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FROM: Nev Alson by email
Question: I am editing by late Fathers memoirs
and hoping to get them published. Should I change the names of
people mentioned or keep them (or just some)? Some accounts of
people are less than favourable and I would not like to upset
any of their family. Your advice please?
Answer: Many thanks for your question through the
WritersReign website.
It’s great to hear that you are hoping to
publish your father’s memoirs. I wish you every success
and hope it works out well for you.
To answer your question: This is a really
thorny one because there are so many if’s and but’s, but
here are my basic suggestions.
The simple answer is to use alternative
names for everyone, alive or dead, other than of
course, your father himself. The reason for this is that
you will want to avoid repercussions in the form of libel
actions should anyone mentioned take exception to what is
written. And even if an event is told in such a way as to
enable a person to identify themselves you could still be
in trouble!
I don’t know if your father was a
celebrity of ‘famous’ in any way, but the more famous a
person is, the more the people mentioned are likely to
complain if they feel they have been misrepresented or
maligned, because the book will sell more
copies.
All of this may seem a bit grim, but I
need to make you aware of it. Folk can, and do, take
exception when some account which includes them is not
described in a way they remember it happening or puts
them in a perceived bad light. This can happen in the
most innocuous fashion and people still get upset. Also,
remember, everyone has their own take on an event which
differs from person to person, and even though your
father will have written about events and people as he
remembered them, they may remember them
differently.
Before you wring your hands in despair,
there are things you can do to cover yourself and
mitigate any disasters..
You would be advised to contact
every person mentioned, if that’s possible,
explain what you are doing and say that you would like to
mention them in the biography. Send the actual wording
you will use. Also send a pre-written letter which you
will ask them to sign and return, in which they give you
permission to use the quotation you sent. Include a
stamped self addressed envelope. It’s not sufficient to
pick up the phone and get their verbal agreement. You
can, of course, phone them first and, if they are
agreeable to the idea, then say you will send them a
letter to sign and return. If they object to that, or
don’t send the signed letter back, don’t use their real
name.
Then we come to relatives. It may or may
not be easier to talk to family members, but the basic
rule above still applies.
Some of those mentioned will no doubt have
passed on by now, but it would be just as well, and a
matter of courtesy, to contact any of their relatives
with the same query and seek permission from them as
well.
Nev, you are the one who knows what the
contents of the book are and are best able to judge what
effect the biography will have on those included in it.
But I strongly advise you to err on the side of
caution on this particular element of your
project.
You don’t say how you anticipate
publishing the memoirs, but if you are going through an
agent, or using a publisher direct, they will no doubt
have the legal eagles on hand to deal with these matters.
But if you intend to self-publish, then these precautions
are essential.
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