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Lukas,
While I appreciate your candor and transparency about the events that have occurred, and believe that you (mostly) had good intentions, I personally think that you are wrong in this situation, and should make an effort to rectify it with the Goldsmiths.
I do not think there is a legal discussion to be had here, but rather, an ethical discussion. You should do the right thing, and either destroy the material, or return it and destroy it (as it is a digital copy). It has become too personal for you now, with all that has transpired, and you should do as the author has asked.
I appreciate that you have opened up yourself for some pretty harsh criticism by posting this and bringing it to our attention. I wonder if you did so as a way of asking us for a little helpful nudge in the right direction.
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I don’t understand why Carrie couldn’t publish the book at the time. It’s her dad, she’s not using unauthorized photos or documents. It her relationship with her dad and the conversations she had with him. I understand she changed her mind and the fear of going broke hiring a lawyer to defend against a frivolous lawsuit weighed on her mind. 99.999999% of the planet don’t know who Jerry Goldsmith is and an even smaller number would buy the book.
Because the story she told involved other family members, particularly her stepmother, as I explain in the piece.
Lukas
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If Carrie saw people angry at me and it made her inclined to do something with her material, I would be thrilled.
Lukas
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Apologies in advance if I have misunderstood what Ive just read but my initial reaction is...
Has this ever happened before? A volunteer proofreader holding on to a copy of someone's entire unpublished manuscript and reference material, refusing to return it, and handing it out to a third party without permission? And subsequently giving a public appraisal of the unreleased work's quality and the writer's capabilities?
Extraordinary.
Regarding the unauthorized third party... did he receive a further copy of the material for his perusal? And did he keep that copy for himself? Or did Lukas pass his own only copy to the third party, letting it out of his control for a period of time?
If it was copied for or by the third party, and he was asked to return or destroy it when finished with it, I would expect he felt no obligation to do so, seeing as how Lukas had refused to do the exact same thing when requested to do so by the actual author.
What a mess.
The third party borrowed a print out and returned it. This was 15 years ago.
Lukas
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Someday, all of the family members involved will be gone. Their bones will turn to dust, just like ours. But Goldsmith's music will still be around.
What sense does it make to obliterate historical information? Would you really wish that an intimate family account about Bach or Beethoven had been destroyed— to protect someone's vanity?
If the Book of Luke had been destroyed to mollify temperamental family members, there would be no Christmas. Nobody knew it would amount to anything, but they saved the book. And now Christmas accounts for 30% of all retail sales in America. Think about it.
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Think about it.
I'm thinking about how high you just elevated Jerry Goldsmith. :-D
You're also assuming Lukas has the only copy.
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If Carrie saw people angry at me and it made her inclined to do something with her material, I would be thrilled.
Lukas
The inevitable reality is that this book would never had come out at that time, especially only two years after his death - whether or not you were involved. I'm not going to defend or rebuke you or your actions. It may have been like walking on a minefield without knowing exactly when the mines were going to go off. Perhaps there were still bad feelings within the family at the time - or for some time before. It is not possible to know exactly, understandably, as you are not able to intimate details of the real-time events of the family that you dealt with. This is why I think it was not a good time to do that book back in 2006.
If family dysfunctionality may have been a factor at the time, then the whole idea of a memoir should have been put on pause. Hopefully, the benefit of time could help in whatever healing process (if at all) needed to organically occur amongst the family. That would have been a private matter - everyone knows that. In a larger family, not everyone likes each other. I know it was the case in both of my parent's families. There were factions that constantly would re-align and talk to each other, then not talk to each other. Bad blood became the norm when this person got divorced, then remarried and proceeded to be judged amongst what I called "The Court of the Living Aunts." My aunts used to talk about my mom in front of her, speaking in Syrian - calling her a whore. My mom didn't know, but my dad did. He resented their treatment of who they called the "second wife" of their brother. The truth of the matter, is none of that mattered. Most of them were single and never made a commitment to anyone. They resented the fact that my dad found happiness (twice) and they never did. They're all dead now so that is the finality. No reconciliation, no quiet whispers of "I'm sorry" or "You still suck, but you're my brother, and I love you no matter what." Sometimes, resentment runs deep and never recovers. I just hope that I am WAY OFF on this.
The older Goldsmith's are all old now. Quite frankly, I don't give a s**t if that book is published or not, if it's just to make a buck or spite somebody else. I really liked what I did read and was a huge fan of his music, but I will not partake in something that will further split a family or enjoy something at someone else's expense. Jerry was complicated, and so are many people - successful and in the public eye or not. But it's the family's story or stories to tell in that context - or not to tell at all.
Lukas, you have 15 years of distance between this and a family of your own. I know you can appreciate the nuances of marriage, children, and the whole evolution along the way. We never stop making mistakes and missteps, but hope to goodness we can avoid crashing the plane and killing the passengers in the process. Self-awareness is your friend - introspection is your kick in the ass.
Getting mad at you for something that happened 15 years ago in order to persuade someone to sell a book is nonsensical to me. I don't know that you can do anything anything at this point - or if you should. But I do know this:
1. There is a story to tell.
2. It's up to the family to decide to tell it - OR NOT!
3. There are fans out there who enjoyed his music, but understand that he had a complicated life with a family that was real and lived on the other side of that success.
4. We're all going to die at some point.
Very
MaxB
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Lukas, congratulations on the launch of the website. I must tell you how impressed I am at the statesmanlike civility and decorum that you continually display towards.... us. Thank you for your exemplary patience and politeness.
Those are all qualities that appear to have no place on the internet.
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