October 21, 2008

Apples, far from tree

by

A $1.4 million book deal with Penguin for a memoir about their mother has led to a rift between the three children of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. Son Dexter King, who manages his father’s estate and who negotiated the book deal, has not spoken with his brother Martin Luther King III, nor his sister Bernice King — an administrator of her mother’s estate — since June, because she has refused to turn over personal papers, including love letters between the civil rights icons, to the project. Now, the siblings are suing each other. As an Associated Press wire story reports, they feel this is in keeping with the “nonviolent strategy” of “negotiation and direct action” espoused by their parents.

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

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