Book
continued from page 5
Branscomb said.
While Dianne Butler did Fri
day’s reading because Him said
the content makes her emotional,
Williams held a tape recorder and
showed little expression other
than nodding. j
Williams described Saturday
what it felt like listening to the
portion of chapter seven, “Rem
nants of Ghosts.”
“There were huge chunks of
paragraphs that I know I wrote —
I recall composing them; I know
what informed the choices of us
ing those words,” Williams said.
“It’s almost like feeling words
thunder through your bones ...
this bizarre sense of recognition
— I mean it was a very powerful
experience for me, and sad.”
Him emphasized that Williams
didn’t help her write anything
from scratch.
“They attack my ability,” she
said. “They think that because
English is not my first language
that I cannot write creatively. It’s
ignorance. Ignorance is their
weakness.
Williams said she admires Him I
as a person and for the things she |
has accomplished since escaping
from Cambodia and coming to
the United States, calling her a
“woman of extraordinary
strength and capabilities.”
“When she embarked on this,
she had a life experience,”
Williams said. “But she didn’t
have an extensive background or
training in writing.”
Him said her manuscript has
improved since the 1996 version
was copyrighted but it is because
of diligent revision.
“How could it be that Kimber
Williams is the co-author of
something that was written be
fore she came onto the scene?” -
Michael Ratoza, Him’s copyright
lawyer, said. “The book that is
published today is a vastly differ
ent book than was submitted to
[W.W.] Norton [& Company].”
Ratoza said that since the time
Williams worked on the manu
script, it has undergone many
changes — Him said a senior edi
tor at Norton worked on three
drafts with her — and those
changes are in print now.
No lawsuit is pending, but le
gal counsel for both parties dis
cussed the dispute when Ratoza
met with Williams’ lawyer, Neal
Gantcher.
Ratoza claims that Him owns
the copyrights because there was
no agreement up front that
Williams was to be a co-author.
Him also maintained control
over computer files on which the
drafts are saved.
Gantcher said he believes pub
lishing the book without credit
ing Williams is copyright in
fringement because “Kimber
provided the words.”
“It’s [Him’s] story to tell, and
she could tell it. The fact is that is
not what happened,” Gantcher
said.
Both Him and Williams said
they hope the issue will be re
solved soon but are firm in their
beliefs.
“I feel like I went into this proj
ect for the right reasons,”
Williams said. “I’ve been in jour
nalism for more than 20 years. I
could never invent this. I have
everything to lose.”
Him said she plans to focus on
her tour and said this is the time
to celebrate the book.
“I appreciated [Williams’]
help, there is no denying that,”
she said. “But this is the story of
my life, what I went though, and
I wrote it.”
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