Discussions with Authors

[John Simkin]

I have been a bit disappointed with the lack of questions some of our authors have been getting. This is a great opportunity for members to have contact with these writers. This is very much an experimental exercise that has the potential to change the relationship between author and reader.

I am currently trying to persuade the following authors to discuss their books on the Forum: Gerald D. McKnight (Breach of Trust: How the Warren Commission Failed the Nation and Why), Michael R. Beschloss (Kennedy v Khruschev: The Crisis Years), William F. Pepper, (An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King), Edward Jay Epstein (Legend: The Secret World of Lee Harvey Oswald), Gerald Posner (Case Closed), Gus Russo (Live By The Sword: The Secret War against Castro and the Death of JFK), Dale K. Myers (With Malice) and G. Robert Blakey (Fatal Hour: The Assassination of President Kennedy by Organized Crime)

I suspect part of the problem is that members do not access the History Books section. If not, here is the URL you need to go to.

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showforum=204

Joan Mellen: Farewell to Justice

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=5015

Josiah Thompson: Six Seconds in Dallas

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=4895

Matthew Smith: JFK: The Second Plot

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=4896

Jim Feltzer, The Strange Death of Paul Wellstone

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=4542

Don Bohning: The Castro Obsession

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=4761

William Turner: Deadly Secrets

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=4858

William Turner: Rearview Mirror

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=5100

Joseph Trento, The Secret History of the CIA

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=3028

Jim Marrs, Crossfire

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=2489

William Reymond: JFK, Le Dernier Témoin

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=2891

Dick Russell, The Man Who Knew So Much

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=4734

Nina Burleigh: A Very Private Womana Burleigh: A Very Private Woman

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=4641

Larry Hancock: Someone Would Have Talked

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=693

Nathaniel Weyl: Encounters With Communism

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=1055

Donald Gibson: The Kennedy Assassination Cover-Up

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=1064

[John Simkin]

Gerald D. McKnight has just agreed to discuss Breach of Trust: How the Warren Commission Failed the Nation and Why on the Forum. More details later.

[Thomas H. Purvis]

Gerald D. McKnight has just agreed to discuss Breach of Trust: How the Warren Commission Failed the Nation and Why on the Forum. More details later.

The "How" is now fairly well public record.

The "Why" is and will continue to be a subject of much debate and hypothetical reasons.

[John Simkin]

Edward Jay Epstein has just declined the offer with the words: "Sorry. I cannot." Maybe he is not allowed.

[John Simkin]

Add the following to the list above:

Gerald D. McKnight; Breach of Trust: How the Warren Commission Failed the Nation and Why

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=5226

G. Robert Blakey: Fatal Hour: The Assassination of President Kennedy by Organized Crime

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=5225

[Tim Gratz]

John wrote:

Edward Jay Epstein has just declined the offer [to join the Forum]with the words: "Sorry. I cannot." Maybe he is not allowed.

We would all agree that it is a very impressive collection of authors that John has assembled.

It would appear that the only significant authors who have written a book about the assassination who have not yet joined the Forum are Epstein, Posner and Garrison.

[Dawn Meredith]

John wrote:

Edward Jay Epstein has just declined the offer [to join the Forum]with the words: "Sorry. I cannot." Maybe he is not allowed.

We would all agree that it is a very impressive collection of authors that John has assembled.

It would appear that the only significant authors who have written a book about the assassination who have not yet joined the Forum are Epstein, Posner and Garrison.

John:

Blakey is really going to answer questions here??? That's brave. )

Tim: I assume you realize Jim Garrison has been dead since 1992, so he's not likely to join us here.

re Posner, I suspect the answer is the same as John suggested for Epstein: "Maybe he's not allowed".

(Great answer John re Epstein).

Dawn

ps Perhaps if this section was put together with the assassination threads it would receive more response.

I totally forgot this program was still in existance, and when I go to the Ed Forum, I do only go to this part of the forum. So thanks for the reminder that authors are still taking our questions.

[Tim Gratz]

re Garrison: not everyone believes that communications with a person cease merely because the person has passed on to his or her reward. Wasn't it Jack White who wrote of sitting in a seance, holding hands with a Dallas Police officer, trying to communicate with someone re the assassination (for the life of me I cannot remember who it was).

My comment, of course, was intended to be humorous. There are other credible living assassination authors (e.g. Robert Mahoney, John Davis, Howard Kurtz, etc) who have not joined the Forum. But an impressive group has: from Joan Mellen ("the CIA did it') to Professor Blakey ("the Mafia did it") to Joseph Trento ("the KGB did it"). Think of what a lively discussion group they would make for a tv show! We should ask the Discovery Channel to sponsor it.

[Dawn Meredith]

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There are other credible living assassination authors (e.g. Robert Mahoney, John Davis, Howard Kurtz, etc) who have not joined the Forum. But an impressive group has: from Joan Mellen ("the CIA did it') to Professor Blakey ("the Mafia did it") to Joseph Trento ("the KGB did it"). Think of what a lively discussion group they would make for a tv show! We should ask the Discovery Channel to sponsor it.

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Wow Tim: Amazing, you and I in agreement. Will wonders never cease? I think your idea is terrific. In fact why don't you write both the Discovery and History Channel and suggest it.

Of course the one drawback is that Ms. Mellen would be outnumbered by the two authors who are so clearly WRONG. So we'd need a 4th, someone like Gaeton Fonzi would be terrific.

Dawn

ps As to your humor, your comment about Garrison was NOT humorous. You find humor in the strangest of places.

A few days ago I noted that another member had tried to PM you and noted that you refuse to accept personal messages from forum members. I too tried sometime back to PM you, a few times actually, and found the same response. Why is this?

[Tim Gratz]

Dawn, I have no reason why. Think my message thing is full and I do not know how to clear it.

My e-mail is no secret. Anyone call feel free to e-mail me at tim3052405000@yahoo.com.

We may agree on more things than you would at first suspect. But I bet a round-table discussion with the leading most knowledgeable (or at least most prominent) advocates of the various theories would be a fascinating program that would get a lot of audience share. But we ought to think big and try for a national network! I'd even add Posner or Bugliosi. And certainly we should add our own Larry Hancock, whose viewpoint on who did it is different in many respects from all of the foregoing.

I don't know why you think Joan would be outnumbered. One CIA did it; one Mafia did it; one KGB did it; and one Oswald did it seems like an even match of the leading theories.

Perhaps we should seriously think about this. The first step would be to get the commitment from the authors. Perhaps Professor McKnight (whose book I look forward to reading) could serve as the master of ceremonies. One would think a network might like a show like this, presumably to be broadcast in November.

Drop me a line.

[John Simkin]

Dawn, I have no reason why. Think my message thing is full and I do not know how to clear it.

Tim, go to "My Controls". On left-hand side is "Inbox". Click that and you will find 50 messages waiting to be read. You will have to delete some of these messages before members can send you a PM.

[John Simkin]

William F. Pepper has also agreed to discuss his book, An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King.

It is interesting to compare the reaction of the different authors. It is only those who argue in favour of the lone gunman or the KGB/Castro did it theory who are unwilling to discuss their books on the Forum.

The full list is now:

William F. Pepper, An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=5230

Gerald D. McKnight; Breach of Trust: How the Warren Commission Failed the Nation and Why

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=5226

G. Robert Blakey: Fatal Hour: The Assassination of President Kennedy by Organized Crime

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=5225

William F. Pepper, An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King

Joan Mellen: Farewell to Justice

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=5015

Josiah Thompson: Six Seconds in Dallas

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=4895

Matthew Smith: JFK: The Second Plot

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=4896

Jim Feltzer, The Strange Death of Paul Wellstone

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=4542

Don Bohning: The Castro Obsession

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=4761

William Turner: Deadly Secrets

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=4858

William Turner: Rearview Mirror

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=5100

Joseph Trento, The Secret History of the CIA

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=3028

Jim Marrs, Crossfire

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=2489

William Reymond: JFK, Le Dernier Témoin

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=2891

Dick Russell, The Man Who Knew So Much

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=4734

Nina Burleigh: A Very Private Womana Burleigh: A Very Private Woman

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=4641

Larry Hancock: Someone Would Have Talked

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=693

Nathaniel Weyl: Encounters With Communism

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=1055

Donald Gibson: The Kennedy Assassination Cover-Up

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=1064

[J. Raymond Carroll]

Edward Jay Epstein has just declined the offer with the words: "Sorry. I cannot." Maybe he is not allowed.

Now John, be fair. EJ Epstein is a professional writer, and the JFK case is not his only subject. I may disagree with Professor Epstein on most (though not all ) phases of this case, but I do not assume that his thought processes are controlled by the CIA just because his schedule does not allow him to participate in this (admittedly delightful) forum.

[Tim Gratz]

John wrote:

It is interesting to compare the reaction of the different authors. It is only those who argue in favour of the lone gunman or the KGB/Castro did it theory who are unwilling to discuss their books on the Forum.

Now, John, this generalization is pretty clearly wrong.

Trento's book certainly argues the KGB/Castro theory and he is willing to post.

Has Professor Kurtz refused to participate?

Has Gerald Posner refused a specific offer to participate?

There are many other respected assassination authors (Anthony Summers and John Davis come to mind) who are not participating for whatever reason. Have any of them decided not to participate?

Despite this "quibble" as I remarked above it is an impressive list and you deserve credit in assembling the authors.

Now if these authors had all been the members of the Warren Commission . . . we would still be awaiting its report (or, the report would have been issued, like certain Supreme Court cases) with multiple and divergent dissents.

Edited October 23, 2005 by Tim Gratz

[John Simkin]

John wrote:

It is interesting to compare the reaction of the different authors. It is only those who argue in favour of the lone gunman or the KGB/Castro did it theory who are unwilling to discuss their books on the Forum.

Now, John, this generalization is pretty clearly wrong.

Trento's book certainly argues the KGB/Castro theory and he is willing to post.

Has Professor Kurtz refused to participate?

Has Gerald Posner refused a specific offer to participate?

There are many other respected assassination authors (Anthony Summers and John Davis come to mind) who are not participating for whatever reason. Have any of them decided not to participate?

Despite this "quibble" as I remarked above it is an impressive list and you deserve credit in assembling the authors.

Now if these authors had all been the members of the Warren Commission . . . we would still be awaiting its report (or, the report would have been issued, like certain Supreme Court cases) with multiple and divergent dissents.

As always, you are clearly wrong with every one of your points. You make judgements without having any evidence to support what you have to stay.

I have asked Michael Kurtz several times and he has yet to answer my emails.

I have asked Gerald Posner four times. He always sends the same reply. He says he will but he is very busy with a book, article, etc. that he is currently writing.

Joe Trento uses the same strategy. He has been asked several questions and so far has only replied to one. I will email him again today with the unanswered questions (see the thread on the Secret History of the CIA). The problem for Joe Trento is that his book relies to much on James Angleton, a man who has been completely discredited over the last few years. The same goes for Edward Epstein. I am sure that is the main reason why he refuses to answer my questions.

Dave Perry, Dave Reitzes and John McAdams have also refused to answer my questions on the Forum.

So far Gus Russo and Dale Myers have not replied to my emails. However, I live in hope.

As you can see, there is a pattern here. Those authors who believe in the lone gunman or the Castro/KGB theory prefer one way communication. This is understandable given the intellectual battering that people like Mel Ayton and yourself have received on this Forum.

I have not been able to contact Tony Summers. I would indeed love to have him on the Forum answering questions about his research. Please let me know if you have his email address.