MEMO
From: Martin Shackelford
Subject: Gerald Posner's Case Closed, Items One Through Twelve
Date: February 28, 1994

        There have been many deceptive books on the J.F.K. assassination,
both from a pro-conspiracy and a pro-Warren Commission viewpoint. Last
year, Gerald Posner added another one to the literature.
        Let's quickly dispose of the myth that Mr. Posner was sent forth
by Random House to seek out the evidence and go wherever it led him.
Random House, as Mr. Posner's editor informed author Walt Brown (by his
account at ASK 93), doesn't publish conspiracy books. A look at their
titles in the field (attached) supports this statement, with two
exceptions: 1) an RFK book which (according to its authors) it quickly
squelched, leaving it gathering dust in a warehouse while reporting there
were no copies available; and 2) a book it distributed, but was published
by Bernard Geis Associates (Six Seconds in Dallas by Josiah Thompson,
1967).
        Mr. Posner's book is misleading and erroneous in ways too
numerous to briefly summarize (for a fuller discussion, see my critique
in issue no. 5 of The Investigator). The twelve attachments to this memo
provide detailed examples of the kinds of things which are all too common
in the book. They fall into several categories:
   
    1) Misrepresenting witness testimony to support the lone assassin
thesis, or to distract from inconvenient contrary evidence: Items One,
Three.
    2) Quoting convenient witnesses, while ignoring the weight of the
evidence on the point about which they testified: Items Two, Four, Five.
    3) Announcing that the credible evidence supports his position, and
anything that conflicts with his position is not "credible": Item Five.
    4) Stating that "the photographic evidence" shows one thing, when in
fact it shows the exact opposite, or something unrelated to the argument
he is trying to make: Items Six, Eight, Nine (2), Ten, Twelve (3, 4).
    5) Ignoring photographic evidence which might cast doubt on his
thesis: Item Seven.
    6) Seeking to discredit conspiracy witnesses by reporting false
"errors": Item Nine (1).
    7) Making errors which reveal his knowledge of the case is much more
superficial than he seeks to suggest: Item Eleven, Twelve (1, 2).

         The best advice I've seen about writing on the J.F.K.
assassination was given by journalist Jim Marrs, in the introduction to
his book Crossfire:
         "Do not trust this book.
         "In fact, when it comes to the assassination of President John
F. Kennedy, don't trust any one source or even the basic evidence and
testimony. 
         "In the case of the J.F.K. assassination, belief and trust have
long been part of the problem."

         Would that Mr. Posner could take so skeptical a view of his own
thesis.