St. Martin's Press editor-in-chief Bob Wallace, who resigned following the house's decision to recall its controversial book, Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Making of an American President (News, Oct. 25), was promptly hired by Talk magazine editor Tina Brown to be her new editorial director.
This was the latest in a series of developments that continued to make headlines for the book, its publishers and author J.H. Hatfield, who, according to Texas newspaper reports, is a convicted felon who tried to arrange a contract murder. Hatfield contended in his book, based on information from anonymous sources, that presidential contender George W. Bush quashed the record of a 1972 arrest for possession of cocaine.
The decision to recall the book came after SMP investigated the allegations against Hatfield for itself. President and publisher Sally Richardson said, "We have enough information from our own investigation to make the decision that the book should be pulled." At that point, Wallace resigned, and in a released statement noted, "I do not in any way wish to have my name associated with Fortunate Son or future books published by [autonomous imprint] Thomas Dunne Books over which I have no control."
Wallace said he objected most to the "degree of recklessness" in the imprint's acquisition of the book. Had he had controlled acquisition, Wallace told PW, he would have checked Hatfield's credentials in the Texas journalism community. While he admits that Hatfield's criminal record may not have surfaced, he believes that questions would have arisen as to whether this author, who previously has written celebrity bios, was credentialed enough to handle a biography of a presidential candidate.
SMP quickly fired back with its own statement, which noted "surprise" at the resignation and said Wallace, who was rumored to have been unhappy for some time in his three-year tenure, had advised on various aspects of the book's launch, SMP said.
When reached by PW, Laura Tucker, who served as agent for the book, said the Bush bio had undergone vetting by counsel hired by St. Martin's; she called it one of the most rigorous she experienced. But she did acknowledge that some elements of vetting are acts of faith. For example, the press had to accept Hatfield's word that there were three anonymous "sources" (he reportedly gave editor Barry Neville the name of one) for the cocaine arrest information. Like St. Martin's, Tucker believed Hatfield was trustworthy.
Richard Curtis Associates, where Tucker (now at Vigliano Associates) worked when she sold the book, is still the agency of record for Hatfield. Richard Curtis told PW he had just begun discussions with SMP about rights reversion, but nothing was concluded at press time. He said he had already received calls from publishers asking if the book was now available.
While most booksellers have honored the recall, they can choose how to handle any remaining stock. Even after the official recall, Amy Masonis, a manager at Davis-Kidd Booksellers in Nashville, Tenn., for example, told PW the store is keeping its stock on the floor, though sales were not all that strong.
