> >From: "jhallaren" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Subject: Re: [freekpfk] Gary Webb, who broke CIA-crack cocaine story an > apparent suicide > > > >This is devastating news! I cannot imagine Gary dead, leave alone >committing suicide. For one, he had great courage and he came from a >military background where discipline was enmeshed in daily life ethic. >Gary also had a breezy mixture of idealism and cynicism. He took things >with a kind of cockeyed, humorous view. His style was more Forties-Hard >Guy-Reporter rather than Sixties Gonzo, but he was an original! He was >as at home roller-blading on the board walks of Venice Beach as talking >to Ricky Ross' pals, engaging with drug-kingpin girlfriend, the amazing >Ms. Baca or having psychological conversations on the fears of >fatherhood. > >I first got to know Gary when I worked with Mike Novick, Didon Kamati, >Sabina Virgo, Gary Phillips, Jim Lafferty, Don White and others on a >project for IPS (to continue with Mike Ruppert's list, it's through this >event that I met most of these folks as well as Mike, Tracy Larkins and >Karen Pommer.)I was the fund Raiser/PR person for this new group and >Gary's book had just come out. I called him immediately and he agreed to >come down to be the headline speaker at our first event. > >We didn't have much money, and as it was, the folks in Washington were >hesitant to embark, wholeheartedly, on this anti CIA journey. So, I put >Gary up in my apartment and that started a long, sporadic friendship. > >Where I really got to know who Gary was and what was important to him >and his life was when I tried to sell his book as a film. He had agents, >really smart and good agents, but they were having difficulty and I saw >it as a possible project for Tom Cruise. Gary's main agent let me run >with this as I'm old friends with Cruise's partner. The Cruise people >were interested, but unfortunatley, not enough to fight for it when his >agent got a solid offer to do this as a T.V. project (I'm not aware of >anything ever coming of this.) > >The point of telling this story is that Gary never expected anything to >happen. He was enthusiastic and excited about the different ways to tell >the story on film, but he was very pragmatic about business and life. He >was not taken to flights of fancy, to conspiracy theories or romantic >notions. He didn't set himself up to be victimized by dissapointments, >but he sure did get his share of them. > >The world is a little more hopeless, a little more ingenuous, a lot less >honest and courageous with this new and terrible loss. It is hard to see >people of such uncompromising fabric leave us so soon. > >In deep sadness and distress, > >Jane Hallaren > > > >-----Original Message----- >From: Michael Novick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED],[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2004 10:17:09 -0800 >Subject: [freekpfk] Gary Webb, who broke CIA-crack cocaine story an >apparent suicide > > > > > From: "Mike Ruppert" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > In death they beat him ruthlessly. > > > > I always knew it was a fight to the death. I don t think he ever fully > > understood that. Cele Castillo and I both told him what he was up > > against > > and what it would cost him. > > > > There would be no FTW, or Crossing the Rubicon without Gary Webb. > > Catherine > > Fitts and I would never have met had it not been for Gary Webb. Dick > > Gregory would not have made me his white son on the radio had it not > > been > > for Gary Webb. I would never have confronted John Deutch at Locke High > > had > > it not been for Gary Webb. > > > > I might have committed suicide in 1996 -- broke and having given up all > > hope of making people listen -- had it not been for Gary Webb. For some > > years now it has been the farthest thing from my mind. I found > > (rediscovered) my purpose and I guess he lost his. > > > > Assuming that it really was a suicide and I have absolutely no reason > > to > > suspect otherwise it is a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions. Maybe > > only > > Cele Castillo and I know it fully, but I don t think either one of us > > wants > > to discuss it in public or in private. > > > > > > > > I called the Coroner shortly after the first flash came in here. His > > time > > of death was listed at 8:20 AM. Since it was Saturday, the homicide > > detectives would have been off and had to be paged. I estimate two > > hours > > (minimum) for them to get to the crime scene (unless a uniformed > > supervisor > > handled it). Add three hours minimum for crime scene, photos etc; that > > means he went to the Coroner s most likely around 1 PM. It could have > > been > > much later depending on response times on a Saturday before Christmas. > > > > > > > > When I called the Sacramento Coroner s Office at 8:20 PM tonight and > > spoke > > with an unidentified female who stated that he had just been there > > since > > late this afternoon. I Id d myself as a friend, ex-cop and journalist > > and > > she confirmed a single shot to the head. I wasn t sure it was our Gary > > Webb > > so I got his date of birth, hair and eye color. They matched. Gary was > > a > > good looking man with a moustache and I asked if that fit. She > > hesitated > > for quite a while before answering, I can t tell. > > > > > > > > I confirmed his death with the San Jose Merc and the LATimes. We will > > see > > if later facts don t mesh with what I report here. But in my gut I > > think he > > was a suicide. It has been years since he was in the limelight or had > > any > > hot work going. Apparently he had just had a string of setbacks. He d > > lost > > a couple of jobs. He was freelancing. I am not reaching any firm > > conclusions here and now. I am just making a record of what I know and > > what > > I feel at this very, very sad moment. > > > > > > > > I called the LATimes at about 9:15 because I wanted to make sure > > someone > > said some good things about him. I dropped some names and got to the > > writer > > or the editor on the story who wouldn t ID himself. He said he d have > > someone call me back to get my statement. No one ever called back. > > > > Damnit, he deserved better than this: > > > > Mike > > > > > <http://www.latimes.com/features/health/medicine/la-me-webb12dec12,1,680>http://www.latimes.com/features/health/medicine/la-me-webb12dec12,1,680 > > 6738.story?coll=la-health-medicine > > > > > > OBITUARIES > > > > Gary Webb, 49; Wrote Series Linking CIA, Drugs > > > > By Nita Lelyveld and Steve Hymon > > Times Staff Writers > > > > December 12, 2004 > > > > Gary Webb, an investigative reporter who wrote a widely criticized > > series > > linking the CIA to the explosion of crack cocaine in Los Angeles, was > > found > > dead in his Sacramento-area home Friday. He apparently killed himself, > > authorities said. > > > > Webb had suffered a gunshot wound to the head, according to the > > Sacramento > > County coroner's office. He was 49. > > > > His 1996 San Jose Mercury News series contended that Nicaraguan drug > > traffickers had sold tons of crack cocaine from Colombian cartels in > > Los > > Angeles' black neighborhoods and then funneled millions in profits back > > to > > the CIA-supported Nicaraguan Contras. > > > > Three months after the series was published, the Los Angeles County > > Sheriff's Department said it conducted an exhaustive investigation but > > found no evidence of a connection between the CIA and Southern > > California > > drug traffickers. > > > > Major newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, New York Times and > > Washington Post, wrote reports discrediting elements of Webb's > > reporting. > > The Los Angeles Times report looked into Webb's charges "that a > > CIA-related > > drug ring sent 'millions' of dollars to the Contras; that it launched > > an > > epidemic of cocaine use in South-Central Los Angeles and America's > > other > > inner cities; and that the agency either approved the scheme or > > deliberately turned a blind eye." > > > > "But the available evidence, based on an extensive review of court > > documents and more than 100 interviews in San Francisco, Los Angeles, > > Washington and Managua, fails to support any of those allegations," The > > Times reported. > > > > Months later, the Mercury News also backed away from the series, > > publishing > > an open letter to its readers, admitting to flaws. > > > > "We oversimplified the complex issue of how the crack epidemic in > > America > > grew," wrote the paper's executive editor, Jerry Ceppos, adding, "I > > believe > > that we fell short at every step of our process in the writing, editing > > and > > production of our work." > > > > The paper reassigned Webb to a suburban bureau. In December 1997, he > > quit. > > > > "All he ever wanted to do was write," said Webb's ex-wife, Susan Bell, > > who > > met him when they were both high school students in Indiana. "He never > > really recovered from it." > > > > Webb was born in Corona to a military family and moved around the > > country > > throughout his youth. He dropped out of journalism school just shy of > > graduating to accept his first newspaper job at the Kentucky Post, then > > went to the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Mercury News. > > > > Within two years of arriving at the paper, Webb was part of a team that > > won > > the Pulitzer Prize in 1990 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. > > > > Webb continued to defend his reporting, most notably in a 548-page > > book, > > "Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion," > > which was published in 1999. > > > > After leaving the Mercury News, Webb worked in state government, > > including > > the Joint Legislative Audit Committee's investigation into then-Gov. > > Gray > > Davis' controversial award of a $95-million, no-bid contract to Oracle > > in 2001. > > > > "The guy had a fierce commitment to justice and truth. He cared deeply > > about the people who are forgotten, that we try to shove into the dark > > recesses of our minds and world," said Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for > > the > > California attorney general's office who worked with Webb on the Oracle > > investigation. > > > > But Webb's career remained troubled. While working for another > > legislative > > committee in Sacramento, Webb wrote a report accusing the California > > Highway Patrol of unofficially condoning and even encouraging racial > > profiling in its drug interdiction program. > > > > Legislative officials released the report in 1999 but cautioned that it > > was > > based mainly on assumptions and anecdotes. Earlier this year, Webb was > > one > > of a group of employees fired from the Assembly speaker's Office of > > Member > > Services for failing to show up for work. > > > > Webb, who lived in Carmichael, continued to write occasionally for a > > variety of publications. Last summer, the weekly Sacramento News & > > Review > > hired Webb to cover government and politics. He had recently written > > two > > cover stories, including one on how much money Sacramento County was > > making > > off the use of red-light cameras. > > > > "He's obviously a skilled reporter and writer and he was doing good > > work > > for us and the evidence was on the page," said News & Review Editor Tom > > Walsh. > > > > Webb is survived by two sons, Ian and Eric; and a daughter, Christine. > > > > If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at > > latimes.com/archives. > > [] > > Article licensing and reprint options > > > > > > > > > > Copyright 2004 Los Angeles Times > > [] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > > > >Yahoo! Groups Sponsor >ADVERTISEMENT > > >---------- >Yahoo! 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