Did I Really Write That?
Wednesday, May 25, 2011 @ 11:31 PM
When the subject of his memoirs came up former U.S. President Ronald Reagan wryly remarked: “I hear it’s a terrific book. One of these days I am going to read it myself.”
Of course the statesman hadn’t written it but he was hardly alone in employing a ghost writer. Does anyone really believe that barely literate celebrities have the time or skills needed to set down their life story?
There have been embarrassing mishaps. Big Brother personality, Pete Bennett, was pulled up sharp when during an interview he expressed surprise at the contents of ‘his own book.’ His publicist tartly commented: “You really should have read it, Pete.”
John Blake, of Blake Publishing estimates that as many as 80 percent of celebrity books are ghosted. Walter Winchell was America’s top newspaper columnist but it was Herman Klurfield who for twenty-nine years toiled as his ghost writer. For many having one’s own co-writer is regarded as a status symbol.
The list of names adorning books is often impressive but their true authors are rarely known. Earl Conrad ghosted Errol Flynn’s My Wicked, Wicked Ways. Dorothy J. Mills penned the output of sports historian Harald Seymour. One would need to wade through 529 pages of Hilary Clinton’s autobiography to discover that her speechwriter was responsible for most of it. In 1957 John F. Kennedy was accused of using a ghost for his Profiles of Courage and Why England Slept.
Many well-known authors head writers’ syndicates that churn out novels on an industrial scale. Those whose ideas are completed by ghosts include Andrew Neiderman, Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, Jeffrey Archer, Naomi Campbell, and Clive Cussler. Clancy’s publishers say: “Tom Clancy creates the ideas for these series and the writers execute Clancy’s ideas. All are subject to his supervision.”
It is thought that 40 percent of books are ghosted but is it ethical? If there were no co-writers there would be few books. We take advice fixing our cars, having our photographs taken; why stop there? There are hundreds of fascinating people with interesting stories to tell or experiences to pass on. If a ghost brings their stories to life everyone wins. ©