Feel free to complain about or compliment the stuff you read here. Likewise, feel free to submit material for publication. Send us stuff with this E-Z form. If your browser doesn't support forms, write to:
jkelin@rmii.com
We recommend sending a querey before sending any articles.
I've an urgent reference question about a J. F. Kennedy anecdote: Allegedly in 1960 (?) JFK was asked by his electors in a town to be the founder of a university. He said that [he] would found it if the town built a library first (for the new university).
Has anybody heard this before? If it's true, what was the year and the town? And is there any written source about this story?
Thank you for your help and your time!
Laszlo Drotos
kondrot@gold.uni-miskolc.hu
reference librarian
Univ. Miskolc Central Library
Hungary
This story doesn't ring any bells with us, but perhaps a Fair Play reader will recognize it and contact you at the email address you provided. (Readers with browsers that support forms can just click on the address.)
Visited your page for the first time today. I was happy to come across a site, finally, that points me to other stuff pertaining to the assassination. It's obvious that you put a lot of work into this and I know I'll visit on a regular basis. Thanks!
I didn't notice a [Who's Who] listing for:
Coalition on Political Assassinations
P. O. Box 772
Ben Franklin Station
Washington, DC 20044-0772
202-785-5299
Governing board:
Gary Aguilar, Dan Alcorn, Jim DiEugenio, Gaeton Fonzi, John Judge, Jim
Lesar, Philip Melanson, John Newman, Jerry Policoff, Janette Rainwater,
Cyril Wecht.
Cheryl
Thanks for the information on COPA. It is among the new additions to our "Who's Who and What's What" file.
And thanks, too, for your comments!
Bill Abernathy
Check out Deanie Richards' "JFK Place," a gopher site accessible from the top level page of Fair Play. There's a JFK Hypercard stack available there that has a QuickTime movie of the Z-film head shot.
If you're asking whether you can get a hard copy version of Fair Play delivered to your home, the answer is no.
Fair Play began as, and remains, a beast of the World Wide Web. While publishing a hard copy version is an interesting notion, it would be a massive undertaking. Fair Play is a shoestring operation; we make as much money from this endeavor as our readers spend on it.
But thanks for asking!
Lisa Pease
On another note, I have been reading your site and only noticed one reference to Sarti (I believe he was the Corsican mafia member who admitted he had a connection to Dealey Plaza and the grassy knoll). I saw a documentary on him two or three years ago, and have heard nothing new concerning his story. Supposedly, he had turned over an account of his story or what he knows, to his lawyer in a sealed envelope (the contents of which were only to be read after his death). Has he died? Have the contents of this envelope been made public? Anything I should be aware of? How does this story stand in the context of the remainder of the assassination theories?
Also in this documentary was the story of a witness on the grassy knoll who may have seen the assassins (which was supported with enhanced footage of a photograph, perhaps Moorman?). Are there any really good sources for photographs other than the ones prevalent in the majority of books I have purchased? What is the definitive book to buy for the photographic evidence? I would really appreciate your help with these things. Thank you for your time.
M.J.Adkins
Thanks for your email. We are still amazed at the supportive stuff people send us from all over the place. We are glad that so many people are interested in this case, and that so many find what we're doing interesting.
The documentary you refer to is probably "The Men Who Killed Kennedy," a series produced in 1988 by Central TV in England. In the States it is shown from time to time on the A&E cable channel, usually around the anniversary of the JFK assassination.
Lucien Sarti was killed in a shootout with Mexican authorities in 1972. The other man you refer to is named Christian David, who implicated Sarti and a couple of others as being the actual triggermen in the JFK hit. All were connected to the Corsican Mafia, according to this story. The big question, of course, is who were they working for? That isn't known.
The information on Christian David was developed by a writer named Steven Rivele, who as far as we know never published any of this information. He cooperated with "The Men Who Killed Kennedy" but supposedly felt the story was not accurately portrayed in that documentary. You can find an account of this in the Paragon House edition of Anthony Summers' "Conspiracy." (There are several editions to Summers' book. Look for the one with "Update, November 1991" on the inner flap.) We strongly recommend that account, but you can find the key excerpts in this edition of Fair Play, in the file Miscellanea, Errata, Et Cetera.
Like most theories explaining the JFK case, the Sarti story is not without flaws. But David is the guy who gave his lawyer the sealed envelope that may or may not contain critical information on the case. Our feeling is that Christian David was playing both sides against the middle, so to speak, and was attempting to bargain his way out of a tight spot (he had been extradited to France to stand trial for murder). And we all know there is no honor among thieves. But, who knows?
We don't know whether David is still alive. Anyone with current information on the disposition of this case is urged to contact Fair Play.
There are several witnesses who claim to have seen assassins on the knoll. One was Beverly Oliver, who may be the "Babushka Lady." (In the Central TV doc, she was the one who today is a singer of inspirational songs.) She recently published a book, written with a guy named Coke Buchanen, called "Nightmare in Dallas." Also on that show was a guy named Ed Hoffman, who was positioned along the Stemmons Freeway and claims to have seen men fleeing the scene right after the shooting. We find Hoffman's story to be quite credible. You may recall Hoffman as the deaf man who communicates via American Sign Language. A Fair Play contributor was in Dallas last spring and was able to meet Hoffman; an account of this meeting may be forthcoming. We may also obtain an original account of Hoffman's story for Fair Play, but we aren't holding our breath. Hoffman has told his story a number of times, though; in addition to "The Men who Killed Kennedy," look for a book called "Breaking the Silence" by Bill Sloan, published in 1993. There is a good account of Hoffman in there, as well as in "Crossfire" by Jim Marrs (which isn't as detailed but might be easier to find).
As for photo books---Robert Groden's "The Killing of a President" is now out in paperback, making it more affordable. It's an oversized book with many many photos in it, although its text is poor. A few months ago another book came out called "Pictures of the Pain," by a guy named Richard Trask. We haven't yet seen that book. According to one review, it deals exclusively with pictures from 11-22-63 and analyzes them from the Lone Nut point of view. It's supposed to be pretty good, although it probably won't convert too many to the lone nut cause.
* * *