Friends of Judi Bari
www.fojb.org
Reprinted from:
The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa CA)
Wednesday, February 2, 2005
Letters to the EditorMyriad mistakes
EDITOR: A Sunday book column ("A skewed biography of the late activist Judi Bari," by Sara Peyton) said, "Darlene Comingore, executor of Bari's estate, asked ... Encounter Books to withdraw the title because of the large number of mistakes." The review also said: "Mistakes aside, and (author Kate) Coleman admits her book is littered with them -- 'the little factoids I got wrong will be corrected in the next edition,' she said -- the fast-paced narrative zips along."
Not so fast. Coleman's myriad mistakes go far beyond "little factoids." As Comingore's letter noted, Bari's friends and family compiled a list of more than 350 factual errors in the book that are published on the Web at www.colemanhoax.info.
Some of the more significant errors are refuted by documentary evidence in the Web site's "Instant Proof" section. For example: Coleman said Bari turned her back on the forests after she was bombed in 1990 and focused only on her lawsuit against the FBI for trying to frame her. The truth is that Bari was the main organizer of the mass rallies for Headwaters Forest in Humboldt County from 1994 to 1996 that drew thousands of people, garnering the political support that made possible the state and federal acquisition of Headwaters Forest in 1999. "Instant Proof" No. 1 provides 15 pages of press clippings proving Bari continued leading the struggle for the forests until her death on March 2, 1997.
NICHOLAS WILSON
Coordinator, Friends of Judi Bari
MendocinoURL: http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050202/NEWS/50202003/1044/OPINION0201