At 02:28 PM 4/19/2003 -0700, you wrote:
 >>> Question: Am I right? Shall we call in the lawyers?
 >>Not just yet.  Negotiate first; then call in the lawyers if you and
 >>they cannot come to an agreement.  Don't let them publish.

I'm with this one.  I say that you just might have a really popular book on 
your hands, if you were to publish the diary/journal with photos and 
reminiscences from others in the "Greatest Generation" tradition.
 Remember 
that Civil War diary, the one I always intend to look for in the bookstore 
but never remember to find?  This could be similar.  I'm not saying a 
blockbuster, but it could have decent sales.  If you have your dad's 
original, I'd get it typed by a service immediately and get the typescript 
to that same publisher.  If you can work it so that his entries are intact, 
but then someone else's thoughts are woven in around the entries--such as 
the text of the book they're planning--it would be great.

On the other hand, if the men are in their late seventies as my dad would 
be if he were still on this side of the Veil--he was born in 1922, and most 
WWII vets will be around that age or thereabouts--they might not last until 
the New York publishing house could get the book on the market. If they are 
going POD, they could have something out within a few months and have the 
book in their hands to love.  Perhaps a private printing would not be 
completely out of line, as long as it's a Kinkos-copied spiral-bound thing 
and there's a disclaimer up front saying you aren't relinquishing 
rights.  You could call that a draft, and everyone could receive a copy and 
the instructions to please write any memories or thoughts that come to mind 
while they read and send in those additions for consideration.  That way 
the book would be even richer.  I dunno.  You might want to consult a 
knowledgeable lawyer or literary agent first.

Good luck with it.  I love reading that kind of thing.  I only wish my 
family had kept diaries.  They were all too busy or whatever, I 
suppose.  My aunt Jean writes every morning in her journals, but she swears 
it's nothing but what she did and ate and planned that day.  If it had her 
life in it, it'd be so spicy it'd probably immolate itself before she had a 
chance to burn it.

- - -
The only thing that flies faster than an F-16 is your guardian angel
- - - -
Nine out of ten doctors recommend reading my books.  The tenth is a quack.
Shalanna Collins   http://home.attbi.com/~shalanna/>
_Dulcinea: or Wizardry A-Flute_  (e-mail me 4 excerpt)  ISBN 0-7388-5388-7
New!  I'm trying out a blog/jrnl http://www.livejournal.com/users/shalanna/>

--- Rachel's Little NET2FIDO Gate v 0.9.9.8 Alpha