A new biography of former New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison is being written. Author Joan Mellen, a longtime friend of the late DA, has been working on the still-untitled biography since November of 1997.
Professor Mellen, who teaches creative writing at Temple University in Philadelphia, has interviewed the late Garrison's widow and children, among others. She is still actively researching his life, telling Fair Play, "I would be grateful to hear from any of your respondents who knew Jim Garrison, or who have letters or photographs they might wish to share."
Mellen says the attacks on Garrison, which continue to this day, remind her of how tied the media are to the government and to conventional wisdom, and how readily that media transmits disinformation. "The uniformity of the attacks coincides with the penetration of media by the intelligence agencies," she said. "If Jim were wrong, would they bother, would a new book attacking him appear for each generation?"
Professor Mellen is the author of twelve previous books, including a dual biography of Lillian Hellman and Dashiell Hammet, and a New York Times best seller on Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight. There is no firm publication date set for the Garrison book at this time.
In the late 1960s Garrison waged an unsuccessful prosecution of New Orleans businessman Clay Shaw in connection with the assassination of President Kennedy. "Since it will be a biography," Mellen said, "my book will be about the whole life of Jim Garrison, although ... he is best known outside Louisiana for the Shaw trial." She indicated she may write a book focusing on the trial itself.
Readers who wish to contact Joan Mellen with information on Garrison may do so by emailing first to Fair Play, or by writing to:
Prof. Joan Mellen
P. O. Box 359
Pennington, New Jersey 08534
Return to Main Page
* * *