My new book, "Into the Nightmare"

[Jim Hargrove]

Hi, Joseph,

Thank you for taking the work of John Armstrong on Two Oswalds so seriously in your new book. Into the Nightmare is getting the kind of press most of us--especially John Armstrong and me--just dream of.

The two Oswald theory is an incredibly hard sell, and I should know. Since 1999, I've run the Harvey and Lee website about John's work. Recently, John took an interest in developing it more fully and now it is much improved. If anyone asks you about his work, I wonder if you could give them the website address, which is:

harveyandlee.net

It might be a more convenient introduction than John's book. Thank you for all your work on this subject that troubles all of us here so much.

--Jim

[Joseph McBride]

http://www.amazon.com/Into-Nightmare-Kil...re+mcbride

The ebook (Kindle) edition of INTO THE NIGHTMARE: MY SEARCH
FOR THE KILLERS OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY AND OFFICER J. D. TIPPIT
went on sale yesterday at Amazon. See link above.

[Joseph McBride]

Norman,

Thanks for your interest in INTO THE NIGHTMARE.
The paperback edition is indeed a trade paperback
with good-sized pages and type. There is now also an ebook (Kindle) edition.
Both are available from Amazon.

[Joseph McBride]

Hi, Joseph,

Thank you for taking the work of John Armstrong on Two Oswalds so seriously in your new book. Into the Nightmare is getting the kind of press most of us--especially John Armstrong and me--just dream of.

The two Oswald theory is an incredibly hard sell, and I should know. Since 1999, I've run the Harvey and Lee website about John's work. Recently, John took an interest in developing it more fully and now it is much improved. If anyone asks you about his work, I wonder if you could give them the website address, which is:

harveyandlee.net

It might be a more convenient introduction than John's book. Thank you for all your work on this subject that troubles all of us here so much.

--Jim

Jim, Thanks for your good words. As INTO THE NIGHTMARE shows, I am an admirer of John Armstrong's HARVEY & LEE; its research is so thorough
that it finally convinced me there were two Oswalds, a theory about which I had been an agnostic. I think anyone who
reads the book with an open mind can hardly fail to be convinced of that basic thesis, even if some incidents
may have other explanations and even though I differ with HARVEY & LEE on some points (e.g., I don't believe either Oswald killed Tippit). One of
Armstrong's greatest achievements is following the dubious paper trail on the rifle
and the pistol the Warren Commission claimed were used by Oswald and convincing the reader that Oswald did not own either weapon. The book is a remarkable achievement in so many ways. I am glad it is back on sale. The documents
online are valuable reference tools as well.

[Jim Hargrove]

Jim, Thanks for your good words. As INTO THE NIGHTMARE shows, I am an admirer of John Armstrong's HARVEY & LEE; its research is so thorough that it finally convinced me there were two Oswalds, a theory about which I had been an agnostic. I think anyone who reads the book with an open mind can hardly fail to be convinced of that basic thesis, even if some incidents may have other explanations and even though I differ with HARVEY & LEE on some points (e.g., I don't believe either Oswald killed Tippit). One of Armstrong's greatest achievements is following the dubious paper trail on the rifle and the pistol the Warren Commission claimed were used by Oswald and convincing the reader that Oswald did not own either weapon. The book is a remarkable achievement in so many ways. I am glad it is back on sale. The documents online are valuable reference tools as well.

Thanks much for the reply, Joseph. This is embarrassing because I've just started reading JFK and the Unspeakable and your book is next, but JA is active again and I'm spending most of my free time trying to help him anyway I can and update the website, BUT .... do you have any brief thoughts to share here about the id of Tippit's killer?

Jim

[Tracy Riddle]

Jim, I have to agree with Joseph that I don't go along with Armstrong's scenario of the Tippit murder. Armstrong doesn't deal at all with witnesses who saw two men (no mention of Acquilla Clemons), discrepancies in clothing seen by different witnesses, differences in escape routes (see the interviews with Markham and Callaway in The Men Who Killed Kennedy) or with a car in the alley, and those who had seen Tippit in that neighborhood before (Jimmy Earl Burt calling him "Officer Friendly" for example).

In an otherwise great book, I think JA was trying a little too hard to squeeze "Lee" into every scenario he could.

[Jim Hargrove]

Jim, I have to agree with Joseph that I don't go along with Armstrong's scenario of the Tippit murder. Armstrong doesn't deal at all with witnesses who saw two men (no mention of Acquilla Clemons), discrepancies in clothing seen by different witnesses, differences in escape routes (see the interviews with Markham and Callaway in The Men Who Killed Kennedy) or with a car in the alley, and those who had seen Tippit in that neighborhood before (Jimmy Earl Burt calling him "Officer Friendly" for example).

In an otherwise great book, I think JA was trying a little too hard to squeeze "Lee" into every scenario he could.

Perhaps, but then we have to consider how a wallet containing a Texas drivers license for Lee Harvey Oswald and the Hidell id got to the Tippit murder scene and was filmed by WFAA-TV and seen by FBI SA Bob Barrett. Russian-speaking HARVEY didn't have a drivers license. American-born LEE clearly did.

If LEE killed Tippit and dropped the license at the scene to incriminate HARVEY, that seals the deal. If someone else brought the wallet to the scene (JA suspects Capt. Westbrook), then that hardly settles the matter, but there certainly is some sort of link between LEE Oswald and Tippit's murder.

Jim

[Joseph McBride]

In INTO THE NIGHTMARE, I carefully reconstruct what can be
determined about the Tippit murder scene, which is a RASHOMON
of conflicting accounts. In sorting this out, I discuss
possible suspects (and exonerate others). I believe at least two or three men were involved in Tippit's murder.

[Nathaniel Heidenheimer]

Joseph have you ever wondered why JFK gets all the Roshomon metaphors? Why the rest of the presidents don't get their share? Perhaps we could start a campaign?

No seriously Joseph one of the things that most interests me about your book is your comments on The Nation magazine and, briefly, The Progressive.

You seem to want to stick to the reportorial mode here and not delve TOO deeply into the question of why these OSTENSIBLY "left" magazines would do so much to protect the National Security State. My questions are

1) have you done much background reading on propaganda history during the Cold War (lord knows I would not have had time for it, given all the research you did on this book, plus having a day job)

2) speaking more informally what would you speculate is the reason for these ostensibly left publications to be working so hand in noir glove with the intelligence agencies?

Increasingly, it seems to me "With a """"left""""" like this... (trilateral dot-fire)"

[Joseph McBride]

I do discuss in the book why the liberal/left in 1963 and
beyond avoid this case or act as apologists for the Warren Commission.
You will see that I have a lengthy section on The Nation, another on I. F. Stone,
and another on Richard Hofstadter, etc. I discuss the media
a great deal throughout the book, since they are a large part of the problem.
I wonder why you think I don't discuss these topics; maybe you are
still reading.