David Lifton died on 12/6/2022

[Charles Blackmon]

15 minutes ago, Vince Palamara said:

I am starting to get a weird feeling about this. 

What could go wrong, right?

[Vince Palamara]

6 minutes ago, Charles Blackmon said:

What could go wrong, right?

For every person on Facebook who is saying "so sad", there is another person saying things like "sure he has really passed away? There is nothing online." Makes one wonder. Most people take things like this in good faith (what is to be gained by lying about his death?), but the skeptical researcher in me wants corroboration in the form of an obituary, etc.

Edited December 8, 2022 by Vince Palamara

[Charles Blackmon]

Sure do hope his book gets published in my lifetime.

[Vince Palamara]

6 minutes ago, Charles Blackmon said:

Sure do hope his book gets published in my lifetime.

Harry Livingstone died a lonely bachelor in 2015, yet his archives were obtained via Bart Kamp (and Malcolm Blunt, too?). I know young researcher Matt Douthit was in frequent contact with David and considered him a friend. If anyone could have had access to his manuscript, he would. I reached out to him so stay tuned.

Edited December 8, 2022 by Vince Palamara

[Douglas Caddy]

I just checked David's homepage on Facebook. The last entry he made was on October 23, 2021, in which he wrote:

"I'd like readers of Best Evidence to know that back in the early 90's, I worked closely Steve Bello (Hill Street Blue, St. Elsewhere, and many other credits) to write and produce a definitive movie about Marina Oswald ("Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald", 1993). I had come to know Marina quite well, in the aftermath of the original (Jan. 1981) publication of B.E. For years we spoke several times per week. In effect, I found myself deprogramming Marina from all the nonsense she had been..."

There were some "happy birthday" postings for him in September of this year (including one from me) that drew no response from him.

[Vince Palamara]

Just now, Douglas Caddy said:

I just checked David's homepage on Facebook. The last entry he made was on October 23, 2021, in which he wrote:

"I'd like readers of Best Evidence to know that back in the early 90's, I worked closely Steve Bello (Hill Street Blue, St. Elsewhere, and many other credits) to write and produce a definitive movie about Marina Oswald ("Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald", 1993). I had come to know Marina quite well, in the aftermath of the original (Jan. 1981) publication of B.E. For years we spoke several times per week. In effect, I found myself deprogramming Marina from all the nonsense she had been..."

There were some "happy birthday" postings for him in September of this year (including one from me) that drew no response from him.

Yes- I read all of that. I have been searching online for anything corroborative and so far there is nothing. It could be too soon; who knows. 

[Pat Speer]

2 minutes ago, Vince Palamara said:

Harry Livingstone died a lonely bachelor in 2015, yet his archives were obtained via Bart Kamp (and Malcolm Blunt, too?). I know young researcher Matt Douthit was in frequent contact with David and considered him a friend. If anyone could have had access to his manuscript, he would. I reached out to him so stay tuned.

I talked to Matt earlier. He doesn't have access to the manuscript. And he is in the dark beyond that Lifton's phone has been disconnected. 

[Vince Palamara]

1 minute ago, Pat Speer said:

I talked to Matt earlier. He doesn't have access to the manuscript. And he is in the dark beyond that Lifton's phone has been disconnected. 

Wow. I told Matt a few years ago "David isn't a spring chicken any longer- I hope he made arrangements for his book and remaining materials to be available just in case" but never really received an answer.

Often times, when people pass, their stuff gets tossed. I know of a massive Soap Opera archivist who had every collectible known to mankind about every soap opera ever from 1940-1995 or so who was murdered. His family literally threw it all out days later! It happens. JFK researcher Kathlee Fitzgerald passed away in 2019 and all her many books and materials were tossed, as well. I wonder how many times this happens, especially when there is no close family OR the family doesn't hold the possessions as anything worth keeping.

[Vince Palamara]

[Ron Bulman]

Condolences to any family and his friends.  Best Evidence is historically significant.

[Joseph McBride]

BEST EVIDENCE was one of the paradigm changers

in the case for me. A towering work of investigative

and iconoclastic research.

[Steven Kossor]

At the request of his next-of-kin, I updated the Wikipedia citation for David Lifton just now to document his death on 12/5/2022 in Las Vegas at the age of 83.  The citation for his work on Final Charade reads:

At the time of his death, Lifton was living in Las Vegas after having lived in Southern California from 2010 until he moved for a short time to McKinney, Texas and then relocated to Las Vegas in 2021. For many years prior to his death, he was working full-time on a major written work about Oswald and details about the plan to assassinate JFK that were unearthed in the years following the publication of Best Evidence. His unfinished work, entitled Final Charade was to explain "what was supposed to have happened on 11/22/63, but didn't because of unexpected events in Dallas that forced the perpetrators of JFK's murder to improvise in their desperate attempt to recover control over JFK's body in order to complete the alterations necessary before his autopsy that would allow his murder to be ruled 'an accident of history' and permit the levers of power to operate efficiently to achieve an orderly transition from the Kennedy administration to the Johnson administration. The perpetrators were nearly exposed in 1963, as the evidence reported in Best Evidence clearly documents. The sequence of bizarre, seemingly inexplicable events that happened at Parkland and Bethesda on the afternoon and evening of November 22-23, 1963 were not part of any plan to kill JFK and alter his body before autopsy; it was the best they could do under the circumstances and they succeeded in concealing the truth for almost 60 years."

I believe that David's research archive has been preserved and that his collected papers may be assembled for publication in the future.  He will be interred in his family's cemetery plot on Long Island, NY.  I will do what I can to help preserve his legacy, which was unequivocally substantial.  I believe that, in Best Evidence, he did the best he could with the available evidence to analyze and synthesize the facts he uncovered and that his understanding evolved as new evidence and conversations with others with knowledge of the JFKA continued to occur because of his notoriety and ongoing drive to uncover the truth to the best of his ability.  I think Final Charade will be a fascinating read when it's finally published.

Edited December 8, 2022 by Steven Kossor

[Bob Ness]

52 minutes ago, Steven Kossor said:

At the request of his next-of-kin, I updated the Wikipedia citation for David Lifton just now to document his death on 12/5/2022 in Las Vegas at the age of 83.  The citation for his work on Final Charade reads:

At the time of his death, Lifton was living in Las Vegas after having lived in Southern California from 2010 until he moved for a short time to McKinney, Texas and then relocated to Las Vegas in 2021. For many years prior to his death, he was working full-time on a major written work about Oswald and details about the plan to assassinate JFK that were unearthed in the years following the publication of Best Evidence. His unfinished work, entitled Final Charade was to explain "what was supposed to have happened on 11/22/63, but didn't because of unexpected events in Dallas that forced the perpetrators of JFK's murder to improvise in their desperate attempt to recover control over JFK's body in order to complete the alterations necessary before his autopsy that would allow his murder to be ruled 'an accident of history' and permit the levers of power to operate efficiently to achieve an orderly transition from the Kennedy administration to the Johnson administration. The perpetrators were nearly exposed in 1963, as the evidence reported in Best Evidence clearly documents. The sequence of bizarre, seemingly inexplicable events that happened at Parkland and Bethesda on the afternoon and evening of November 22-23, 1963 were not part of any plan to kill JFK and alter his body before autopsy; it was the best they could do under the circumstances and they succeeded in concealing the truth for almost 60 years."

I believe that David's research archive has been preserved and that his collected papers may be assembled for publication in the future.  He will be interred in his family's cemetery plot on Long Island, NY.  I will do what I can to help preserve his legacy, which was unequivocally substantial.  I believe that, in Best Evidence, he did the best he could with the available evidence to analyze and synthesize the facts he uncovered and that his understanding evolved as new evidence and conversations with others with knowledge of the JFKA continued to occur because of his notoriety and ongoing drive to uncover the truth to the best of his ability.  I think Final Charade will be a fascinating read when it's finally published.

Thanks for the update, Steven. Sad news indeed and I hope his legacy lives on.

[Karl Kinaski]

 With him a big part of JFKA research-history died. He knew friend and foe, CTers of the first hour as well as the creators of the cover up. He was the only person who  confronted Dulles with diametrical evidence to the WC findings in an open discussion.

 

Quote from BEST EVIDENCE, by David Lifton.

Quote

The meeting took place on December 7, 1965, in the Sierra Lounge of Hedrick Hall, one of the UCLA dormitories.
Word had spread that someone was going to question Dulles about the Kennedy assassination and about fifty students showed up. I (Lifon) came decorously dressed in a suit, and brought long two of the twenty-six volumes and photographs I thought would be useful . After a brief delay, Dulles walked in with Mrs. Dulles and the student moderator . He sat down, lit his pipe, and made a few witty remarks. His eyes settled on me several times, and on my two large blue-bound Warren Commission volumes. It was clear that we would be adversaries.
I was recognized by the moderator and there followed the uncomfortable but mandatory introductory remarks necessary, in 1965, to explain how I had all the detailed information I’d be referring to. I was “one of those who owned the twenty -six volumes.”
I said, explaining what they were, and Dulles chimed in : “I own a set, so you must include me, too.”
The students laughed, and that broke the ice a bit. I wanted to ask just one question, I said, “and get your
comments on it .” One of the most important conclusions of the Commission, I began, was that there was no evidence of conspiracy.
“Wasn’t it,”saidDulles,correcting me, and punctuating the air with his finger as he spoke, “we have found no evidence of conspiracy?”
I proceeded to describe the motion of the President’s head on the Zapruder film and some of the grassy-knoll testimony.
How could the Commission’s Report make a statement like that, in view of all that evidence?
Dulles responded: “We examined the film a thousand times, ”and he proceeded to deny that the motion I de-
scribed appeared on the film. As he answered, I retrieved from my briefcase a demonstration panel prepared by Ray Marcus in which the relevant portions of all frames between 313 and 323 were arranged in sequence on one 8 1/2 2 -by-11-inch page. The backward motion was obvious . I walked over to Dulles, and put one of the panels on his lap. “Here, ”I said ,kneeling beside him,“Iknow these are not the best reproductions, but just look at the President’s head and the rear seat of the car, and see if they get closer together or farther apart in successive frames after impact. Now what are you saying . ..just what are you saying? ” said Dulles, his voice rising.
''“I’m saying there must be someone up front firing at
Kennedy, and that means a conspiracy,” I replied.
"Look,” he said, “there isn’t a single iota of evidence indicating a conspiracy. . . . No one says there was any-
thing like that. . . .
As politely as possible I described the statistics in Harold Feldman’s “Fifty-Two Witnesses: The Grassy Knoll,” clos-
ing with the fact that several people on the overpass saw smoke coming from the area behind the fence, and that a
policeman “even smelled smoke there.
"Look,” he paused, and then, his voice rising again, angrily, “what are you talking about? Who saw smoke?” he
thundered, sounding as though I had fabricated the information out of whole cloth.
Sam Holland, for instance,” I replied. “He was standing on the overpass.” I named a few others, and said that
anyone could buy the book Four Days, turn to page 21 and see, in color, what was apparently a puff of smoke on the Nix film frame published there.
By now, Dulles had worked himself into a lather.
"Now what are you saying,” he roared, “that someone was smoking up there?” His attempt at ridicule was unmistakable. “Are you telling me,” he continued, “that there was no one up in that building, that no gun was found there,  that no shells were found there?
Oh, no, sir,” I said, feigning surprise. “I’m sure there was a gun there. I’m sure there were shells there. I think
someone was shooting from there.* But I think someone was also shooting from up front. Harold Feldman analyzed all that testimony and quotes witnesses who even heard shots from two locations.
Just who,” asked Dulles in an extremely sarcastic tone, is Harold Feldman?
While I was certain Dulles knew who Feldman was, I answered by describing him as “a writer, sir, a freelance
writer. . . .” And who does he write for?” inquired Dulles.
 "He frequently writes for the Nation."
Dulles raised his right hand, slapped his knee with a savage intensity, and laughed loudly and derisively.
"The Nation! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha."
There was an embarrassing silence. No one laughed with him.
Politely, I interjected: “I don’t think that is so funny, sir. I don’t care what magazine the article was printed in — either the right or the left. The article is well written, and it is accurately footnoted.”
You say the Nation is accurately footnoted, eh?” replied Dulles. Dulles now turned to the group and said: “I don’t know if you’re really all interested in this, and if you’re not, we’d just as well . . .” His voice trailed off as he was met by anxious murmurs: ‘‘Oh, no, we’re interested. No, keep going,” etc. So he shrugged and we continued sparring.
Dulles looked down at the photographs on his lap and claimed he couldn’t see what was there. ‘‘Look, there isn’t
one iota of evidence that the shots came from the front.
"How can you say such a thing?"
"Mr. Dulles,” I said, “I’m showing you this evidence, and I’ve told you about the eyewitness testimony, which was taken nunder oath and certainly qualifies as evidence. And I’m absolutely amazed to hear you deny the existence of all this. . . .”
Dulles got very angry. “You have nothing! Absolutely nothing! The head could be going around in circles for all
I can see. You can’t see a thing here! I have examined the film in the Archives many times. This proves nothing.
This exchange ended with my passing about forty copiesof the photo exhibits around the room, and asking the students to see for themselves the movement of the head.
Meanwhile Dulles, waving his hand vehemently, simply denied that the head went back at all! “I can’t see a blasted thing here. You can’t say the head goes back. . . . I can’t see it going back . . . it does not go back . . . you can’t say that . . . you haven’t shown it. . . ."
At some point during the conversation, Dulles looked at me and said: “You know, I’ve never heard that argument
before, and I’ve read all those books the experts supposedly are writing.’’ He said it in a very funny way. To the students, I’m sure it sounded as though the argument must be no good because it hadn’t been published . But it had the two -edged tone of a disgruntled compliment reluctantly paid.
When the next student recognized from the floor asked another question about the Warren Commission, there was a whispered conference between Dulles and the moderator.
Dulles said that if there were no further questions on other subjects he would prefer to go to bed. He said he had had enough of this work when he was on the Commission, that the Commission had settled all these questions a thousand times over.

Young Lifton had the privilige to be in one room with one of the greatest li..ars of the 20. Century.

Quote James Jesus Angleton:

Quote

“Fundamentally, the founding fathers of U.S. intelligence were li..ars. The better you lied and the more you betrayed, the more likely you would be promoted. These people attracted and promoted each other. Outside of their duplicity, the only thing they had in common was a desire for absolute power. I did things that, in looking back on my life, I regret. But I was part of it and I loved being in it... Allen Dulles, Richard Helms, Carmel Offie, and Frank Wisner were the grand masters. If you were in a room with them you were in a room full of people that you had to believe would deservedly end up in hell.” Angleton slowly sipped his tea and then said, “I guess I will see them there soon.”

Close quote

Maybe David Lifton is choosing to visit hell right now to meet them and figure out the final truth of the JFKA.

RIP

 

 

 

 
 

Edited December 8, 2022 by Karl Kinaski

[Micah Mileto]

It was only a few days ago that I emailed Lifton about finding a newspaper article by Herbert Black, which is apparently the earliest known public acknowledgement of a wound in Kennedy's back, older than Bill Burrus's article. Lifton had posted earlier saying that Bill Burrus's article was the first.