Posted on 11/02/2005 7:34:09 PM PST by WKB
STARKVILLE, Miss. - The University of Georgia Press has revoked an award given to a Mississippi State University professor after determining a winning short story "borrowed heavily" from uncredited material taken from an Alabama publication.
University of Georgia Press spokesman John McLeod said the company revoked English professor Brad Vice's award, recalled its books with the winning story and canceled the book's publication.
McLeod said in a statement that the publishing company learned Oct. 13 that a story in Vice's short story collection, "The Bear Bryant Funeral Train," contained uncredited material from the fourth chapter of Carl Carmer's story "Stars Fell on Alabama," a publication of the University of Alabama Press.
Vice's collection of short stories was awarded the Flannery O'Connor Award in fall 2004. The questioned story by Vice is "Tuscaloosa Knights."
In a statement released by the company, Vice said he made a "terrible mistake" when he used parts of Carmer's nonfiction publication. He said the mistake was done without any "malicious intent whatsoever."
In an e-mail statement to the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Vice said he didn't think he needed to request formal permission to use the material - "both omissions to my ignorance concerning the principles of fair use."
Vice said he verbally mentioned many times that the short story used material from Carmer's publication. He mentioned Carmer's influence in the short story during a Dec. 20, 2004, interview with Lauren Mosko, editor of "Novel and Short Story Writer's Market," Vice said.
The part of the interview mentioning the story didn't make the print version of the interview. However, the original transcript of the interview still shows the discussion.
"I have a print document that testifies I was writing and talking openly about Carmer before the book was published," Vice wrote in an e-mail to the newspaper.
Vice said he regrets the mistake "will end the life of the book, a labor of love I have been working on since I was an undergraduate at the University of Alabama."
"I am even more sad by the impression of impropriety these allegations of misconduct have left on my hometown of Tuscaloosa, my new home of Starkville and my colleagues in both the worlds of publishing and academics," Vice said.
McLeod said the University of Georgia Press will give the award taken from Vice to one of the other finalists selected by the judges in 2004.
MISSING:
Answers to Smokey
Previously loyal mascot. Last seen heading north from Tuscaloosa. Has a large gator bite to his right side. Numerous Bites from a Bulldog. May be disoriented from being trampled by an elephant. If you have any information, please call Phil Fulmer at 1-800-FAT-PHIL or at any Knoxville Area Krispy Kreme.
Good news- Joe Biden will take over the writing duties.
The death of the short story is as tragic as the death of the sonnett.
Wow. I work as a buyer for a Uni bookstore, and this story is a part of a collection that's required reading. Ought I stock the original story for appearences? snerk.
Hehehehe-- Unless, of course you read women's magazines, New Yorker or Readers' Digest. Otherwise, the death of Bear Bryant is the only true tragedy here. And Alabama ain't doing that bad without him.
I've always preferred short stories to novels, and I really do lament the fact that they have nearly faded away. On the plus side, there's still of wealth of great stories which have already been told, but I haven't read, so I still have something to look forward to.
Heh. Be fair. Reader's Digest doesn't run "short stories". They just condescend enough to delete all the highfalutin' language from good novels and then publish the remains....
This prof who has ended his "labor of love since I was an undergraduate" and his tragic story should satisfy you, since it seems to fulfill all the prerequisites of a "short story".
I just enjoy the irony that RightWingAthiest and PinkoCommieScum reply to my comments.
And I remember when Readers' Digest was second only to TV Guide in periodical sales. Though TV Guide never took out the highfalootin language to sell mags.
Never understood why a good writer would want to "borrow heavily" from another writer.
Seems you would want to use your own words and talent.
I have haunted libraries for years. Once in a while and even on FR, someone passes on information. I was informed of a writer- Charles Portis and his "Dog of the South",also his "Masters Of Atlantis. Enjoyed both. This is indeed a digression from the subject,I will admit. The mention of Carl Carmer whose work was copied, aroused memories. For it was his masterpiece of short stories that is remarkable- anyway, in case anyone has not read it.
Dark Trees To The Wind.
Stories of upstate New York,which I was fortunate to have visited.
"Amateur poets borrow; mature poets steal." -- T.S. Elliot.
Alex Haley stole about 1/2 of "Roots" from Frank Yirby. Paid Big.
Andrew Lloyd Weber, who apparently never met another obscure composer he didn't like, stole heavily from Lerner and Lowe. Paid Big. Of course he has stolen from Puccini, and had to pay the owners of the rights Big. Humperdinck, Friml, and von Suppé he got away with. If you lived in the 19th C, wrote operettas, and are still dead, your work lives on in Andrew Lloyd Weber's!This guy ain't a composer, he's a librarian and a brilliant MAC computer nerd transposer.
Doris Kearns Goodwin, Historian? Left Wing Blowhard is more like it. Got caught swiping chapters at a time! Paid Big.
Lion King Cut from whole stolen cloth. Paid Big.
Martin Luther King, Apparently plagiarized his Doctoral Thesis. No payoff
The beat goes on. *The deal is when these plagiarists are caught and it's proved, part of the settlement deal is that the payee has got to keep quiet about it. So unless there's some trial publicity, there are hundreds of cases in which the plagiarist pays off and everyone goes home happy.
Nothing illustrates the decline of American education better than the Readers Digest of today. It's language has been dumbed-down beyond belief. In your (my) day, The Readers Digest was edited to what was then the normal 8th-grade reading level.
Today's RD, if judged by the editorial standards of the '50's, would be around 3rd Grade!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.