Spite House:
Officially Libel and Slander
Dr.Kushner's Charges, Page One
You should have come to this page from the lead article in this series, dealing with the fact that Monica Jensen-Stevenson's book, Spite House, has been found to be libelous and slanderous and based on a sole source. If not, go back to this article and start at the beginning.
Dr. Harold Kushner was one of the US POWs who had considerable contact with former USMC Private Bobby Garwood while Garwood was collaborating with the North Vietnamese. Kushner read the book and found that it was nonsense and that passages in the book were lies and were slanderous toward many US POWs, including Kushner. Kushner consulted with libel attorneys and a number of his friends, all of whom advised him to sue and set the record straight. He sued. In late 1999, the author of Spite House and her publisher agreed to a settlement that (1) included a cash settlement and that (2) required Jensen and her publishers to place a disclaimer in the New York Times and Kushner's local newspaper. Reproduced below is the letter from Kushner's attorney to the publisher and author of Spite House, laying out the details of the slander and libel. (Note: There are two publication dates for Spite House. The hardback edition was published in March 1997 by W. W. Norton, the paperback in September 1998 by Avon Books.)
This is page one of the letter notifying Monika and her publishers that a suit is on the way.
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