Joseph McBride

Casey Burchby covers INTO THE NIGHTMARE for the SF Weekly (San Francisco): http://www.sfweekly.com/2013-08-28/culture/joseph-mcbride-into-the-nightmare-jd-tippitt/

The Kindle edition of INTO THE NIGHTMARE is on sale from Amazon.com. Some people may prefer a Kindle to the large trade paperback, but others like to hold the book in their hands. So we've provided both options. I am pleased that both editions are doing well.

Thanks for the good words, Vince. I admire your work a lot. William, I haven't found any connection between Tippit and Matthews. And Robert, as you read further you will see that I revised my view of LBJ over the years.

intothenightmare.com My website for my book INTO THE NIGHTMARE: MY SEARCH FOR THE KILLERS OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY AND OFFICER J. D. TIPPIT has now been expanded and updated with much new coverage over the last few weeks, including a video I did on Officer Tippit for Len Osanic's 50 REASONS FOR 50 YEARS series, numerous radio interviews, print interviews and reviews, and news about my appearances in conjunction with the book. It's hard to keep up with all this highly gratifying response, and I've also heard from many readers who identify with my journey as a young person in the 1960s gradually learning, over time, how our country really works, as I've investigated these events for decades.

Gene, I am glad you are digging into this area as well. We all need to keep our research going indefinitely. More and more will be learned that way, despite the passage of time. The scholarship on the assassination and related issues must never end.

Gene, I am glad you are interested in the neglected Tippit case. I write a great deal in INTO THE NIGHTMARE about all the questions you raise.

My episode on the murder of Officer J. D. Tippit is now running on 50 REASONS FOR 50 YEARS, the YouTube series hosted by Len Osanic, with video by Jeff Carter: I also will be on Len's Black Op Radio show (blackopradio.com) tonight, August 15, for the last of my four-part series of interviews on my book INTO THE NIGHTMARE: MY SEARCH FOR THE KILLERS OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY AND OFFICER J. D. TIPPIT.

I just filmed a wide-ranging interview for the upcoming feature film DALLAS IN WONDERLAND, which is scheduled to come out around the time of the fiftieth anniversary of the Kennedy assassination this November. DALLAS IN WONDERLAND is about a documentary filmmaker who is hired by a TV network to make a film about the assassination and gets embroiled in some PARALLAX VIEWish/THREE DAYS OF THE CONDORish danger in the best tradition of those bold 1970s thrillers that drew from our nightmarish reality. I am one of the historians and other experts on the assassination who are in the DALLAS IN WONDERLAND documentary film-within-the-film, which will also be released in its complete form as a DVD extra. The filmmakers really know their subject matter -- including director/co-writer Ryan Page and documentary cowriters and coproducers Joseph Green and James Page. They've assembled a solid list of interviewees and want the film to be right up to date in terms of research discoveries about the case, including those in my new book INTO THE NIGHTMARE: MY SEARCH FOR THE KILLERS OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY AND OFFICER J. D. TIPPIT. Among the other interviewees already are Jim DiEugenio, Dick Russell, and Dr. David Mantik.

Mark, I appreciate your thoughtful note. Once I publish a book, I always welcome critical responses if they are reasoned, as well as new information or comments. But it's somewhat absurd and pointless to try to respond to criticisms from people who haven't read the book or don't want to do so. One of the first principles of scholarship is not to criticize or attack something you haven't read. And the whole book is the context. I would be happy to respond in future, after people have taken the time to read the book, to thoughtful critical inquiries or other questions or comments based on the actual book.

Thanks for your thoughtful comments on the legal situation, Bill. We have not had much help from the legal system in bringing justice re the events of November 22, 1963, to say the least, although Garrison tried. A case is far more complicated with people working against the truth and with time taking away witnesses and possible perpetrators. Then there are the other complications you lay out, not least of which would be the involvement of the Dallas Police Department in the plotting and the coverup of these events fifty years ago. But it's not too late to keeping trying for justice, even if history may be the final court in this case. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "[T]he arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

Back when you were writting for newspapers and magazines how do you think your editors would have reacted if you based part of a story on a 90 year-old man's recollection of a 2nd hand story he'd been told 30 years earlier? Mr. Colby, Have you read the book? We could better discuss your question if you had read the material I drew from the interview and read the contextual material as well and judged it accordingly. I will say, since you brought up that Mr. Tippit was ninety when I interviewed him, that someone's age does not mean that someone is not a credible source. I've interviewed thousands of people as a journalist since 1960 and as a biographer and historian, and I and consider myself a good judge of sources. Among the people I've interviewed have been many people in their nineties or older who were very sharp, as was Mr. Tippit. People who are much younger sometimes are less sharp, so it's not a question of age. The attitude you express has a name: ageism. Mr. Tippit told me an important account he was given by Marie Tippit, his son's widow. And I always check what interviewees tell me against other evidence, as I did in this case, as you will see if you read what I wrote. And I am still writing for newspapers and magazines, by the way, as well as writing books and teaching.

That might be worth doing. As you know, Dallas County now has an excellent DA, Craig Watkins, who is rectifying many of Henry Wade's injustices. It would be up to Mr. Watkins whether to reopen the case if he feels there is sufficient reason to do so. A grand jury could be convened. It is hard getting convictions on cold cases going so far back, but perhaps not impossible.

My research materials are not available to the public at this time. I prefer people to read the book. Eventually I expect to donate them to a library.

I am going to be interviewed by Kennedy assassination and deep politics expert Len Osanic on his Black Op Radio show tonight, about my new book, INTO THE NIGHTMARE: MY SEARCH FOR THE KILLERS OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY AND OFFICER J. D. TIPPIT. The show runs from 6 to 7:30 PM PST, 9-10:30 EST. The show is archived on blackopradio.com.

I doubt you have read my book, but you still call it "incredible." Responding to claims made without evidence is not possible.

Hi Joseph, I have merely followed the evidence to where it leads in the JFK & Tippit cases -- and that evidence leads to only one man....a man you have (incredibly) "exonerated" in your book, Lee H. Oswald. Which means you think ALL the physical evidence in the case is phony. And such a belief is just not a reasonable one, IMO. Re: Black Dog Man --- http://jfk-archives.blogspot.com/2010/06/black-dog-man.html

Hi Joseph, I have merely followed the evidence to where it leads in the JFK & Tippit cases -- and that evidence leads to only one man....a man you have (incredibly) "exonerated" in your book, Lee H. Oswald. Which means you think ALL the physical evidence in the case is phony. And such a belief is just not a reasonable one, IMO. Re: Black Dog Man --- http://jfk-archives.blogspot.com/2010/06/black-dog-man.html

I don't want to get into a long debate with you, David, because from what i've read here, you are wedded to your lone-nut theory and don't seem to want to consider others. But if you would read my book, you'll see that part of my very detailed discussion of this photo and the blowup is the fact that the HSCA Photographic Panel concluded in studying the various photos and films of the figure behind the retaining wall that the figure as it appears in Willis No. 5 was indeed a human being. That figure is the same as Badge Man, in my view, though I think the HSCA contradicts itself by claiming the Moorman photo was too underexposed in that region to enable it to find evidence of a person. The panel said a person is visible behind the retaining wall in the Zapruder film. And there is other evidence of Badge Man.

Chris, The officer firing in the Badge Man photo is wearing the regulation DPD patch on his left arm, but it does not appear there is a cross in it, although that can't be ruled out. I know there has been discussion of the meaning of crosses on other officers' uniforms, ranging from rightwing identification marks to first-aid certification marks. Other than possibly the pictures of Badge Man, who was photographed several times, there are no known pictures of Tippit in uniform on 11/22/63.

Yes, there will be a Kindle edition soon available on Amazon.com as well as the paperback.

Vince Palamara, whose groundbreaking work on the Secret Service and medical aspects of the assassination has been so important to our understanding of the events of November 22, 1963, posted this review on Amazon.com of my book INTO THE NIGHTMARE: MY SEARCH FOR THE KILLERS OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY AND OFFICER J. D. TIPPIT: A Master Work! July 23, 2013 By Vince Palamara Every once in a while, a book comes along that is not merely a book, a good book, or even, for that matter, a great book, but what I am fond of calling a master work. "Into The Nightmare" by Joseph McBride is just such a rare commodity: a master work on the assassination that is very well written (even poetic at times), thought provoking, and well researched. Clearly, the author is passionate about both President Kennedy (having met the man several times in younger days) and his tragic assassination. This passion comes through, loud and clear, on every page, but without the shrill tone common in many books on this subject. In short, this volume was written with loving care, encompassing every facet of the case, including the murder of police officer J.D. Tippit, an area that usually receives short shrift in the literature of the assassination. Along with other such master works as Jim Douglass "JFK & The Unspeakable" and Doug Horne's 5-volume"Inside The ARRB", McBride's book is an essential purchase and essential reading. This one is a keeper; a book you will refer back to again and again. They don't make them like this very often. Get this very fine volume asap- you'll be glad you did.

Chris, That possibility is indeed explored at length in INTO THE NIGHTMARE, including in Chapter 15, "'Badge Man.'"

And a column today with a somewhat differing perspective on the book and assassination research by Doug Moe of my old paper, The Wisconsin State Journal, Madison: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/columnists/doug-moe/doug-moe-joe-mcbride-goes-public-with-private-obsession-about/article_a4dd7368-301b-5f20-88ba-dd32f93d59bf.html

http://www.examiner.com/article/an-interview-with-joseph-mcbride-on-his-new-jfk-book-into-the-nightmare-part-1 Part one of my interview with assassination expert and ace reporter Joe Green.

Pat, It's not a pain to be asked good questions. Other researchers and journalists have speculated from December 1963 that Tippit may have been tracking down Oswald. I studied the frantic actions of Tippit as reported by Earl Golz, Greg Lowrey, and other researchers. Tippit clearly gave signs of hunting for a man. I had a revealing interview with Edgar Lee Tippit, the father of the late officer. The elder Tippit was a lively ninety when I interviewed him. He revealed to me that after his son's death, another Dallas police officer went to J. D.'s widow, Marie, and told her he and J. D. had been sent by the police to hunt down Oswald. Whether this was to capture him or kill him is not certain, but the evidence indicates that the latter is a strong possibility. This was at a time when Oswald's identity was not officially known to the DPD, although there is evidence indicating they knew about him and had fingered him as the patsy. The other officer told Marie that he had not made it to the scene of the shooting because he became involved in an auto accident. This story had never been reported before, and Edgar Lee Tippit had never been interviewed. I found evidence that there was an auto accident near the time and place of the Tippit shooting. I studied the police dispatch tapes, FBI reports, HSCA interviews, and other documents to ascertain the movements of other officers around Oak Cliff. I had the first interview by a researcher with Tippit witness T. F. Bowley. Other policemen were behaving suspiciously in Oak Cliff besides Tippit. I believe another policeman or perhaps two policeman and probably a civilian as well were involved in the shooting of Tippit. I go into great detail on all this in the book and offer a wealth of evidence. I identify possible suspects in both shootings and exonerate others, including Oswald. Edgar Lee Tippit also provided me with other important information about his son, who in other books has been a mostly shadowy figure. I also had candid interviews with, among other people, Tippit's mistress Johnnie Maxie Witherspoon, his rightwing employer Austin Cook, and Detective James Leavelle, who headed the "investigation" of the Tippit killing. There is much new material in the book, partly because I worked on it for more than thirty years. Hi, Joe, Congradulations on your new book, and I'm interested in your book on baseball lingo, because I wrote a simlar book on golf history and terminology, "Birth of the Birdie." I'm also interested in your research on the Tippit murder, and wonder if you got to talk to Mike Robinson or Frank Martin's son, both of whom seem to have stumbled onto some Tippit murder witnesses at Dallas Police HQ. Did you talk to these guys? JFKCountercoup2: The Hardy Boys in Dallas Also curious about Wes Wise and the Carl Mather story, and if you checked into any of that? Thanks, Bill Kelly Hi, Bill, I've appreciated your posts on this site. Thanks for asking too about my first book, HIGH AND INSIDE: AN A-TO-Z GUIDE TO THE LANGUAGE OF BASEBALL, which I started writing in May 1963. It's a sentimental favorite of mine because I was a kid when I started writing it. That's fascinating that you wrote a similar one on golf. I will check it out. I used to be a golf caddie so have some interest in that sport, even though I was a terrible golfer. I didn't include that story about the men's room in INTO THE NIGHTMARE because it seems dubious to me for a number of reasons, including the hypnosis element. I do have a section in INTO THE NIGHTMARE on the important Carl Mather story.