LYLE STUART - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 01/25/1955 - HFSID 79240

LYLE STUART
The controversial author and publisher signs a brief letter as editor of Exposé
Typed letter signed: "Lyle Stuart", 1 page, 7¼x10½. New York City, New York, January 25, 1955. To "Dear Mr. Markham" in full: "We have had both of your letters. We have also had discussions with Mr. Thompson over the possibility of his doing a regular column. If we can get a topnotch civil libertarian to do a regular column, we might counter it with something by Mr. Thompson. However at this time we have no immediate plans for the latter since we have not yet found the former. Sincerely." Lyle Stuart (1922-2006), American author and independent publisher, is most known for publishing the highly controversial The Anarchist Cookbook (1970), written, at the time, by a 19 year old teen at the height of the Anarchist movement. He was also a lifelong rival and aggressor of columnist Walter Winchell, a foe he made when he claimed support of Fidel Castro in the 40s (Stuart even published a hateful book about him entitled The Secret Life of Walter Winchell in 1953). While considered an extremist even in his journalism days, Stuart earned his reputation as an agitator while editing his tabloid Exposé during the 50s. His first big legal jam was with the periodical Confidential who was suing him for millions in libel. Ironically, Stuart ended up the victor in the suit when the Confidential was countersued for writing Stuart was communist pan handler (among other things) in one of their featured columns. When Stuart started Lyle Stuart, Inc. in the late 1960s, he began a new trend of books, the hoax novel, publishing one of his most lucrative publications to date Naked Came the Stranger (1969). The racy book premised it was written by a New Jersey housewife, yet in reality it was written by 25 reporters at Newsday. The book became an instant best-seller, and remained one even after the hoax was revealed. While Stuart defended the rights of freedom of speech his entire career, his strength would be put to the test when it was publicized that Timothy J. McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, used tactics from The Turner Diaries--a neo-Nazi anti-government novel reissued by Stuart's company--when planning his attacked which left 169 dead. In the end, however, Stuart never received anything more fierce than a few legal suits that usually resulted in his favor. Normal mailing folds. Lightly creased. Slight tear at left edge. Otherwise, fine condition.