Every writer, before he dies, should have a chance to whack an editor or a publisher who’s tormented him the way Boston Globe columnist Eileen McNamara gets to do today with would-be O.J. Simpson enabler Judith Regan.
Regan, it turns out, rejected a book proposal McNamara brought to her some years ago because it had too much substance and not enough sex. The book, “Breakdown: Sex, Suicide and the Harvard Psychiatrist,” was eventually bought by another publishing house, where it suffered the fate of 99 percent of books.
McNamara gets her revenge today, from the headline, “A vulture gets plucked,” to the ending:
As Regan predicted, my book made a quick trip to the remainder table, but Regan developed an interest in psychiatry after all. “I listened carefully, and what went through my mind surprised me,” she said of her now-shelved interview with Simpson. “Mental illness. Thought-process disorder. No empathy. Malignant narcissism.” Kind of what went through my mind when I heard that Judith Regan was behind this debacle.
Wow. Vicious stuff. And I definitely mean that in a good way.
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Funny hed, and my guess is you wouldn’t know why: A former major league pitcher named Phil Regan was nicknamed “The Vulture” (because he often entered games in relief and picked up easy wins).
Mike: I remember “The Vulture,” but I wouldn’t have if you hadn’t reminded me. Bob Stanley was known as “The Vulture” for a while, too.
Always interesting when two pedantic people meet, each considering (her)self smarter than the other. Judging from the Amazon reviews, Eileen should have stuck with Judith. They deserve each other.
Hey Rick, has there ever been an editor that didn’t think they were smarter than their writers?Back me up here, Dan…:-)
Aaron: You are correct, sir.
Since most editors got to be that by first being good writers, it is at least possible that editor was indeed as smart as she thought. I just found it funny that EMac wanted to write about a sordid subject without getting her hands dirty, only to do the “Inspector Renaud” routine when she verified what a sleaze Regan was. Now, from the highest ground in Wellesley, she pontificates on the ink-stained wretches below. Methinks (s)he doth protest too much.
Rick,I’m assuming someone from Duxbury calling someone from Wellesley elitist is meant to be ironic. Still, someone who’s spewed as much disdain for your fellow man as you have might be better off keeping your mouth shut. Methinks.