|
From Our Writers:
By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Book Critic
 By an eerie coincidence, I received my review copy of Mike Gilbert's "How I Helped O. J. Get Away With Murder" (Regnery, 320 pages, $27.95) on June 12, 2008, the 14th anniversary of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Reading the book not only confirmed my view that O. J. Simpson was the murderer, but it depressed me to read about the corrupting influence of celebrity worship in America. I don't use the word "worship" lightly: Gilbert, Simpson's sports marketing agent for 18 years, and the others who made their living off the retired football superstar, are--as the author himself admits--part of the problem--a very big part of the problem.
The subtitle of Gilbert's very readable book is "The Shocking Inside Story of Violence, Loyalty, Regret, and Remorse." Gilbert, growing up as a high school football player in the northern California town of Hollister, worshiped O. J. Simpson and describes in detail all of the elements included in that subtitle.
As I write this, I'm listening to Robert Shapiro listing the benefits of his LegalZoom.com online legal service on my television set. Shapiro was part of O. J.'s "Dream Team" and he comes in for a spanking from Gilbert for leaking information to the press. Shapiro, Gilbert says, accused another team member, F. Lee Bailey, of leaking information and Bailey returned the favor, accusing Shapiro. It ended the decades long friendship between the two lawyers.
The other two "Dream Team" lawyers were Johnnie Cochran and Barry Scheck. O. J. wanted Cochran, an African-American, to head the team because of the makeup of the jury, overwhelmingly black. I'm familiar with the geography of Los Angeles, having lived there for 16 years, so it was no surprise that the Dream Team finagled to get the trial moved to downtown L. A. Normally, a double murder in Brentwood would result in a trial at the courthouse in nearby Santa Monica, a mostly white community with a similar jury pool.
A jury pool in downtown Los Angeles would be overwhelmingly black and Hispanic, which is what the O. J. jury turned out to be: Eight blacks, one Hispanic, two people of mixed race, and one white.
Gilbert is donating portions of proceeds from the book to the March of Dimes and other charities he's been associated with. I hope these charities include ones dealing with battered women because Gilbert admits that he and others in O. J. Simpson's inner circle did nothing to stop the beatings that Nicole suffered at the hands of his "hero."
When I heard about the book--before I read it--I imagined it to be yet another sleazy book about the "Trial of the Century." It's not that at all. It lifts the gigantic rock covering celebrity worship, revealing the writhing mass of disgusting worms underneath.
Gilbert tells the reader he wrote the book because he regrets what he did for his adored childhood idol. He can no longer find any excuse for how he has shielded O. J. Simpson; and he is determined that the full truth must now be told, including:
* O. J.'s late night confession to Gilbert
* How Gilbert was responsible for O. J.'s hand not fitting the murder glove
* Why O. J. murdered Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman (it was more than jealousy)
* Why Gilbert defended O .J. for so long--and what finally convinced him he could do so no longer
* How O. J. ignored his financial obligations to the Goldman family and milked the tabloids for money
* The real reason why an armed O. J. burst in on the memorabilia collectors in Las Vegas (Gilbert had what O. J. was looking for)
From the Prologue of How I Helped O. J. Get Away With Murder
"I am not interested in anybody's forgiveness, but I do want to tell the real story. I want you to know what happened, why it happened, and how it happened. I want you to see us as real people, no matter how you may judge us by the end of this book.
"Before O. J. Simpson killed Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman on the night of June 12, 1994, we were all people you might have liked. We worked hard, kept our business affairs straight, kept discretions (in personal matters), and watched each other's backs. There were four of us in the innermost O. J. circle: Skip Taft, Cathy Randa, Al Cowlings, and me--the lawyer, the personal assistant, the best friend, and the agent. During the trial we were inseparable, but the pain and stress dissolved our bonds and now there's just resigned silence.
"We weren't evil, stupid, or crazy, any of us. We knew O. J., we knew Nicole, we knew their dynamics, and we could see the evidence. But unlike the rest of you, we had a profound conflict: We loved him...
"You are wondering why I decided to write this book now, and if it is 'all about cashing in.'
"Nothing is 'all about' anything. I wasn't ready before. I was still working for O. J. and I was still an apologist for him, for myself....I was hooked in by choices I made from day one, the day of the blast, June 12.
"Now I'm not.
"The simple reality is that I have a story that I know you will want to hear...not as I dream it, or imagine it, or would like it to be--but as it actually was."
* * *
Get your hands on "How I Helped O. J. Get Away With Murder" and you'll probably change your views about celebrities. I never had any illusions about celebrities, but far too many people do.
Publisher's web site: www.regnery.com |
David Kinchen resides in Port Lavaca, Texas, and is editor of