James Hatfield, author of "Fortunate Son"

[Laura M Hanning]

James Hatfield wrote "Fortunate Son" about G.W. Bush.
He died.

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In 2002 I did some digging on Sander Hicks. I became concerned about
his history with James Hatfield.

(Source for Hicks' acknowledgement that Hatfield's life had been
threatened:

http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/2001/05/Skull_Soft_CEO_052801.html
A BuzzFlash Interview with Sander Hicks, CEO of Soft Skull, the
Publisher of "Fortunate Son"
May 28, 2001)


In 2002 I did some digging on Sander Hicks. I became concerned about his history with James Hatfield, author of "Fortunate Son."

Excerpts below, or see

Delmart Vreeland Open Discussion (http://p066.ezboard.com/bdelmartvreelandopendiscussion)
"Dear Sander," thread
started by burningbush666 on 09/13/02

direct links:

http://p066.ezboard.com/fdelmartvreelandopendiscussionfrm1.showMessageRange?topicID=205.topic&
start=1&stop=20

and

http://p066.ezboard.com/fdelmartvreelandopendiscussionfrm1.showMessageRange?topicID=205.topic&
start=21&stop=24

and

“(OT) For Sander: questions about Hatfield” thread
started by Laura44 (me) on 09/06/02

http://p066.ezboard.com/fdelmartvreelandopendiscussionfrm1.showMessage?topicID=187.topic
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Begin excerpts:

Laura44
Registered User
Posts: 100
(9/12/02 8:57 pm)

Fortunate Son .... .... is an important book.

In "Investigation of a Suicide: The Diaries" Hicks writes that Hatfield's mother-in-law told another journalist that the official story about Hatfield's death was false. (This is an important matter considering that Hicks himself acknowledged, two months prior to the alleged suicide, that Hatfield's life had been threatened.)

He writes,

sanderhicks.com/articles/hatfield1.html

"So if the Bentonville file exists then the mother-in-law's credibility is in serious trouble. If there's an arrest warrant for Jim, and none for George Burt, someone is wrong, and it's not the cops. I already suspect the mother-in-law is not credible."

This article ends without resolving or further addressing ANY of these points. More than that, it ends with,

"Although this investigation has to conclude that Hatfield most likely committed suicide alone... "

Why does it have to? What is that based on?

In addition, Hicks reveals an obvious distaste for Hatfield in this piece. His characterizations are extremely unflattering.

Hatfield deserved better.

Look at how Hicks ended his Vreeland promo piece. Two of his claims to fame were, "I have appeared on "60 Minutes" and "Court TV" regarding
my company's publication of controversial George W. Bush biography Fortunate Son."

I'm grateful to Hatfield for the book. Hicks got on national TV over it. I hope he's grateful to Hatfield too.

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Laura44
Registered User
Posts: 102
(9/13/02 10:28 am)


Re: Fair enough - I haven't found any in-depth pieces on the alleged suicide.

Hatfield's wife Nancy told Linda Starr of "Bush Watch" (1) that "there
is absolutely no question that Jim took his own life." But considering the kind of enemies Jim took on, and the death threats he received (plus the claims of his mother-in-law to Bev Conover, according to Hicks) one cannot be faulted for taking the official story with a grain of salt.

Maybe Hicks' story could have cleared it up once and for all, but it didn't.

This is how Hatfield was described by two people who knew him:

Linda Starr:

"Jim Hatfield was witty, funny, brilliant, articulate, a very good writer and was a great friend to me. I will miss Jim, his many talents, his humor, his passion, his work and a warm light has gone out of my life forever. The world will be a much colder, darker place without Jim in it and we have lost a great fighter in the cause to expose the truth about GWB. (2)

Bev Conover:

"I got to know Jim fairly well over the past few years. I knew him to be a gentle and sensitive man whose life, career and family were ruined because he told the truth about George W. Bush.' (3)

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Sander Hicks had some complimentary things to say about Jim but in my view they were STRONGLY overshadowed by statements like these (4):

" ... a grasping after the bright surface of sure success and societyâs approval, while on the inside there lives a truth no one knows until too late: doubt, debt, insecurity, alcoholism, and failure."

"But Jim was nothing but one pitiful character: $125 thousand in debt but still making payments on a BMW."

"These days, I'm between my stubborn initial defensive posture about Jim and realizing that he was a scam artist, and not a good one."

------

I was certainly left with the impression that Hicks found Hatfield distasteful, which in turn left a bitter taste in my mouth about Hicks.

Then Hicks pops up here with that Vreeland promo and with rude comments about posters here at this forum ..... and then that pitiful interview...

(Correction 9/16/02: happenstancez posted the promo piece and rude comments about posters here, leaving the impression that he/she was Sander Hicks. This does not appear to be the case. See pub95.ezboard.com/fdelmar...=182.topic for the post that led to the misunderstanding. <http://p066.ezboard.com/fdelmartvreelandopendiscussionfrm1.showMessage?topicID=182.topic>)

Is there a term for someone who throws ugly characterizations at the good guys and attempts to bolster the reputations of the questionable ones?

Hatfield's past was never the issue. The substance of his work was the issue. He'd written 8 books before writing "Fortunate Son." He made powerful enemies. As far as I'm concerned Sander Hicks didn't do him any favors.

1) www.bushnews.com/hdeath.htm
2) ibid.
3) www.ajax.org/articles/hatfield.html
4) sanderhicks.com/articles/hatfield1.html and
sanderhicks.com/articles/hatfield2.html

Laura

Edited by: Laura44 at: 9/16/02 8:54:30 am

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Laura44
Registered User
Posts: 104
(9/13/02 2:15 pm)


Hatfield had three sources on that Hi-

I reread Hatfield's Forward and Afterword in Soft Skull's 1st edition of "Fortunate Son." He had three sources for the GW cocaine/community service story. According to Hatfield, he repeatedly and adamantly refused to name his sources even though his silence cost him plenty.

In the Afterword, he identified the first source only as a GW former Yale classmate and family friend. The second source was described as a "longtime Bush friend and unofficial political adviser." The third, he said, was a "high-ranking adviser to Bush who had known the presidential candidate for several years."

At least two of the three sources have now been revealed, but how that came to pass is a bit controversial.

According to Anthony York of Salon, Soft Skull revealed Rove as a source against Hatfield's wishes. (1)

In an interview with Buzzflash Hatfield acknowledged that Sander Hicks revealed Rove as a source in the updated second edition of the book, but that he himself could not personally confirm or deny that. He added, "A man's word is his bond and that's about all I have left these days." (2)

Gavin MacDonald, in his May 2002 article at BarbelithWebzine, stated, "They produced a run of 45,000 copies, and this time, with Hicks as a mouthpiece, Hatfield did not spare the anonymity of his sources." (3)

Sander himself said, in May 2001, "We've revealed these sources now, and one of them is Rove." In the same piece, he named another one as Clay Johnson. (4)

Whether or not this was done with Hatfield's consent is the question.

Deep Throat appears to have been Rove.

(As an aside, the Forward in my book was really messed up. Sentences at the end of one page were not continued on the next in a few places. I may have missed some juicy stuff.)

1) www.ajax.org/articles/hatfield.html
2) www.buzzflash.com/intervi...53101.html
3) www.barbelith.com/cgi-bin...0058.shtml
4) sanderhicks.com/articles/horowitz3.html
5) ibid.

Laura

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Laura44
Registered User
Posts: 106
(9/13/02 5:26 pm)

full Hatfield quote

You know what? I should have given the full quote from Hatfield in that May 2001 Buzzflash interview because I've just reread it and it sheds more light on the matter than the brief quote I gave earlier.

www.buzzflashcom.bigstep....tml?pid=28

Quote: As to the second part of your question of whether I was "a victim of his hatchet jobs," well, quite frankly, I'm between a rock and a hard place. I have always believed that an author or journalist should keep his word if he told his confidential sources that they would always remain anonymous in exchange for the information they provided. Everybody and their mamma has tried to get me to name the three confidential sources who alleged in the afterword to "Fortunate
Son" that Bush was arrested for cocaine possession in 1972. However, through some tough financial and emotional times for my family and me during the past year and a half, I've never reneged on my promise to those three persons. Television newsmagazines, tabloids, Larry Flynt, and a host of others have offered to pay me, but the answer has always been the same: "Thanks, but no thanks." I know that Sander Hicks, my publisher, has stated in interviews and in the introduction to the new, updated second edition of "Fortunate Son" that Rove was one of my sources, but I cannot personally deny or confirm. A man's word is his bond and that's about all I have left these days.

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It occurs to me that Hatfield would have (or should have) known that revealing the identities of his sources, or giving his consent to having them revealed, would have increased the likelihood of retaliation against him.

By the way, Hicks is in the process of writing a book on Rove, titled Kingmaker.

Laura

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Laura44
Registered User
Posts: 120
(9/15/02 11:40 pm)


Sander Hicks at the Toronto Film Festival (interview) Information about the trials and tribulations of getting "Fortunate Son" published are revealed in this Sept. 10, 2002 video interview.

According to Hicks, Hatfield wanted to avoid talking about his criminal background. But on the noble premise that "the truth will set you free," Sander encouraged him "to come clean about his past" in the Forward to the Jan. 2000 first edition.

According to Sander, Hatfield "fully confessed his story" and in doing
so "implicated other people in a pretty insane blackmail scheme..."

As a result, they were sued for defamation. Sander pleaded with the book distributor not to have distribution stopped, but was told, "Sorry. You're an independent publisher, you don't have liable (sic) insurance, and we don't want to get named in this lawsuit."

Once Bush was in the White House the lawsuit was dropped. Soft Skull didn't have to pay a dime.

Sander said he'd hoped they could have kept Bush out of the White House, and that in a close election this book could have tipped the scales.

Laura

(interview: www.theglobeandmail.com/s...orns.html)

Edited by: Laura44 at: 9/16/02 10:04:56 am

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Laura44
Registered User
Posts: 83
(9/6/02 1:16 pm)
Reply (OT) For Sander: questions about Hatfield

In your piece about Hatfield: "Investigation of a Suicide: The Diaries" you made some important points that were not resolved by the end of the article.

Did you ever acquire the Bentonville files that Jim's mother-in-law said had been seized by US Marshalls? Her credibility was at stake over that, you said, yet you never mentioned what you found out about it.

I remain skeptical about events surrounding his death even though I understand his wife Nancy has stated there is no question that Jim took his own life. Is there any explanation for why her mother would disagree?

If St. Martin's had not pulled the book it might have changed the outcome of the election. Toby Rogers of "High Times" wrote that Hatfield said -- one month prior to his death -- "They're gonna discredit me ... or silence me the best way they can... I'm in a very vulnerable position ... "

You said, in a May 2001 interview with Buzzflash, that Jim's life had been threatened. I understand he was facing arrest when he allegedly killed himself. I'm just curious about what you found out about those Bentonville files.
Edited by: Laura44 at: 9/6/02 1:20:04 pm

[lostnfound]

1. If that was interesting to you, you might be interested in..

the stories of:
Mark Lombardi
Danny Casolaro
Steve Kangas

[Laura M Hanning]

2. The Last Circle by Cheri Seymour

I read about Casolaro, etc. in this on-line book.

http://www.lycaeum.org/books/books/last_circle/circle!.htm

Don't know about the other two.

[Philostopher]

6. Kangas was the one who died under suspicious circumstances ...

well, I found them suspicious, anyway -- in the same office building as Richard Mellon Scaife, right? He was found in the men's room on the same floor with a gun in his hand and a bullet in his head.

Steve Kangas was one of the first really eloquent Internet agitators I remember finding online. This was back in the mid-90s -- his site is still floating around, he used to live in Santa Cruz, CA, I remember 'scruz.net' being part of the address.

Here's a link to a reconstituted version of the site that was up when he was still alive:

http://home.att.net/~Resurgence/LiberalFAQ.htm

I seldom cry when strangers die, but this one really got to me. He was one of those guys who had so much potential, and knew so much. I still can't quite believe he committed suicide, though I suppose it is possible -- if you were going to commit suicide, and you were a very active liberal, what better place to do it than in the restroom on the same floor as Dicky Mellon Scaife's offices?

[Crankie Avalon]

3. You should buy or rent...

..."Horns and Halos," a documentary about the whole saga of how Hicks and Hatfield struggled to get the book published, as well as Hatfield's suicide. I bought the DVD just the other week and I'm thrilled with it--excellent doc with lots of great DVD extras.

More info: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0002TT07I/104-5533340-6367963?v=glance

[anarchy1999]

4. His last article, before he became so depressed he suicided himself.

Why would Osama bin Laden want to kill Dubya, his former business partner?
By James Hatfield


Editor's note: In light of last week's horrific events and the Bush administration's reaction to them, we are reprising the following from the last column Jim Hatfield wrote for Online Journal prior to his tragic death on July 18:

July 3, 2001—There may be fireworks in Genoa, Italy, this month, too.

A plot by Saudi master terrorist, Osama bin Laden, to assassinate Dubya during the July 20 economic summit of world leaders, was uncovered after dozens of suspected Islamic militants linked to bin Laden's international terror network were arrested in Frankfurt, Germany, and Milan, Italy, in April.

German intelligence services have stated that bin Laden is covertly financing neo-Nazi skinhead groups throughout Europe to launch another terrorist attack at a high-profile American target—his first since the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen last October.

According to counter-terrorism experts quoted in Germany's largest newspaper, the attack on Dubya might be a James Bond-like aerial strike in the form of remote-controlled airplanes packed with plastic explosives.

Why would Osama bi Laden want to kill, Dubya, his former business partner?

I knew that bombshell would whip your heads around. So here's the straight scoop, folks.

In June 1977, Dubya formed his own drilling company, Arbusto Energy ("arbusto" means "bush" in Spanish), in Midland, Texas. Like his father before him, Dubya founded his oil business with the financial backing of investors, including James R. Bath, a Houston businessman whom Dubya apparently first met when they were in the same Texas Air National Guard unit. (Interestingly, both Dubya and Bath were both suspended from flying in August and September 1972, respectively, for "failure to accomplish annual medical examination.")

Tax documents and other financial records show that Bath, an aircraft broker with controversial ties to Saudi Arabia sheiks, had invested $50,000 in Arbusto, granting him a 5 percent interest in two limited partnerships controlled by Dubya.

Time magazine described Bath in 1991 as "a deal broker whose alleged associations run from the CIA to a major shareholder and director of the Bank of Credit & Commerce." BCCI, as it was more commonly known, closed its doors in July 1991 amid charges of multibillion-dollar fraud and global news reports that the financial institution had been heavily involved in drug money laundering, arms brokering, covert intelligence work, bribery of government officials and—here's the kicker—aid to terrorists.

Bath was never directly implicated in the BCCI scandal, but according to The Outlaw Bank, an award-winning 1993 book by Time correspondents, Jonathan Beaty and S.C. Gwynne, Bath originally "made his fortune by investing money for Mahfouz and another BCCI-connected Saudi, Sheikh bin Laden," reportedly the brother of none other than Osama bin Laden, the man accused by the U.S. government of masterminding the August 1998 terrorist bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania which killed more than 250 people.

According to court documents, Bath swore that in 1977 he represented four prominent and wealthy Saudi Arabians as a trustee and used his name on their investments in the United States. In return, he received a 5 percent interest in their deals. Time reporters Beaty and Gwynne suggest in their book that the $50,000 Bath invested in Dubya's Arbusto Energy drilling company may have belonged to Bath's Saudi clients since the Houston businessman "had no substantial money of his own at the time."

The FBI and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network later investigated Bath after allegations were made by one of his American business partners that the Saudis were using Bath and their giant piggy bank to influence U.S. policy. (Dubya's father had been appointed by President Ford to head the CIA from 1976–77.)

So, folks, the Middle Eastern oil money used to underwrite the first business venture of our future president of the United States, may have been derived at least in part from the family fortune of Saudi terrorist Osama bin Laden, who is now being accused of masterminding his assassination.

From the what-it's-worth-department: I think Dubya's handlers have fed disinformation through the CIA and other backdoor channels to German and Italian intelligence agencies about a possible hit on Dubya by the fugitive terrorist to gain public sympathy and concern for a U.S. president who has taken a nose-dive in the opinion polls.

The latest New York Times/CBS News poll showed Dubya's approval rating fell to 53 percent from 57 percent a few weeks ago, its lowest since he took office. Only 50 percent of those polled approved of his handling of the economy, while 47 percent approved of his foreign policy performances. Some 44 percent felt Dubya was not respected by foreign leaders, a mere 39 percent agreed with his policies on the environment, and a whopping 61 percent of Americans believed the new prez was not addressing the issues they care most about.

Obviously, the pollsters didn't call Dubya's sugar daddies—the oil and gas companies. Because he damn sure is taking care of their interests.

http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/Hatfield-R-091901/hatfield-r-091901.html

These are not the words of someone so depressed as to commit suicide.
IMHO. This was an angry person with an agenda.

[anarchy1999]

8. It might just have had something to do with his elder brother's death.

http://www.rense.com/general14/brother.htm
The Strange Death Of bin
Laden's Brother In Texas
By Bud Kennedy
[e-mail]
Ft Worth Star-Telegram
9-27-1

SCHERTZ - One chapter in the enigmatic story of Osama bin Laden might lead to a Texas pasture, where his oldest brother died 13 years ago in an accident that is still something of a mystery.

What we do know is that Salem bin Laden, 42, and the oldest of Saudi Arabia's bin Laden brothers, was on one of his frequent visits to Texas when he and friends went out for a Sunday afternoon of fun - flying low-power ultralight aircraft at an air park north of San Antonio.

What we don't know is why Salem bin Laden took off in the tiny aircraft and turned toward a nearby row of high-power electrical towers. He climbed, but not high enough to clear the upper power line. The Sprint ultralight got tangled and crashed into the ground 115 feet below.

"Of everybody who was there, nobody could figure out why he tried to fly over the power lines," said Gerry Auerbach, 77, of New Braunfels, a retired pilot for Saudi Arabian Airlines and for the bin Laden brothers, multimillionaire builders who long ago disowned Osama.

"It was kind of a weird deal," said Schertz police Lt. Stephen Starr, at the time the city's acting police chief. "He just drifted up into the wires."

It has been turned into an even weirder deal by conspiracy theorists - with the unlikely help of the Public Broadcasting Service.

In the 2000 PBS Frontline special report, Hunting bin Laden, PBS reported that Salem bin Laden died in a 1988 Texas plane crash - not in a hobby-kit-type, one-man ultralight, but in a full-size British Aerospace BAC 1-11. The death "revived some speculation that he might have been 'eliminated,' " PBS reported, adding that an accident report was "never divulged."


For everyone here, discount rense as you will, this is from a reporter in Fort Worth at the paper Star-Telegram 9/27/01

No one was paying attention back then.

Take off the rose colored glasses and smell the roses.

[Robbie67]

5. kick

[Eloriel]

7. And another

:kick: