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View Full Version : Plagiarism in new Donald H. Wolfe Black Dahlia book


editrix
01-11-2006, 11:15 PM
"The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul, and the Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles" (Regen Books) by Donald H. Wolfe contains extensive passages taken word-for-word from my 1947project (http://1947project.blogspot.com) colleague Larry Harnisch's 1997 "L.A. Times" feature on the Black Dahlia case, and from his Heaven is Here! (http://www.lmharnisch.com/) website.

Below you will find comparisons from a single page of Wolfe's book between Wolfe's and Harnisch's writing. Wolfe's book cites John Douglas' "The Cases That Haunt Us" (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0671017063/qid=1137038861/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-2323964-4910565?n=507846&s=books&v=glance) as the source for this material, but if you "search inside this book" on Amazon, none of the quotes appear in Douglas.

Plagiarism is bad enough, but to also warp the content of the D.A.'s files in order to call a defenseless murder victim a prostitute--an allegation that is categorically refuted by the D.A.'s files, copies of which are in my possession--is especially distressing.

sincerely,
Kim Cooper
1947project
***
Larry Harnisch says:

"Mogul" has lifted material directly from my Los Angeles Times story and my website without permission or acknowledgement, word for word. I refer to "Mogul" Page 295 and my story of Jan. 6, 1997.

Example:

"Mogul," Page 295, published 2005.
"He was a white man, no younger than his late 20's and possibly older, with a high school education."

"A Slaying Cloaked in Mystery and Myths,"
Los Angeles Times, by Larry Harnisch, 1997:

"He was a white man, no younger than his late 20s and possibly older, with a high school education."

"Mogul," P. 295
He lived alone, made his living working with his hands rather than his brains, was adept with a knife, and was comfortable wallowing in blood. The killer was familiar with prostitutes."

Larry Harnisch,1997

He lived alone, made his living working with his hands rather than his brains, was adept with a knife and "was comfortable wallowing in blood"
(This is added on my website version of the story): The killer was familiar with prostitutes.

I could go on, but I think I've made my point.

packy
01-13-2006, 06:24 PM
If that's how it is you have wonder what was he thinking. Word for word and all.

editrix
02-06-2006, 04:54 PM
When my fellow 1947project (http://1947project.blogspot.com) blogger Nathan and I spoke with Donald H. Wolfe, author of "The Black Dahlia Files," at a book signing recently, we brought visual aids with which to draw his attention to his plagiarism of our colleague Larry Harnisch's L.A. Times Dahlia article and website. (The entirety of page 295 is Larry's writing, improperly credited to John Douglas.)

Mr. Wolfe seemed flabbergasted, said he had paid Douglas' publishers to use the quotes, and promised he would check into the matter, and apologize if he'd made a mistake. While Larry waits for that apology, he's holding his nose and reading Wolfe's daffy tome, and blogging his reactions. Only on page 7, he's already gone debunked the claims that there was no nightlife in 1947 L.A., that the Examiner printed a huge-selling extra on the day of the Dahlia killing, and Wolfe's absurd claims of having been "raised on the wrong side of the tracks in Beverly Hills."

Larry warns "if you're not into Dahlia minutiae this will be painfully tedious." Tune in and see for yourself.
Link (http://lmharnisch.blogspot.com/)

Sunflower
02-07-2006, 05:47 PM
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squirrel1
02-24-2006, 11:35 PM
Larry is bloging the entire book one day at a time!!!!

Larry Harnish seems to find a lot of exceptions in the Wolfe book.
Im waiting for Larrys book to come out...

See Blogging the Wolfe Book, Our Story So Far on the Larry Harnish Blog.

http://lmharnisch.blogspot.com/

Larry, probably the greatest athority on the Black Dahlia, is bloging Donald H. Wolfe's "The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul and the Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles."

;) :tongue: