more on fraud on the internet

[Peter Giordano]

I am posting another article on the bogus Vonnegut speech - I find it a
telling lesson on the issue I've been discussing regarding veracity on the
internet and the importance of check sources (Of course, there will be
those who will flame me for having such an opinion but I will continue to
argue that this is an issue which should have more attention than it gets)
- I will make more comments at the end of this message

>>>VONNEGUT? SCHMICH? WHO CAN TELL IN CYBERSPACE?
>>>
>>>08/03/1997
>>>
>>>Mary Schmich
>>
>>>I am Kurt Vonnegut.
>>>
>>>Oh, Kurt Vonnegut may appear to be a brilliant, revered male novelist. I
>>>may appear to be a mediocre and virtually unknown female newspaper
>>>columnist. We may appear to have nothing in common but unruly hair.
>>>
>>>But out in the lawless swamp of cyberspace, Mr. Vonnegut and I are one.
>>>Out there, where any snake can masquerade as king, both of us are the author
>>>of  a graduation speech that began with the immortal words, "Wear
>>>sunscreen."
>>>
>>>I was alerted to my bond with Mr. Vonnegut Friday morning by several
>>>callers and e-mail correspondents who reported that the sunscreen speech
>>>was rocketing through the cyberswamp, from L.A. to New York to Scotland,
>>>in a vast e-mail chain letter.
>>>
>>>Friends had e-mailed it to friends, who e-mailed it to more friends, all
>>>of whom were told it was the commencement address given to the graduating
>>>class at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The speaker was
>>>allegedly Kurt Vonnegut.
>>>
>>>Imagine Mr. Vonnegut's surprise. He was not, and never has been, MIT's
>>>commencement speaker.
>>>
>>>Imagine my surprise. I recall composing that little speech one Friday
>>>afternoon while high on coffee and M&M's. It appeared in this space on
>>>June 1. It included such deep thoughts as "Sing," "Floss," and "Don't mess
>>>too much with your hair." It was not art.
>>>
>>>But out in the cyberswamp, truth is whatever you say it is, and my
>>>simple thoughts on floss and sunscreen were being passed around as Kurt
>>>Vonnegut's eternal wisdom.
>>>
>>>Poor man. He didn't deserve to have his reputation sullied in this way.
>>>
[ ... ]
>>>
>>>Fortunately, not everyone who read the speech believed it was Mr.
>>>Vonnegut's.
>>>
>>>"The voice wasn't quite his," sniffed one doubting contributor to a
>>>Vonnegut chat group on the Internet. "It was slightly off--a little too
>>>jokey, a little too cute . . . a little too `Seinfeld.' "
>>>
>>>Hoping to find the source of this prank, I traced one e-mail backward
>>>from its last recipient, Hank De Zutter, a professor at Malcolm X College in
>>>Chicago. He received it from a relative in New York, who received it
>>>from a film producer in New York, who received it from a TV producer in
>>>Denver,
>>>who received it from his sister, who received it. . . .
>>>
>>>I realized the pursuit of culprit zero would be endless. I gave up.

[ ... ]
>>>Reams could be written on the lessons in this episode. Space confines me
>>>to two.
>>>
>>>One: I should put Kurt Vonnegut's name on my column. It would be like
>>>sticking a Calvin Klein label on a pair of Kmart jeans.
>>>
>>>Two: Cyberspace, in Mr. Vonnegut's word, is "spooky."
>>>
>>>? 1997 Chicago Tribune

I would add second Number two above - What is remarkable is how much people
want to believe - The internet often seems to serve as a version of those
supermarket tabloids - Apparently Vonnegut's own wife was fooled by this
story - It is much, much easier to make up stories about an author like
Thomas Pynchon because he does not respond and tries to keep his private
life private - Bogus stories about pig masks ands rocket pencils satisfy
some fans' need to be "closer" to their favorite author but they serve only
to distort our understanding of the author's work - And the act of selling
off stories and fables about the "real" Pynchon only serves to underscore
exactly what Pynchon warns us of in his writing -
The best way (in my opinion) to understand Pynchon's work is to reject the
fables and stories spread about him -When people make claims about an
author one should question the source of the claims and unless those claims
can be verified they should be rejected -  Pynchon's talent should (and
does) speak for itself

Peter Giordano
Williams College
Williamstown, MA