Another Stalemate

Publication of Walt Brasch's book on the demise of the former Globe-Times of Bethlehem has encountered yet another major roadblock. The author's publisher is now requiring him to buy a $5 million liability bond and help pay for a lawyer's review before the book can appear.

The estimated cost of such a bond is $25,000. The cost of lawyering the book would he $2,500 , of which Brasch's share would be $500, Brasch said he has been told.

Brasch, a journalism professor at Bloomsburg University whose humor column frequently appears in The Valley Voice, said in a recent interview that the bond requirement was not in the book contract he signed and that the issue had not been raised until recently.

The book, "Betrayed: The Death of An American Newspaper,"was to have been published in December by Lehigh University Press.

The book charges that The Globe-Times' death was caused by a number of factors, but that among these was mismanagement. Brasch's judgment on Nancy Adams Taylor, the paper's last publisher, was that she was "naive and didn't fail so much as she allowed others to make bad judgments on her behalf."

Brasch said at the time that he was told by persons at Lehigh that the university treasurer became concerned about the book's references to Mrs. Taylor and without consulting an attorney, -sent the book on to the provost of the university, Alan W. Pense.

Though scheduled for December 1995 publication, the book did not appear.

The bond is not being required by Lehigh University but by Associated University Presses of Cranbury, NJ, a consortium of academic presses to which Lehigh belongs. Brasch's contract is with Associated University Presses, not Lehigh University Press.

"Twenty-five thousand dollars is not something I can take out of petty cash,"Brasch said. "Not many writers can. Besides, I wouldn't pay even $2 for such a bond. If people know I have a $5 million liability bond, they're going to sue me for $5 million."

He added that in the course of his career in journalism he had never heard of a book publisher requiring an author to post a bond at his or her own expense. Publishers normally purchase their own liability bonds, although as a rule book contracts require the authors to be a party to any lawsuits that may result from their work.

Brasch currently is being advised by the National Writers' Union, an advocacy group for free-lance writers headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the United Auto Workers.

Phil Mattera, the union's national book grievance officer, also knew of no cases in which the purchase of a liability bond had been required of an author.

"As far as I know, the bond demand is unprecedented and totally unreasonable,"Mattera said. "We are concerned about the censorship implications, among other things."

The union's involvement up until now has been indirect,"Mattera added. "We may get more involved at some point soon, but we haven't yet:"

Both Lehigh Provost Pense and Lehigh University Press director Philip A. Metzger expressed the attitude that the controversy was now between Brasch and Associated University Presses: Lehigh was no longer directly involved. Both also said they were aware of a bond requirement. Pense, in fact, seemed surprised when the bond matter was mentioned.

"I knew about it; didn't [Brasch]?"Pense asked.

Dr. Stephen A. Cutcliffe, a member of the Lehigh faculty press committee, said the issue of a liability bond had been raised by Julien Yoseloff, director of Associated University Presses.

Reached by phone at his office, Yoseloff declined to talk about the issue but said he would be happy to respond to any of your questions in writing."

The Valley Voice faxed Yoseloff a list of 12 questions which related to Associated University Presses policy on liability bonds, as well as to implications for freedom of speech and of the press. One of The Valley Voice's questions asked:

"Has someone placed pressure on you or anyone else at Associated University Presses to not publish Brasch's book about the death of The Globe-Times? If so, who was that and what were the circumstances and details?"

In reply, Yoseloff supplied the following statement, which he requested be printed in its entirety:

"Associated University Presses and Walter Brasch are currently in discussion in regard to certain aspects of the publication contract for his book, 'Betrayed.' These discussions are between private parties and are ongoing. As such, we consider it inappropriate to share the content of these discussions with outside parties at this time.

"These discussions have arisen as a normal part of the production process. We have not been contacted by any outside parties in regard to the matters under discussion."

Asked why he didn't simply seek another publisher, author Brasch replied: "Right now I don't have the energy to pursue other publishers."

He said Penn State University had wanted to publish the book but my first choice was Lehigh. They're an academic publisher, they're right in the area, and they wanted to do it."

Brasch noted that his contract with the Associated University Presses calls for him to receive no royalties at all on the first printing of "Betrayed."

"I didn't do this book for the money,' he asserted. "I did it because the story had to be told."

Selections of this book:

Prologue
Acknowledgements
Introduction