Another Anna Nicole Smith lawsuit, only this time an author’s going to court

Howard K. Stern wants $60 million, alleging journalist Rita Cosby and her publisher are guilty of false and defamatory accusations against Stern. Cosby’s book,Blond Ambition, says the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in a story on Tuesday, figures in the lawsuit because the book alleges Stern committed, “among other things, criminal lewd acts, homosexual acts, illegal possession and use of cocaine, conspiring to commit murder and kidnapping for ransom.” Furthermore, a John or Jane Doe also was named as a defendant. Stern has had a busy time since Smith’s death, what with trying to prove he fathered a baby he didn’t father.

There is supreme irony in this partial statement, “defendants” referring to the author and publisher: “Defendants have exploited Ms. Smith's life and death…”

Whatever the outcome, the lawsuit will continue the media circus that was Smith’s life before and after her death. I covered the aftermath of Smith’s death in The Sunshine State at my news site, Covering Florida.

I predict the legal battle will be drawn out—Rita Cosby isn’t a naïve journalist. Here’s a snapshot of her credentials, taken from her author bio at amazon.com:

...interview with Slobodan Milosevic while he was imprisoned at The Hague; an exclusive interview with Yasser Arafat when his compound was under siege; she was the first journalist to see the suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo and witness an actual interrogation; and a rare, private meeting with Pope John Paul II after receiving an exclusive letter from Timothy McVeigh explaining why he carried out the Oklahoma City bombing. Having interviewed more than a dozen world leaders and four US Presidents, she also made headlines for her interviews with Michael Jackson, David Berkowitz and Dr. Jack Kevorkian. She has been a featured guest on hundreds of television and radio shows worldwide and earned her two bachelors' degrees from the University of South Carolina.

If Cosby is as careful as most investigative journalists, she’s covered herself by documenting her claims.

Either way, this latest lawsuit in the publishing world will certainly be fodder for pundits, columnists and tea party-goers.

I purchased the book this morning; I’ll give you my opinion once I’ve read it.

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Frey owns up to this fiction: HarperCollins to publish ‘Bright Shiny Morning’

After imploding his career—profitably—with his alleged memoir, ‘A Million Little Pieces,’ James Frey continues his—profitable—success with the sale of his novel to HarperCollins. The book is scheduled for publication in summer, 2008. Jonathan Burnham, senior vice president and publisher at HC, said in a corporate news release, “James Frey is an immensely talented writer who has written a truly extraordinary and original novel, one of great breadth and ambition.” Gosh—sounds just like his first “novel” packaged as a memoir, doesn’t it?

American publishing knows no boundaries when it comes to making money. Remember Clifford Irving—faker of the Howard Hughes biography in 1971? Irving actually did time in a federal prison for his scam. Frey gets a new book deal and praise from his publisher.

The saddest thing about Clifford Irving is what makeup artists did to Richard Gere when filming the movie about Irving, ‘The Hoax.’ I literally could not even look at Gere, made up so poorly he brought to mind the image of Alfred E. Neuman of Mad magazine fame.

Well, we all have our ups and downs, I suppose. Can you fathom musings about my own success? What if I were to claim my next book has just been acquired by a mega-publisher who wined and dined me recently in New York, offering a $2 million advance for my brilliance in penning an account of my life as personal poet to Diana, Princess of Wales. I might tell you I include stories of our teatimes together. I might conjure how we shared everything —finger sandwiches, Earl Grey tea (loose leaf, of course) and even Prince Charles. And how when Di wanted a poem, I composed one on the spot. “Formal or free?” I’d ask—“a sonnet, perhaps?”

I confess she preferred free. I think I’ll use the pen name Jamie Frey for my “memoir.” Nonfiction, they say, is a great way to break out on the best-seller list, even if your book is as we say on the street, a pack of lies.