Melville House Books

A book about the late Earth First! activist Judi Bari is creating a firestorm of controversy, including the disruption of bookstore appearances by the author, according to a New York Times report by Dean E. Murphy. The book, The Secret Wars of Judi Bari by Kate Coleman, which was published by the small, non-profit, conservative San Francisco publisher Encounter Books, “says that in the years after the bombing, Ms. Bari chose ‘the role of martyr over that of environmental activist,’ and that ‘many who once were close to her claimed that she had become a tyrannical diva.’ It says she made money by ‘scamming through nuisance suits against deep pockets.’” Daryl Cherney, who, in 1991, was a passenger in a car driven by Ms. Bari that was car-bombed, says, “Today there are few progressive heroes left. But even the ones who have died must be killed again by literary assassins like Kate Coleman.”

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.