the way through, as demonstrated by the 1,827 citations to other works. Alas, as herein revealed, such a multitude of citations can oft times end up being a burden. Am I correct in stating you believe the plan to assassinate the yet-to-be President Kennedy began 5 years before it occurred? And even then, LBJ failed to duck before the first shot? Mmmm .... Let me ponder that while I drift off to sleep. To all who may venture upon these words, have a merry one, and don't try to follow that single snowflake all the way down from the heavens with both your eyes. There is a chance it might land on the tip of your nose and leave you cross-eyed! Cheers PF

What Alice Knew: A Most Curious Tale of Henry James and Jack the Ripper http://paulamarantzcohen.com/ Published Sept 2010. A treat for Ripper and mystery buffs. Cast of characters includes William, Henry and Alice James! PF

To be released on Sept 10, 2010 by Prometheus Books. <quote on> Drawing on his fifteen years experience as an experimental physicist for the US Navy, Chambers demonstrates that the commonly accepted view of the assassination is fundamentally flawed from a scientific perspective. The physics behind lone-gunmen theories is not only wrong, says Chambers, but frankly impossible. Chambers devotes separate chapters to the Warren Commission, challenges to the single-bullet theory, the witnesses, how science arrives at the truth, the medical and acoustic evidence, the Zapruder film, and convincing evidence for at least a second rifleman in Dealey Plaza. Headshot is the first book to: • identify the second murder weapon; • prove the locations of the assassins; • demonstrate multiple shooters with scientific certainty. <quote off> http://www.prometheusbooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=29_206&products_id=2005 Peter Fokes, Toronto

I'm not surprised. Many years ago I won the Lilian I. Found Poetry Award at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Several dusty binders in a closet somewhere to be discovered when I am have departed this mortal coil! By the way, did Angleton ever actually publish a poem, or did he just publish the work of other poets? He did edit Furioso. Contributors included T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound. Excuse me, there must be an Angleton thread elsewhere ... Back to timing of the assassination ........

Kennedy considered Lansdale for the Saigon post, but the Pentagon was cool to the idea. As William Bundy said in an oral interview on March 6, 1972: "I could only speculate that Lansdale was so much the operator that I would think a lot of people might have hesitated about whether he’d be a good number one, coordinating other people and directing an integrated effort. He had always been the wild card and not the straight card." See page 6 of this PDF: http://www.jfklibrary.org/NR/rdonlyres/6F5E3B4B-EF68-4932-B48E-B86AF9F90F66/45907/BundyWilliamP2_oralhistory.pdf Peter Fokes, Toronto