I'VE BEEN PLAGIARIZED!!

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

(CAUTIONARY NOTE:  This saga goes off-topic from normal ADS material and can
be deleted at your choice, without great harm to humanity.)

     I've been plagiarized!
     AMERICAN VENUS: THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF AUDREY MUNSON, MODEL AND MUSE
(Balcony Press, LA, 1999) by Diane Rozas and Anita Bourne Gottehrer.  It's
mostly my work!
     Reviewed in the New York Times, October 3, 1999!
     Pg. 9:  "REDISCOVERING AUDREY This book is the reflection of a jouney we
took..."  No!  A journey I took!
     It starts four years ago,  Dec. 1995, when former NYC Convention &
Visitors Bureau President Charles Gillett died.  In his NY Times obituary, it
was falsely stated that Damon Runyan popularized "the Big Apple."  I wrote
two long letters with many enclosures to the obituary writer and to the
editor about how I was honored with the late Mr. Gillett for "the Big Apple."
  No correction was never made.
    In February 1996, I decided the parking tickets of New York Times writer
Andrew Jacobs.  After the hearing, I said I didn't hold it against him that
he was a writer for the Times.  I told him about "the Big Apple," and also
about the woman who posed for the Municipal Building's "Civic Fame" statue
that was directly above us.  I told him that this model--Audrey Munson--was
totally unknown to scholars, but that she'd posed for almost everything all
around New York City.
   In the New York Times of April 14, 1996, City Section, pg. 5, an Andrew
Jacobs article about my research on Audrey Munson appeared.  Some people
contacted me about it, and as usual, I sent out loads of stuff, free of
charge.
   About two weeks later, after a long day of parking tickets, I had dinner
with both of the authors of AMERICAN VENUS.  It was a cheap deal at the Ray
Bari pizza place on Third Avenue and East 56th, near my home--I chose it
because the lighting's good there, so you can talk.  I gave them my usual
package of free research.  They were both very interested.  Diane said that
she had photographed ten books on food, and was interested in a book on
Munson that was mainly photos (which this is).
    I don't remember exactly what I said.  I said something like that I'd be
happy if they sent out book proposals.  I left my name and number; I never
heard from them again.  I never signed a waiver form and said that it would
be a good thing to do a book, and give me no money and no credit whatsoever!
    I also gave free copies of my work to Theyer Tolles of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art (listed in the acknowledgments), the Brooklyn Museum, the
National Sculpture Society,  and the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation
(all listed here).
    The wonderful NY SUN article on page 27, "ALL NEW YORK BOWS TO THE REAL
MISS MANHATTAN," was found by me.  The San Francisco Panama Pacific
International Exposition article on page 67 was also found by me.  The
American Weekly syndicated series of Audrey Munson's "Queen of the Artists'
Studios" articles, on pages 99-115, was also found by me.  Keep in mind, this
is in a picture book that's only 144 pages.
    They did find out one thing I did not know--that Audrey Munson survived
her suicide attempt in 1922, and went on to live to 105 years old, dying in
1996.  She had spent 65 years of her life in a sanitarium.  The Amazon.com
entries state that a documentary is in the works--you can be sure that I'll
get no credit there, either.
     Pg. 44 (from my work) states that Carl Dorner's famous "Waterfall" hangs
in the National Museum of the City of Mexico.  Part of the reason for my
recent trip to Mexico was to check out this Audrey Munson work.
    It's been an exciting year--starting with being stiffed by the History
Channel, to being in Smithsonian magazine, to being in a few books such as
DICKSON'S NEW BASEBALL DICTIONARY, to being featured in "The Straight Dope,"
to co-authoring a STUDIES IN SLANG with Gerald Cohen, to six trips of
international travel, to an IRS audit, and now to book plagiarism.
    Against all odds, my near luckless, near thankless, near 25-year, near
penniless streak is still intact.