The Nuclear Option

Although Alyson Books and Literary Services, Inc. canceled my book and agency contracts early last week (see 1/19/10 posting below), TODAY's Publishers Weekly announces Alyson will publish Walking on Glass! They won't. My new allies have already suggested another, more appropriate publisher. We'll see. There are no promises. There were enough of those already broken by Don Weise and Cynthia Zigmund to last me a lifetime! HA!

Letter to Allean Hale (and 300+ others)

The battle appears to be lost. My book is too hot to handle right now, so I'm not fighting for it any more. No Williams person (except you, Allean) could stand fully with me to support it. I've laid it aside. I'm fully confident it will be published before the 100th anniversary of TW's birth. The whole Williams crew (those dependent on the good graces of Sewanee for rights or archives access) had been rendered powerless by Sewanee. Perhaps I have given you strength.

But there's good news too. Out of the blue (thank you Larry Myers!), a small group of people known to me (so far) only as the Friends of Paul and Janie Bowles, is going to help me get onto the lecture circuit. I met with one of them for dinner last night. They are already planning to mount an evening of Tennessee Williams at a significant Southeastern university in early March. The main event will be a panel discussion, Larry and I being the panelists. I hope I look as sporty in a face mask as did Dorothy Kilgallen, although by then, with luck, none of these nut cases will still be after me. Thank God civilization has progressed enough that Sewanee couldn't take me out with a sniper's bullet.

Anyway, I intend for this to be my FINAL broadcast email. Know that throughout my "fight," it is you all who have inspired me to the battle. The more I think of what you have already successfully achieved and the circumstances under which you have had to work, I cannot imagine a group of people in the entire universe who are of a higher caliber than you. I have always gotten my strength from you. But I have especially gotten my strength from "John the Beloved."

Here is my final salvo on Sewanee and Here/Regent as posted this morning with various gay activists and NOT-Regent/Here media:

Any serious journalist or other "victim" of Regent/Here can contact me and I am not one to mince words. I was caught not only in R/H's web of deception, but also that of the University of the South who had partnered with them to suppress my Tennessee Williams memoir. You see, I not only have the dirt on Alyson Books now, but have been in possession of all the evidence needed to prove that TUOTS' aka Suwanee's lawyer, Michael Reemer, bribed certain of TW's closest friends to testify falsely that TW was incompetent.

Thus, Suwanee instead of Harvard got to control TW's estate INCLUDING ALL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. As AIDS developed and Christians thanked God for it as the righteous punishment of Gays, Tennessee knew Suwanee, a totally homophobic school (same is true for Regent/Here—if you know the difference between a gay person and a faggot) would never honor his will. Both Regent/Here and Suwanee have threatened me with lawsuits, but that just made me holler louder and more specifically. I have called both their bluffs.

They cannot fight me in a court of law or in the court of public opinion. All that was left to them was the corruption of my computer and email communications. And that hasn't worked either. As I type, I watch emails going in and out via my software. But I don't write them. I don't receive them. It now is simply entertainment. Regent/Here and The University of the South are already defeated. And they know it. It's time for the Cavalry of the Artists to swoop in and finish them. Google my name to learn more about me. The story of my fight with them is on my blog.

I love you one and all.
And I thank you.

Scott D. Kenan

Missing Manuscript!!!

I just went to open the document of my book Walking on Glass: A Memoir of the Later Days of Tennessee Williams. The publisher and my agent have canceled our contracts over the last 2 days, thank God. A total nightmare dealing with them! And the funny thing is that Don Weise, Alyson Book's publisher had told me right after I delivered the final-final, to be sure to delete all previous versions from my computer.

I thought he must be overtired, so, of course, ignored such a ridiculous request. I might have even said OK. I have been having all kinds of computer problems, email problems, and internet hesitancy. So when I went to open the document to look at it, it had a corrupted title and there were only 4 kb there!

HA!

Naturally, I had it elsewhere and also under different names. The mother-fucking bastards! That was such an insult to my intelligence that they thought that removing the single file would slow me down more than a few seconds!!!!

I do have to laugh.

Oh wait a minute. I'm absolutely certain this was just coincidence.

The Reviews Are In for WALKING ON GLASS!

New review posted today:

Thomas Keith: Former editor of Tennessee Williams' books at New Directions Publishing

Scott as done a beautiful job with his memoir--the last version I read was several years and drafts ago. What makes it stand out from previous memoirs about Williams is its integrity, and the depth to which Scott reveals his own situation, mental health problems, fears, and hopes.

Because of that integrity, the day-to-day descriptions of life with Williams and Scott's take on the tangle of problems Williams faced near the end of his life are that much more insightful.

I also happen to like Scott's ability to describe a person or set a scene--even his thread of commentary on weather, light, and seasons informs us about the sensitivities of the man telling this story.

See all reviews of Walking on Glass: http://www.walkingonglass.net/reviews.php

1. Alyson Books never paid my advance of $3,000.00, due August 6, 2009 at signing. Payment was 5 1/2 months late on 1/19/10 when they canceled our contract (without consulting me first). Alex Paul's email to me is posted on this blog dated 1/19/10.

2. No one at Alyson or Here/Regent Media has returned my or my agent's phone calls or emails since mid-December, 2009.

3. On January 6, 2010, the five-month anniversary of the due date, I began a campaign to pressure Alyson/Regent/Here to pay my advance. The only place I published anything is on this blog. All my postings remain. Scroll down to read them.

Mr. Alex Paul: Sue me or retract your scurrilous accusations with apologies, immediately. Sir!

THANK YOU JESUS!!!

Alex Paul of Alyson Books just sent this:

They never intended to publish it anyway.

January 19, 2010

Cynthia Zigmund
Literary Services, Inc.

RE: Termination of Agreement dated August 6, 2009 between Alyson Books, a division of Regent Media, Inc. and Scott Kenan regarding Walking on Glass: A Memoir of the Later Days of Tennessee Williams and any revisions thereof

Dear Ms. Zigmund:

Based on Mr. Kenan’s recently published libelous statements, as well as his intentional interference with Alyson Books’ contractual relations and intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, Alyson Books is immediately terminating the above-referenced contract and any other written or verbal agreements Mr. Scott Kenan has with Alyson Books.

Mr. Kenan may seek publication of his work elsewhere and by this letter all rights in his work shall revert to him. We wish him success in the future.

Regards,


Alex Paul
SVP, Business & Legal Affairs

cc (via e-mail): Don Weise
Scott Kenan

Surprised? I sure was!

Fox News online has reported this, but CNN has not.

Report: FBI Illegally Collected Phone Records

Maybe CNN will report it now. . . .

Thank God, I ain't "The Lord"!

Once again, I try to post the first comment on a Republican Party website. Let's see if they post it. Post your OWN comment, if you feel so disposed (or dispossessed).

ReagantoPalin.com/Tennessee Williams loose-play/goose-play.

MY COMMENT:

Scott Kenan says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.

January 19, 2010 at 11:58 am

HA! HA! HA! Y’all have finally fallen into your own damn trap. We will love you as you become our slaves. You will insist on being our slaves because you know we will treat you better than either GWBush/Limbaugh/Palin Republicans or Devil-worshiping Christians would EVER treat you. You will rebuild (with your manual and other labor) the World you have tried to destroy. We will thank you for it. We will always treat you fairly. Once you have restored Perfection (and our wealth), we will allow you to re-join us as full Citizens.

THE LORD HAS SPOKEN. IT IS SO.

Do I hear wailin’ and gnashing of teeth? You did know y’all are cannibals, didn’t you? We’ll take good care of you, though. Don’t worry.