/internal/media/dispatcher/61446/fullPhotocopy of typed letter to Robert Loomis at Random House from Jim Bishop04/04/196611 × 8 1/2 in. (27.9 × 21.6 cm)PaperThe Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza Collection2018.071.00030Photocopy of one page typed letter to Robert Loomis at Random House from Jim Bishop, 04/04/1966. It is very likely that this letter was originally written by Jim Bishop. It is unsigned, but the context of the letter makes it extremely likely. Letter is discussing the writting and publishing a book about the Kennedy assassination despite Mrs. Kennedy's objections. The reference to the author's wife "Kelly" at the end of the letter also supports the author's identity as Jim Bishop.
The text of the letter reads as follows:
Copy to Mrs. K
April 4, 1966
Mr. Robert Loomis, Editor
Random House
457 Madison Avenue
New York, New York
Dear Bob:
Thank you for the kind note. I appreciate it. My
intention remains the same: to complete one more book before doing
the Kennedy thing. The book about the president requires enormous
research, and when Mrs. John F. Kennedy warned that she would shut
off my sources of information, she wasn’t speaking idly. They have
been shut.
Still, the book is a natural for me and I intend to write it.
I have no desire to hurry, so that my book may be published before hers.
In fact, it does not seem to have occurred to the Kennedy family that,
once their book is published, it becomes source material for all other
books to follow. The Sorenson and Schlesinger books are now used as
bibliography for dozens of Kennedy books as yet unborn, so what will
prevent authors tomorrow and a hundred years from tomorrow from using
whatever small pickings may be found in the Manchester book?
What was the President’s source material for Profiles in Courage?
Old books. What was my source for The Day Christ Died and The Day
Lincoln Was Shot? No eyewitnesses were available. Those subjects had
been done hundreds of times. Still, the Lincoln book sold over
3,000,000 copies; the Christ book has passed 2,750,000. I cannot
tolerate a race between Manchester and me toward the publication of a
book which will be written again and again and again. Patience, my
friend. Let the Washington book come first, then Kennedy. If the
Washington research does not start soon, I will go back to prodding
on the Warren Commission Report. After that, Dallas. The Texas
section alone will require a lot of digging.
Kelly and I expect to be in New York May 10th—Ginny is having
her 7th—and we will stop in for lunch.
Best Wishes,
Condition note:The photocopied page is in excellent condition with no damage noted. [Stephanie Allen-Givens, 11/02/2020]Documents6613621.590043180127.940055880159434LetterPhotocopy of one-page typed letter from Jim Bishop to Robert Loomis, the Editor of Random House, written on April 4, 1966 in which Bishop states that he will be going ahead with his book on President Kennedy's assassination despite Mrs. Kennedy's objections. This copy is a photocopy of the original typed letter. In the letter, Bishop admits that "when Mrs. John F. Kennedy warned she would shut off my sources of information, she wasn't speaking idly. They have been shut." Jim Bishop goes on to state that there is no rush to publish his book. Not only does he not want to engage in a publishing race with William Manchester, Manchester's book "The Death of a President," which was endorsed as the "official" account by the Kennedy family, will then become source material for his and "dozens of Kennedy books as yet unborn." Bishop concludes the letter to Robert Loomis by stating that he intends to do research for a book on Washington before he tackles the book on Kennedy, which will require a great deal of digging and research.LettersAuthorKennedy, John F.Kennedy, JacquelineBishop, JimManchester, WilliamWarren CommissionWarren ReportNew YorkJim Bishop (1907-87) started his journalistic career at the New York Daily Mirror in 1930. He would go on to serve as associate editor of Collier's Magazine, executive editor of Liberty Magazine and a longtime columnist with King Features Syndicate, though by the 1950s he was primarily recognized as a best-selling author. In addition to a series of religious titles, his 1955 examination of the Lincoln assassination, The Day Lincoln Was Shot, sold more than 3 million copies. He continued his focus on the presidency the following year with a Cosmopolitan article, "A Day with Dwight D. Eisenhower." He had just completed the manuscript for the book, A Day in the Life of President Kennedy, ten days before the assassination. The book was published the following year and was one of the top ten books in sales for 1964. A follow-up title, A Day in the Life of President Johnson, was published in 1967. Some four years after his correspondence with Mrs. Kennedy, Bishop's The Day Kennedy Was Shot was finally published in 1968. As of 2020, the book remains in print more than half a century later. - Stephen Fagin, CuratorEven though this letter is unsigned, it is very likely that this letter was originally written by Jim Bishop. The context of the letter, which discusses the writting and publishing of a book about the Kennedy assassination despite Mrs. Kennedy's objections, as well as the reference to the author's wife "Kelly" at the end of the letter, supports the author's identity as Jim Bishop. - Stephanie Allen-Givens, Collections and Exhibits ManagerDespite Mrs. Kennedy's objections, Jim Bishop proceeded with his book, The Day Kennedy Was Shot, which was published in 1968. - Stephanie Allen-Givens, Collections and Exhibits Manager