NEWSLETTER – December 29 / 2022

As we ring out 2022 and ring in 2023, I am reminded of the quote from acclaimed novelist Lois McMaster Bujold: “The dead cannot cry out for justice. It is the duty of the living to do so for them.” For more than 15 years, that has been my “job.”

Since late 2016 when my bestselling book, The Reporter Who Knew Too Much, was released on through to the publication of Denial of Justice, Collateral Damage, and most recently, Fighting for Justice, each inspired by my muse, Dorothy Kilgallen, I have attempted to secure justice for my “friend” from the hereafter in a court of law. Despite overwhelming evidence that she did not overdose on drugs in late 1965 but instead was murdered by powerful men threatened by her exposing the truth about the JFK assassination, I have failed to obtain that justice through strong demands to governmental agencies in New York City that decided Dorothy’s case wasn’t worth their time and expense. Shame on them.

This said, only in the past few days have I realized that my determination to clear Dorothy’s name and restore her fine reputation has resulted in another “kind” of justice for this one-of-a-kind media icon, one accomplished in the court of public opinion. This revelation came about while watching a riveting Netflix documentary about another amazing, courageous woman, my longtime friend, and stellar women’s rights advocate attorney Gloria Allred. While pointing out that many of her clients who were raped by Bill Cosby could not pursue claims in court against him due to the statute of limitations, these brave women, by coming forward with their evidence, were able to secure some justice for themselves by holding the reprobate Cosby accountable for his actions.

Hearing of Gloria pursuing this “type” of justice made me realize that just as these victims’ voices were heard so has Dorothy’s concerning her own denial of justice since thousands upon thousands of people have either read my last four books or watched interviews or presentations about them on YouTube. To date, there have been more than 8 million views including nearly 600,000 for a presentation I gave on Fighting for Justice at the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco just 20 days ago.

As important as it is to learn more about Dorothy and her crusade to expose cover-ups of the truth about matters of significant historical importance through my books, a tribute to her exists based on the more than 1000 “Comments” adjoining the YouTube video. People truly admire and respect Dorothy and one comment, in particular, stands out: “If integrity had a person to represent itself, it would be through Dorothy.” Another comment is also most appreciated: “Ms. Kilgallen will get her proper recognition, thanks to this Warrior for justice, Mr. Mark Shaw.”

Regarding Dorothy’s “achievements” pointing to that recognition, (more included in Fighting for Justice) they are:

• Loving mother of three young children.

• At age twenty-three, a competitor against two men in the 1936 “Race around the World” restricted to commercial travel, where she became the first woman to fly across the Pacific while setting speed records. Famed aviator Amelia Earhart sent her good wishes, and First lady Eleanor Roosevelt praised this accomplishment.

• During the Christmas holidays in 1937 (Kilgallen was twenty-four), a surprise announcement appeared in Hearst newspapers across the country: “The first and only Woman Columnist Dorothy Kilgallen’s Voice of Broadway Column Starts Monday. A Man’s Job. Beginning Monday in the New York Journal-American, Dorothy Kilgallen will Report Daily on the Deeds and Misdeeds of Broadway and important criminal trials. A Man’s Job. But Dorothy has been doing a Man’s Job and Doing It Better.” (Column syndicated to 200 newspapers across the country).

• During World War II, hosted a radio program Dorothy Kilgallen’s Diary to raise money through the sale of War Bonds.

• Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize based on coverage of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953.

• From 1950 to 1965, a star panelist on the CBS program What’s My Line? viewed by more than ten million people each week.

• From 1945 to 1963, co-hosted with her husband, Richard Kollmar, an NYC radio program Breakfast with Dorothy and Dick, listened to by a million people a day.

• As a top-notch investigative reporter, she covered the Lindbergh Baby kidnapping case and the Dr. Sam Sheppard murder trial where she later saved him from life in prison by exposing judicial misconduct in an appeal to the Supreme Court.

• Exposed evidence that her friend Marilyn Monroe did not commit suicide through a column entitled, “MM Has Hollywood Talking Again” while blaming her death on “the Kennedy’s.

• Confronted singer Frank Sinatra regarding his womanizing and affiliation with the Mafia in several columns putting herself in danger.

• Became the most credible journalist to have investigated the JFK assassination in history to the extent of being the only reporter of 400 who interviewed Jack Ruby at his trial and later exposed his Warren Commission testimony before its release date causing J. Edgar Hoover to become a mortal enemy.

• If she had lived past the young age of 52, her intention to expose evidence pointing to the truth about the JFK assassination and corruption at the Warren Commission passed on to her by commission member Sen. John Sherman Cooper of Kennedy, a “longstanding friend” in a “tell-all” book she was writing for Random House as explained in Fighting for Justice. (Proof that Dorothy was correct about her assassination theories is that she was killed.)

Amazingly enough, all this from a college dropout who had to withstand an era of gender discrimination abounding at every turn.

• Nudist Camp Owner

• Father Jim Kilgallen on Program

• Top Ten Moments on Show

• Odd Questions asked by Dorothy

As a noted historian (my body of work is being archived by my alma mater Purdue University), and an investigative reporter who has followed closely Dorothy’s research methods as explained in Fighting for Justice), I have honored her memory along the way. She was fearless and obsessed with discovering the truth based on solid research and credible, primary source accounts, unlike today when those so-called “experts” about the assassination and ones part of what I call the “extreme media” who have few morals or ethics, don’t give a damn about that truth. No wonder I have received hundreds of emails from people around the world stating, “I wish we had a reporter like Dorothy Kilgallen today.”

For certain, Dorothy is the perfect role model for young people and I am proud that she “chose” me to tell her story. Though the justice she is getting in the court of public opinion is unconventional in nature, the woman who was called “the most powerful female voice in America” lives on through her newspaper columns, the What’s My Line? re-runs, my books, and presentations about those books including a recent one that may be viewed here. She will never be forgotten.

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– BUY BOOKS –

Fighting for Justice

The Reporter Who Knew Too Much

Collateral Damage

Denial of Justice