30-10-2010, 05:24 AM
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Poignant, compelling, and convincing (about the real Lee), October 20, 2010
By James H. Fetzer (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Me & Lee: How I Came to Know, Love and Lose Lee Harvey Oswald (Hardcover)
As it happens, I have been privileged to know Judyth Vary Baker for several years now. I have interviewed her at least fifteen times on YouTube and featured her in blogs (which are archived at JamesFetzerNews and [...]). I also initiated a thread about her on The Education Forum, which had thousands of posts and became the longest thread in the history of the forum. I am convinced that she is "the real deal", which is also the name of my radio show, which is archived at [...]. But all fifteen can be found at [...].
I have done extensive research on the death of JFK, including editing ASSASSINATION SCIENCE (1998), MURDER IN DEALEY PLAZA (2000), and THE GREAT ZAPRUDER HOAX (2003). My recent publications on JFK include "JFK and RFK: The Plots that Killed Them, The Patsies that Didn't", "The Dartmouth JFK-Photo Fiasco" with Jim Marrs, and "RFK: Outing the CIA at the Ambassador", which has just appeared. (Just google "John F. Kennedy: History, Memory, Legacy", and download Chapter 30, "Revisiting Dealey Plaza: What Happened to JFK?" for an overview.) I am familiar with the twists and turns of assassination research and of the extent of the effort to keep Judyth's story from the American public, which have even forced her to live in exile.
In my opinion, there are three major reasons for these attempts to silence her. The first is that she humanizes the alleged assassin, which makes it more difficult for the government to continue with its charade that he was "a lone, demented gunman". The second is that it exposes methods and techniques employed by the agency to keep its covert activities in the background and away from public scrutiny. The third is that she exposes research to develop a bio-weapon to murder Fidel Castro and make it appear to have been due to "natural causes" under the direction of Alton Ochsner, M.D., Dr. Mary Sherman, David Ferrie, Lee Oswald, and herself. Lee was working for the very agencies that would ultimately frame him.
This is a gripping and absolutely compelling story told with emotional intensity and stunning candor. We already knew that the weapon he was alleged to have used cannot have fired the bullets that killed JFK. We also knew that he was on the 2nd floor in the lunchroom at the time of the shooting. We also know that he admired JFK and bore him no malice. Which means the man who was fingered by the Warren Commission for murdering JFK had neither the means, the motive, or the opportunity to have killed him. Now we know what was happening during the crucial months that Lee was in New Orleans prior to 22 November 1963 through this book, which brings the character and personality of the man who would be cast as "the patsy" to life.
This book ranks among the very best ever written on the assassination, including BLOODY TREASON by Noel Twyman, JFK AND THE UNSPEAKABLE by James Douglass, INSIDE THE ARRB by Douglas Horne, and LBJ: THE MASTERMIND BEHIND JFK'S ASSASSINATION by Phillip Nelson, most of whom I have also interviewed. (See, for example, [...]) ME & LEE belongs in this illustrious collection. Judyth Vary Baker has demonstrated her courage, integrity, and dedication to the truth and has made a major contribution to understanding the plot to kill our 35th president and has earned our admiration.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The Summer of '63 Ends with the Tears of Autumn, October 19, 2010
By W. Green - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Me & Lee: How I Came to Know, Love and Lose Lee Harvey Oswald (Hardcover)
It's somewhat difficult to read this book in the harsh glare of today's cynical society. But the author's honest memories, although almost incredibly naive as viewed within the current paradigm, seem perfectly credible in the context of 1963 America. So in reading this love story, researchers must get beyond the fairy tale and look at the apparent facts Baker presents. Her book Me & Lee, is full of "facts" many of which are astounding. According to her, Lee Harvey Oswald should be remembered as real person with strong but almost child-like feelings of patriotism and romantic love. He was her dear friend and lover in the Summer of '63. Only 24 years old, he was a disciplined, well-read, self-educated person of strong convictions. He had already experienced a lifetime of adventures, relationships, and tribulations: orphanage living, Mafia-related foster parents, parental divorces, Marine duty in Japan (playing the part of the good American and the bad American), travel to Soviet Russia in an attempted "defection", marriage to a young Russian woman with Soviet espionage connections, return to America (with the government giving him a pass on his apparent treason), shooting at General Walker in April 1963 (according to the Warren Commission), starting his own branch of a pro-Castro organization in New Orleans while working secretly as part of a conspiracy to kill Castro, falling in love with the author Judyth Vary Baker, rubbing shoulders with the powerful Dallas White Russian community, finding a job in a building located on Dealey Plaza (the perfect location to execute the crime of the century), and finally becoming the prime suspect in the killing of a Dallas policeman and the President of the United States. Then as a postscript, he is a victim of assassination (a live-TV first), and takes his place in the history books of the school children of America, as the "official", non-conspiratorial, "lone-nut", motivation-unknown killer of JFK.
With the publication of her book, Judyth Vary Baker has introduced many new juicy "facts" into the JFK assassination stew. Some may question her facts, but that is the nature of this historical beast. After 47 years, identifying and interpreting the Oswald "facts" has become almost impossible. But the nature of Oswald's life in New Orleans in 1963 has remained a mystery until now. The facts of that period of time have been few and confusing. The author illuminates this time with her personal reflections as a young cancer researcher hired to work on a secret project. The book deals with events of incredible historical impact but maintains a light-hearted, youthful tone often laced with tour guide detail. She describes an alleged major criminal/political conspiracy involving all the "usual suspects": Dave Ferrie, Clay Shaw, Guy Bannister, Jack Martin, Dean Andrews, Carlos Marcello and a couple of new players from the medical establishmentDr. Mary's Monkey: How the Unsolved Murder of a Doctor, a Secret Laboratory in New Orleans and Cancer-Causing Monkey Viruses are Linked to Lee Harvey Oswald, ... Assassination and Emerging Global Epidemics. However, some the well-known players, while acting out the same parts that Jim Garrison scripted in his trial, appear to have different motives. In her scenario, Ferrie and Oswald respect JFK and only want to kill Castro which will spare Kennedy's life. Others like Shaw are involved but their motivations are murky. It may be impossible to know understand the motives of the JFK/Castro/CIA/Anti-Castro/Mafia/FBI/Right Wing/political elements. One is left with the feeling that the "usual suspects" are really only puppets controlled by unknown hands. However, since the Warren Commission's case against Oswald is such a house of cards, the facts provided in this book provide more tools to undermine its conclusions: Is it true that Oswald was a paid agent of the government as Baker concludes? Did he know Jack (Sparky) Ruby as a close friend and conspiratorial co-worker? Was he part of a highly organized and financed plan to kill Castro? Did he deliver a cancer-producing device to a mental hospital in Louisiana as a test, which resulted in the murder of several inmates? If any of these "facts" are true you can fill in the blanks of Garrison's case and disregard the evidentiary weight of the Commission and its 26 volumes. If the author's facts are true, the Warren Report must have been based on falsified evidence, inept or non-existent investigation, and the clever omission and distortion of reality. Did all-powerful parties create a patchwork, cartoon-like picture of Oswald as the "lone nut" by forcing ill-fitting historical puzzle pieces into their positions and selling this as the "truth" to the American people? If so, the real truth was buried, the 4th estate was bound and gagged, and Americans now carry the psychological burden of knowing their political "parents" in Washington D.C. are at the very least hypocrites and at worst murderers.
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18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Baker's Story Is Imperfect Enough to Be True, October 5, 2010
By Dean T. Hartwell (Glendale, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Me & Lee: How I Came to Know, Love and Lose Lee Harvey Oswald (Hardcover)
Me and Lee tells us a story of a man we have all heard about. But we finally get to meet him.
Judyth Vary Baker recalls her relationship with Lee Harvey Oswald from the time they met in New Orleans in the spring of 1963 until their last phone conversation just two days before events in Dallas identified him to the public.
She introduces him as a "good man" and a "patriot." He helped her get a job, he revealed his secret life as a government agent concerned about protecting President Kennedy and consoled her over the turmoil in her life - a bad marriage, a new city to live in and an unknown future.
This refreshing, new look at Oswald will challenge preconceptions many people have had about him. Many will be willing to at least give her story a chance. And that is all that Baker asks for, as she states in the books final line, "I leave my testimony in your hands."
Those who wish to dismiss what she says will have to contend with several factors, among them: Baker's candor, her depth of detail and verification of much of the story.
Judyth Baker never claims to be a saint. She admits to having an affair with Oswald during a time in which both were married to other people. And she acknowledges she spent time with questionable company, including New Orleans mafia boss Carlos Marcello, on a questionable top-secret project designed to develop cancer cells to be used to poison Fidel Castro.
Even though she was only twenty years old during this time, she makes no excuses and allows herself to be seen in a less-than-sympathetic light at times. Her writing thus shows sincerity about herself.
Baker also gives details of her relationship with Oswald. She recounts phone conversations, places the two went and people they met. Her questioning of Oswald about his actions during this time provide a strong picture of what many have suspected all along: he served as an agent during the Cold War, pretending to be a Communist at times so as to provide cover for other activities.
And she provides in her Appendix many details that confirm her story, such as a portion of a tourist visa for Oswald to visit Mexico, her recounting of an interview with Anna Lewis as a person who knew her and Oswald and her conversations with people such as David Ferrie to provide a conclusion for such questions as why Ruby, a friend of Oswald's, would kill him.
The story of Me and Lee is for anyone who wants to learn more about one of the most misunderstood people in our nation's history. It is a story of a flawed man written by a flawed woman who has dealt with the passage of time in recounting it. Their imperfections do not harm the reading of the story: they make it all the more likely to be true.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Poignant, compelling, and convincing (about the real Lee), October 20, 2010
By James H. Fetzer (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Me & Lee: How I Came to Know, Love and Lose Lee Harvey Oswald (Hardcover)
As it happens, I have been privileged to know Judyth Vary Baker for several years now. I have interviewed her at least fifteen times on YouTube and featured her in blogs (which are archived at JamesFetzerNews and [...]). I also initiated a thread about her on The Education Forum, which had thousands of posts and became the longest thread in the history of the forum. I am convinced that she is "the real deal", which is also the name of my radio show, which is archived at [...]. But all fifteen can be found at [...].
I have done extensive research on the death of JFK, including editing ASSASSINATION SCIENCE (1998), MURDER IN DEALEY PLAZA (2000), and THE GREAT ZAPRUDER HOAX (2003). My recent publications on JFK include "JFK and RFK: The Plots that Killed Them, The Patsies that Didn't", "The Dartmouth JFK-Photo Fiasco" with Jim Marrs, and "RFK: Outing the CIA at the Ambassador", which has just appeared. (Just google "John F. Kennedy: History, Memory, Legacy", and download Chapter 30, "Revisiting Dealey Plaza: What Happened to JFK?" for an overview.) I am familiar with the twists and turns of assassination research and of the extent of the effort to keep Judyth's story from the American public, which have even forced her to live in exile.
In my opinion, there are three major reasons for these attempts to silence her. The first is that she humanizes the alleged assassin, which makes it more difficult for the government to continue with its charade that he was "a lone, demented gunman". The second is that it exposes methods and techniques employed by the agency to keep its covert activities in the background and away from public scrutiny. The third is that she exposes research to develop a bio-weapon to murder Fidel Castro and make it appear to have been due to "natural causes" under the direction of Alton Ochsner, M.D., Dr. Mary Sherman, David Ferrie, Lee Oswald, and herself. Lee was working for the very agencies that would ultimately frame him.
This is a gripping and absolutely compelling story told with emotional intensity and stunning candor. We already knew that the weapon he was alleged to have used cannot have fired the bullets that killed JFK. We also knew that he was on the 2nd floor in the lunchroom at the time of the shooting. We also know that he admired JFK and bore him no malice. Which means the man who was fingered by the Warren Commission for murdering JFK had neither the means, the motive, or the opportunity to have killed him. Now we know what was happening during the crucial months that Lee was in New Orleans prior to 22 November 1963 through this book, which brings the character and personality of the man who would be cast as "the patsy" to life.
This book ranks among the very best ever written on the assassination, including BLOODY TREASON by Noel Twyman, JFK AND THE UNSPEAKABLE by James Douglass, INSIDE THE ARRB by Douglas Horne, and LBJ: THE MASTERMIND BEHIND JFK'S ASSASSINATION by Phillip Nelson, most of whom I have also interviewed. (See, for example, [...]) ME & LEE belongs in this illustrious collection. Judyth Vary Baker has demonstrated her courage, integrity, and dedication to the truth and has made a major contribution to understanding the plot to kill our 35th president and has earned our admiration.
Why no voting buttons? We don't let customers vote on their own reviews, so the voting buttons appear only when you look at reviews submitted by others.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The Summer of '63 Ends with the Tears of Autumn, October 19, 2010
By W. Green - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Me & Lee: How I Came to Know, Love and Lose Lee Harvey Oswald (Hardcover)
It's somewhat difficult to read this book in the harsh glare of today's cynical society. But the author's honest memories, although almost incredibly naive as viewed within the current paradigm, seem perfectly credible in the context of 1963 America. So in reading this love story, researchers must get beyond the fairy tale and look at the apparent facts Baker presents. Her book Me & Lee, is full of "facts" many of which are astounding. According to her, Lee Harvey Oswald should be remembered as real person with strong but almost child-like feelings of patriotism and romantic love. He was her dear friend and lover in the Summer of '63. Only 24 years old, he was a disciplined, well-read, self-educated person of strong convictions. He had already experienced a lifetime of adventures, relationships, and tribulations: orphanage living, Mafia-related foster parents, parental divorces, Marine duty in Japan (playing the part of the good American and the bad American), travel to Soviet Russia in an attempted "defection", marriage to a young Russian woman with Soviet espionage connections, return to America (with the government giving him a pass on his apparent treason), shooting at General Walker in April 1963 (according to the Warren Commission), starting his own branch of a pro-Castro organization in New Orleans while working secretly as part of a conspiracy to kill Castro, falling in love with the author Judyth Vary Baker, rubbing shoulders with the powerful Dallas White Russian community, finding a job in a building located on Dealey Plaza (the perfect location to execute the crime of the century), and finally becoming the prime suspect in the killing of a Dallas policeman and the President of the United States. Then as a postscript, he is a victim of assassination (a live-TV first), and takes his place in the history books of the school children of America, as the "official", non-conspiratorial, "lone-nut", motivation-unknown killer of JFK.
With the publication of her book, Judyth Vary Baker has introduced many new juicy "facts" into the JFK assassination stew. Some may question her facts, but that is the nature of this historical beast. After 47 years, identifying and interpreting the Oswald "facts" has become almost impossible. But the nature of Oswald's life in New Orleans in 1963 has remained a mystery until now. The facts of that period of time have been few and confusing. The author illuminates this time with her personal reflections as a young cancer researcher hired to work on a secret project. The book deals with events of incredible historical impact but maintains a light-hearted, youthful tone often laced with tour guide detail. She describes an alleged major criminal/political conspiracy involving all the "usual suspects": Dave Ferrie, Clay Shaw, Guy Bannister, Jack Martin, Dean Andrews, Carlos Marcello and a couple of new players from the medical establishmentDr. Mary's Monkey: How the Unsolved Murder of a Doctor, a Secret Laboratory in New Orleans and Cancer-Causing Monkey Viruses are Linked to Lee Harvey Oswald, ... Assassination and Emerging Global Epidemics. However, some the well-known players, while acting out the same parts that Jim Garrison scripted in his trial, appear to have different motives. In her scenario, Ferrie and Oswald respect JFK and only want to kill Castro which will spare Kennedy's life. Others like Shaw are involved but their motivations are murky. It may be impossible to know understand the motives of the JFK/Castro/CIA/Anti-Castro/Mafia/FBI/Right Wing/political elements. One is left with the feeling that the "usual suspects" are really only puppets controlled by unknown hands. However, since the Warren Commission's case against Oswald is such a house of cards, the facts provided in this book provide more tools to undermine its conclusions: Is it true that Oswald was a paid agent of the government as Baker concludes? Did he know Jack (Sparky) Ruby as a close friend and conspiratorial co-worker? Was he part of a highly organized and financed plan to kill Castro? Did he deliver a cancer-producing device to a mental hospital in Louisiana as a test, which resulted in the murder of several inmates? If any of these "facts" are true you can fill in the blanks of Garrison's case and disregard the evidentiary weight of the Commission and its 26 volumes. If the author's facts are true, the Warren Report must have been based on falsified evidence, inept or non-existent investigation, and the clever omission and distortion of reality. Did all-powerful parties create a patchwork, cartoon-like picture of Oswald as the "lone nut" by forcing ill-fitting historical puzzle pieces into their positions and selling this as the "truth" to the American people? If so, the real truth was buried, the 4th estate was bound and gagged, and Americans now carry the psychological burden of knowing their political "parents" in Washington D.C. are at the very least hypocrites and at worst murderers.
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18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Baker's Story Is Imperfect Enough to Be True, October 5, 2010
By Dean T. Hartwell (Glendale, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Me & Lee: How I Came to Know, Love and Lose Lee Harvey Oswald (Hardcover)
Me and Lee tells us a story of a man we have all heard about. But we finally get to meet him.
Judyth Vary Baker recalls her relationship with Lee Harvey Oswald from the time they met in New Orleans in the spring of 1963 until their last phone conversation just two days before events in Dallas identified him to the public.
She introduces him as a "good man" and a "patriot." He helped her get a job, he revealed his secret life as a government agent concerned about protecting President Kennedy and consoled her over the turmoil in her life - a bad marriage, a new city to live in and an unknown future.
This refreshing, new look at Oswald will challenge preconceptions many people have had about him. Many will be willing to at least give her story a chance. And that is all that Baker asks for, as she states in the books final line, "I leave my testimony in your hands."
Those who wish to dismiss what she says will have to contend with several factors, among them: Baker's candor, her depth of detail and verification of much of the story.
Judyth Baker never claims to be a saint. She admits to having an affair with Oswald during a time in which both were married to other people. And she acknowledges she spent time with questionable company, including New Orleans mafia boss Carlos Marcello, on a questionable top-secret project designed to develop cancer cells to be used to poison Fidel Castro.
Even though she was only twenty years old during this time, she makes no excuses and allows herself to be seen in a less-than-sympathetic light at times. Her writing thus shows sincerity about herself.
Baker also gives details of her relationship with Oswald. She recounts phone conversations, places the two went and people they met. Her questioning of Oswald about his actions during this time provide a strong picture of what many have suspected all along: he served as an agent during the Cold War, pretending to be a Communist at times so as to provide cover for other activities.
And she provides in her Appendix many details that confirm her story, such as a portion of a tourist visa for Oswald to visit Mexico, her recounting of an interview with Anna Lewis as a person who knew her and Oswald and her conversations with people such as David Ferrie to provide a conclusion for such questions as why Ruby, a friend of Oswald's, would kill him.
The story of Me and Lee is for anyone who wants to learn more about one of the most misunderstood people in our nation's history. It is a story of a flawed man written by a flawed woman who has dealt with the passage of time in recounting it. Their imperfections do not harm the reading of the story: they make it all the more likely to be true.
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