PUBLISHING-FIRM EDITOR QUITS OVER BUSH BOOK

In the wake of the controversy over J.H. Hatfield's
Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Making of an American
President, Robert B. Wallace, editor in chief of St.
Martin's Press, resigned suddenly Tuesday.

Wallace's departure is the latest in a bizarre series of events
surrounding Fortunate Son, which was published Oct. 19 and recalled by
St. Martin's last week after the publishing house discovered that
Hatfield is apparently an ex-con who once plotted the death of his
ex-boss. The book makes allegations of cocaine use by Bush that have
not been substantiated.

"I didn't want to be associated with a book I have no control over,"
Wallace said. "I haven't even read the book."

At the center of the story are some very basic questions about the way
book publishers vet the credentials of their authors and check the
facts of the works they produce.

Given how much time publishers take to produce a book after it is
written -- almost a year in many cases -- publishing debacles are
memorable, including tainted books about Hitler, John F. Kennedy and
Howard Hughes.

Many of the top-level publishing houses, including St. Martin's Press,
conduct legal reviews of books. But the standard contract between
writer and publisher places the burden of proof squarely on the writer
- -- for libel, plagiarism or factual errors.

Fortunate Son, said St. Martin's spokesman John Murphy, was "given a
legal reading." He said the company's in-house counsel hired the
Washington-based firm of Levine, Sullivan and Koch to do a legal
examination of the book, including the potentially explosive charges
- -- denied by Bush and his family -- that the Texas governor was
arrested for possession of cocaine in 1972 and performed community
service as punishment.

The legal scrutiny "was done well in advance," Murphy said. "This was
not a rush job."

Hatfield, a Texas writer, could not be reached for comment. On Monday
he posted a reply to the charges on the Drudge Report Web site
(www.drudgereport.com). "When an author writes about the current
governor of Texas and the front-runner for the U.S. presidency (whose
father happens to have been the former director of the CIA and the
president of the United States)," Hatfield wrote, "it is amazing how
quickly the smear campaign and character assassination efforts can be
mobilized."

In his online reply, Hatfield said he had been forced to take his wife
and young daughter into hiding.