To attend to the factual details:

• Yes, there is a new book out about McVeigh — American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing — and in it, the remorseless McVeigh refers to the children who died as "collateral damage."  But it is not, contrary to what the email implies, "McVeigh's book."  It was written by journalists Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck.
• The Oklahoma City Memorial committee did turn down an offer of proceeds from the book, but that offer was made by its authors, not McVeigh, who will make no money from it and has no say whatsoever in the distribution of revenues.
• Fire Captain Paul Hinchey, whose name and title are affixed to most copies of the email, is neither an Oklahoma City fireman nor the author of the message. According to the Guymon Fire Department (Guymon is some 270 miles northwest of Oklahoma City), Captain Hinchey received the message sometime in April and forwarded it to others in the department, but had nothing to do with its creation. (Guymon firefighters say they're currently receiving an average of 10 phone calls a day about the email.)

The book's very existence has raised a good deal of public controversy, with some people accusing the writers of making McVeigh a "martyr" and "giving him the forum he was looking for."  Defenders say the book simply "tells the truth," providing details about the murderer's ideology and state of mind we might never have gotten otherwise. Michel and Herbeck say they hope society can learn something from the book "to help thwart another atrocity like this from happening."  Nevertheless, some major retailers — including the massive Wal-Mart chain — are refusing to carry American Terrorist.

Will distributing this chain letter convince some people not to buy the book?  No doubt it will. But it will also spark the interest of others — including folks who otherwise might not have even known it existed.

If the idea of the boycott is to prevent McVeigh from getting more publicity, potential forwarders ought to stop and consider that in less than two months of existence, the email's circulation has probably already exceeded the book's initial printing of 150,000 copies. The result: more publicity, not less.

If the idea is to prevent McVeigh from becoming a folk hero, would-be boycotters would do well to recognize that the legend-making process usually swings into motion when there are too few facts available, not too many.

  Take the Poll:  "Do you think the new book about Timothy McVeigh could turn him into a hero?"

Sources and further reading:

• The Execution of Timothy McVeigh. CNN.com - ongoing coverage.
• "McVeigh Book Draws Criticism." Morning Sun (Pittsburgh), 30 March 2001.
• "McVeigh Book a Trial for Writers." Cincinnati Enquirer, 15 May 2001.
• "McVeigh Knew Children Would Be Killed in OKC Blast." CNN.com, 29 March 2001.
• Transcript: CNN Chat With McVeigh Book Authors. CNN.com, 4 April 2001.

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