-Caveat Lector-
A look back at the "Reagan" administration, with Ronnie a
ventriloquist's dummy.
"Reagan was fading throughout his eight-year presidency, and the decline
began with the assassination attempt in 1981, Reagan's first year in office.
"``His thoughts became slower, his speech became slower, he deliberated
more, he hesitated more when he spoke,'' Morris said in an interview last
year. ``He lost his quickness. And for the rest of his presidency it was a
very, very slow and steady mental and physical decline.''
Reagan Biography Stirs Controversy
WASHINGTON (AP) - After 14 years of researching former President Ronald
Reagan, a prize-winning biographer is stirring controversy even before the
book is released to the public.
Some historians, writers and Reagan associates are questioning Edmund Morris'
decision to use a fictional narrator who interacts with Reagan as part of the
narrative, The New York Times reported Saturday.
The 860-plus-page book, ``Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan,'' is scheduled to
be released Sept. 30.
Although Morris is only 59, he depicts himself in the book as a Reagan
contemporary who, for example, caught a glimpse of Reagan as a teen-ager
playing in a 1926 high school football game. The fictional Morris traces
Reagan's life from his birth in 1911 through the 1990s.
``I was expecting the definitive book on Ronald Reagan,'' former Reagan aide
Lyn Nofziger told the newspaper. ``But how am I going to get the definitive
book if there's a fictional character in it? Maybe if I read the whole book I
would be pleasantly surprised. But just the idea of mixing fact and fiction
is something that's disturbing me.''
``Edmund has either engaged in an act of genius or a most remarkable leap off
the precipice,'' Anthony Doland, the Reagan administration's chief speech
writer, told the Times.
The Times said it viewed the book on the condition that direct quotations
from it not be used.
Morris did not return a message left Saturday at his Washington home
Reagan aides granted Morris unusual access to Reagan over the years, allowing
him to interview the president an average of once a month and travel overseas
with him.
Morris, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1980 for his only other book, ``The
Rise of Theodore Roosevelt,'' signed a contract for a Reagan biography in
1985. It originally was scheduled to be released in 1991.
Morris reportedly received a $3 million advance from Random House.
Morris has said little about what he saw while observing the Reagan
presidency. Among the few insights he has offered: Reagan was fading
throughout his eight-year presidency, and the decline began with the
assassination attempt in 1981, Reagan's first year in office.
``His thoughts became slower, his speech became slower, he deliberated more,
he hesitated more when he spoke,'' Morris said in an interview last year.
``He lost his quickness. And for the rest of his presidency it was a very,
very slow and steady mental and physical decline.''
The Times said Random House apparently has not released many copies of the
book. Employees at a Washington bookstore specializing in political works
said they had not received any copies, which they said was unusual for a book
scheduled to go on sale in only a matter of days.
In Random House publicity material, the publisher tells readers that the
narrator is ``not quite Edmund Morris'' in the early parts of the book, the
Times said. ``He is in effect a literary projection of the author back
through time,'' it said.
The newspaper said early copies of the book circulating privately include
references to the fictional Morris' early diaries. Those early copies do not
provide any explanation of the fictional character.
``I understand that a lot of what historians do incorporates techniques that
fiction writers do,'' said Mark Gilderhus, author of the college textbook
``History and Historians. ``But there still is a difference and that is that
historians should be constrained by the evidence,'' he told the Times.
Random House has granted Newsweek exclusive rights to an excerpt set to
appear in its Sept. 27 issue.
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
