The Truth about Hillary

June 23, 2005

Ms. Marjorie Scardino
CEO
Pearson Plc.
80 Strand
London, WC2R 0RL
UK

Dear Marjorie,

I hope this letter finds you well and enjoying the summer. I’m writing you today because as a Pearson employee and shareholder I’m concerned about the actions of Penguin’s Sentinel Press division.

I’m certain you’re aware of the incredibly bad press being generated by the reviews of Sentinel’s soon-to-be-released title The Truth about Hillary written by Edward Klein. If you are unaware of the growing storm, you can find the issues summarized at http://mediamatters.org.

The book features plenty of gay-baiting, homophobic innuendo and does its best to paint Hillary Clinton as a lesbian. Things kick off early in the book. On page 12 we’re treated to the following unsubstantiated rumors:

• Was it true they slept in separate beds?
• Were there any telltale signs on the presidential sheets that they ever had sex with each other?
• For that matter, did the Big Girl [Hillary Clinton] have any interest in sex with a man?
• Or, as was widely rumored, was she a lesbian?

Is Pearson really going to speculate on the bed sheets of a former president? Refer to a former First Lady as “Big Girl”? It gets worse.

The book also alleges that Chelsea Clinton is the result of former President Bill Clinton raping Hillary while they were on vacation. The author is already changing his story about this claim. Is Pearson really going to accuse a former president of raping his wife?

Penguin editor Will Weisser is quoted in the April 12 New York Post saying "he hoped that The Truth about Hillary would do to Clinton what the Swift Boat Veterans bestseller did to Kerry. That would be our fondest wish.”

Enough about the book, I’m certain you’ll investigate its contents for yourself.

My concern as a shareholder centers on this book’s possible tarnishing of the Pearson brand and especially our higher-education brands. How long before a group of professors or students begin asking the question “How can we trust Pearson’s textbooks if they’re willing to publish this kind of trash?” How many educational adoptions do we risk if student groups begin protesting the book?

As an employee, I’m embarrassed. Pearson has higher editorial standards than those exemplified by this book. This is about greed. The same editor ended his interview with the New York Post saying “We’re just trying to sell books.”

I hope we do the right thing and cancel the book. That truly would be brave, imaginative and decent.