A dispute with Public Affairs had led bestselling author Jim Bouton to self-publish his new book, Foul Ball, and to make a number of biting accusations against his former publisher.
Bouton, the author of the legendary Ball Four, signed a contract last year with Public Affairs' editorial director Paul Golob for a true city-hall drama, set in Pittsfield, Mass., in which the author leads a group that tries to save the historic Wahconah Park, the oldest minor-league stadium in the country, in the face of other interests. After an intense dispute with the publisher over passages that suggested General Electric has blocked the plan to cover up environmental violations, Bouton and Public Affairs parted ways. The book will now be released in June under the colophon of Bouton's Bulldog Publishing, which also published an edition of Ball Four. Bouton will distribute Foul Ball through Midpoint.
But what seem like a simple story of an author-publisher disagreement is anything but, Bouton said. In an interview and in the book, he questioned whether a relationship between Public Affairs publisher Peter Osnos and an investor clouded the publisher's judgment, and also wondered about how Osnos handled the situation after the author and house agreed to end their relationship.
Bouton said that he had no indication that Golob or anyone else at the Public Affairs had a problem with the GE references until he had a meeting with Osnos, who very quickly disclosed his friendship with GE legal counsel Ben Heineman and told Bouton that Heineman would soon be making an investment in Public Affairs. Shortly after, Bouton writes in an afterword to Foul Ball, Osnos told him, " 'My friendship to Ben Heineman is more important than any book. And Ben Heineman's name WILL NOT GO IN THAT BOOK.' " Bouton said that Golob did "a one-eighty" and, not long after that, told him that he had to remove nearly all of the GE passages.
Bouton writes that Golob said the decision to ask for the passages' removal "had absolutely nothing to do with GE's top lawyer becoming a partner in Public Affairs," to which Bouton quips in the book, "Sure. And Jay Pomeroy just loves baseball," referring to a GE employee featured in the story. Bouton also writes that Osnos hired a lawyer "to try to buy my silence.... The lawyer told my agent I could keep half the money already paid to me if I promised not to talk or write about why I was leaving Public Affairs." Bouton recalls telling his agent, "I don't know what my price is for keeping my mouth shut, but I know it's not $25, 000."
Public Affairs declined to discuss the allegations specifically, but spokesperson Gene Taft said that the split was the result of an editorial disagreement. "There were a number of different subplots that didn't fit," he said, and Bouton declined to make the requested changes. Taft said he also finds it "outrageous that Bouton would be making all these allegations, especially when he still has our money." Bouton has not returned—and says he has no intention of returning—the $50,000 Public Affairs has paid him, saying the company took three months to give him a letter of termination, harming his chances for another deal.
A source familiar with the situation suspects both sides' versions contain a little truth. "It's a case of two parties looking at the same material and drawing different conclusions," said the source. But, the source added, "There are coincidences that one can tie together and say that Peter Osnos made the decision he did for reasons having to do with a relationship. But I haven't seen anything to connect the dots." The source said Osnos almost certainly asked Bouton to remove the passages out of editorial, not business, concerns.
Of the allegations, Osnos would say only, "I haven't felt this way since Pravda called me a spy—and look at what happened to the Soviet Union." The author's contentions, which at another house might be written off, become sharper here; Public Affairs takes a principled stand in not making some of the compromises that a larger, conglomerate-owned house might. Osnos is known for his integrity and measured independence from corporate publishing, as well as for the ferocity of his opinions.
Bouton eventually got an offer from Ballantine, but turned it down because of a "number of caveats" connected to rights. He then decided to self-publish the book, because "I just wanted more control over everything." "If I sold it somewhere, how do I know if the publisher will promote it, or sit on it because someone from GE placed a call to their lawyer?"
