John Armstrong's Harvey and Lee

[Albert Rossi]

I have read Harvey & Lee, and think John's book is a must-read, mainly because of all the new information he has turned up and assembled. It is quite an impressive bit of legwork and digging. I have never had trouble with the idea of Oswald doubles -- Leon in New Orleans, the doubles which seem to have been operating in Dallas several weeks before, etc. But I'm not sure what to make of the principal thesis of the book. Certainly there are lots of difficulties with the identity of Oswald: school records, social security records, being in different places at the same time, non-matching anatomical features or medical history, etc. But one thing has bothered me about the "matching" of two youngsters at such an early age. Can anyone cite statistical information on what it would take to find two kids with extremely close physiognomies who were unrelated? and, once located at that early age, have a high level of certainty that they will remain phenotypically not just similar, but very similar, through their adolescent maturation process?

Let me explain a little further. In the case of the doubles in New Orleans, Mexico City, Dallas, the closeness of the physical match does not seem to be a crucial issue. But the kinds of distinctions in the photographic record John adduces are very subtle, something only a family member like John Pic could really notice. I don't question the ability to find suitable doubles for a 24-year old; my question has to do with doubling from early on.