[Publib] Fwd: [srrtac-l] lefty anti-­censorship activist librarian :Sparanese and Fitzgerald Censorship Story

[Diedre Conkling]

Some of you may find this of interest and may want to send a note to
HarperCollins supporting them in publishing this book despite the censorship
efforts of Fitzgerald.



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <kmccook at tampabay.rr.com>
Date: Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 5:13 AM
Subject: [srrtac-l] lefty anti-­censorship activist librarian :Sparanese and
Fitzgerald Censorship Story
To: SRRT List <srrtac-l at ala.org>, PLG Discussion List <
PLGnet-L at lists.sjsu.edu>, Ann Sparanese <sparanese at yahoo.com>


 "Ann Sparanese will be at a press conference on the 16th, when he’ll [Peter
Lance] be flanked by lefty anti-­censorship activist librarian Ann Sparanese
and the lawyer played by John Travolta in A Civil Action, Jan Schlichtmann.
blogged here:

http://librarian.lishost.org/?p=2499



*Union Librarian: Kathleen de la Peña McCook*
*http://unionlibrarian.blogspot.com/*



On 15 Jun 2009 at 3:56, Ann Sparanese wrote:

> Colleagues,
>
> A week or so ago, I brought to your attention an issue concerning Triple
Cross by Peter Lance, and alerted you to the efforts by arguably the most
powerful U.S. Attorney in the country, Patrick Fitzgerald, to censor it.
Since there there has been a little more press on it, I am hoping you would
glance at the following links.
>
> In 2001, librarians were "all over" HarperCollins because the
publisher intended to pulp Michael Moore's book Stupid White Men.  Moore
credits librarians -- actually they were librarians from these two lists! --
with saving his book. This time, with Lance's book, HarperCollins is so far
standing firm against the demands of the U.S. Attorney who -- even though he
is doing this as a "private" person -- obviously brings the weight of his
high office to bear. Is this not even more chilling than a publisher
censoring itself? Can't we now give HarperCollins some support, as
librarians, for standing up to pressure from someone in government to kill a
book?
>
> Maybe some of you have doubts about the contents of Lance's book. I
haven't read every page, or have thought about every argument he makes. None
of us can independently confirm the correctness of his conclusions, or
whether his interpretation of the facts is the only one.  Clearly there are
some conclusions that do not please Mr. Fitzgerald. But this is beside the
point. The point is that not only is Lance a reputable journalist, but
HarperCollins is a large mainstream publisher with no interest,
presumably, in publishing libel, defamation and baseless conspiracy
theories. The publisher was sufficiently shook up by Fitzgerald's concerns
to take a very long, second look at the book, and to change a few things,
but to fundamentally come to the same conclusion: there is no reason to
withdraw the book. It is scheduled to come out tomorrow.
>
> Links follow.
>
> Thanks for reading this,
>
> Ann Sparanese
>
> ***
> Newsweek:
> http://www.newsweek.com/id/200885
>
> New York Magazine
> http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/57196/
>
> Associated Press
>
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h6fWg-RbZA0ukP12wcG_ZZSprHlAD98MRHS81
>
> Chicago Sun Times
> http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1613465,CST-NWS-fitz09.article
>
> Library Juice Press Blog
> http://libraryjuicepress.com/blog/?p=1454#comments
>
>
> Raw Story
>
http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/06/12/fitzgerald-trying-to-censor-explosive-911-tale/
>
> WorldNetDaily
> http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=100764
>
> Reporters Committee For Freedom Of The Press
> http://www.rcfp.org/newsitems/index.php?i=10830
>
> Huffington Post
>
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rory-oconnor/patrick-fitzgeralds-priva_b_213807.html
>
> Accuracy in Media
> http://www.aim.org/guest-column/abuse-of-power-backfire
>
> Gotham City Insider blog
> http://www.gothamcityinsider.com/
>
> American Bar Association Journal
>
http://www.abajournal.com/news/chicago_us_atty._says_book_partly_blames_him_for_sept._11_threatens_suit/




-- 
Diedre Conkling
Lincoln County Library District
P.O. Box 2027
Newport, OR  97365
Work phone & fax:  541-265-3066
Work email:  diedre at beachbooks.org
Home email:  diedre08 at gmail.com
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