The Diary—Old Hoax or New?

[Iconoclast]

Yeah, he resigned like Butch and Sundance resigned from their life of crime while in Bolivia.

c.d.

Classic!

PS I have just discovered that you have to wait 30 seconds between posts - how bizarre!

[Iconoclast]

Hello Graham and Ike,

Graham - I would enjoy getting together and having a few pints some day...uh...you would be buying, right?

Ike - Glad to hear that "dissed" and other expressions have crossed the pond and rubbed off (or is that one-off) on you. Now if we can just get you to drink your beer a little colder and learn to drive on the correct side of the road I think you guys should be okay.

c.d.

Hi c.d.,

Graham's from the Midlands (where I now live) and the beer down here is coldish (nothing like the dreadful warm ale in London and its environs). I love the Pedigree especially (from Burton) and the Doom Bar (which I think is brewed much further south of both of us). But ultimately I'm a man from the cold cold north - raised in North Shields, Newcastle, and Scotland so my pint is as cold as I can get it! I'm embarrassed to say that I have even resorted to putting ice cubes in southern beer, it's that bad.

By the way, I'm currently watching the US version of 'The Office'. I love it! I'm practically American myself these days!

Cheers (erm, back atcha), buddy

Ike

[c.d.]

Good to see he's taking his ban, sorry, his 'resignation' from the 'Censorship Forum' well.

Yeah, he resigned like Butch and Sundance resigned from their life of crime while in Bolivia.

c.d.

[c.d.]

Hello Graham and Ike,

Graham - I would enjoy getting together and having a few pints some day...uh...you would be buying, right?

Ike - Glad to hear that "dissed" and other expressions have crossed the pond and rubbed off (or is that one-off) on you. Now if we can just get you to drink your beer a little colder and learn to drive on the correct side of the road I think you guys should be okay.

c.d.

[Eliza]

Hi Eliza,

I'm afraid logic tends to go out of the window for someone suffering from paranoia. Mike really did believe everyone had it in for him. "Infamy, infamy, they've all got it in for me". The alcohol didn't help. If he thought his personal goose was already cooked, and couldn't see how there'd be any more golden eggs coming his way no matter what, then a confession - or claim [I prefer either word to 'admission', which implies you have already delivered a guilty verdict] that the diary was a recent fake, would at least help to strangle the goose he imagined was still busy laying golden eggs for everyone else - including his wife. You really have to know the whole story, but even then it's not easy for anyone not inside Mike's head at the time to imagine what he was going through - much of it self-inflicted, but no less painfully real for him.



As I said, you really have to know the whole story, of what was going on and when. How long is 'so long'? Mike's wife left him in early 1994, and things went rapidly downhill for him after that. By the April, Paul Feldman was pestering him with his latest theory of a blood relationship back to the Maybricks from the Barretts or Grahams. Mike was furious because he thought Feldman was going to try and prove his daughter Caroline was descended from Jack the Ripper [work that one out!]. It was just two months later, in the June, when Mike had had enough and told the newspaper he had written the diary himself. Far from trying 'as long as he could to keep the truth hidden', nobody up until that point had anything on him [Scotland Yard had found nothing and washed their hands of the diary in late 1993], and his perceived enemies, Feldman, Anne and the diary people, could not have been more surprised or shocked by his claim, which helped nobody, least of all Mike himself. The big money was finally coming in and things were set to get better.



It depends on what Mike considered his priorities at the time. If he thought the diary had done him more harm than good, and had ultimately robbed him of his precious only daughter, would he really have been more concerned about what happened to this 'allegedly monumental and historic find', which had been called a shabby hoax? "I've lost my daughter. I'm losing control of the diary. I'm losing control over my life. If I can't get my daughter back, or my life back, I will use the diary any way I can to get back at my enemies."

Love,

Caz
X

“Mike's wife left him in early 1994, and things went rapidly downhill for him after that. By the April, Paul Feldman was pestering him…”

Again, false confessions are rare—even when a suspect is under pressure during police interrogation. They most often occur when interrogation tactics cross over into abusiveness. They do not normally occur because of pending divorce (“my wife is leaving me, so I’ll confess to being a forger”..really?), nor because of another private individual’s “pestering.”

“Mike was furious because he thought Feldman was going to try and prove his daughter Caroline was descended from Jack the Ripper”—
So Mike was “furious” for two whole months regarding some bogus plan to “link” his daughter to Maybrick, aka Jack the Ripper—(how is that even possible, in the age of Ancestry.com—wherein it could easily be refuted?) But despite being “furious,” Mike gives Feldman two entire months to enact that nefarious plan (which never comes to fruition)—then (belatedly) decided the best way to counter this alleged action (which never actually took place) is to confess to forgery?

“Far from trying 'as long as he could to keep the truth hidden' nobody up until that point had anything on him …”

When I state that I think Mike tried to “keep the truth hidden” – it is regarding the diary’s provenance. He gave out several stories, all of which unraveled. Meantime, his wife was apparently trying to help him by throwing out other, equally implausible explanations. If Mike was “pestered”, it was mainly due to these conflicting, and increasingly nonsensical, cover stories. I think he got tired of being confronted with his lies and distortions —maybe feeling that his forgery was already close to being exposed—and decided to make a clean breast.

"I've lost my daughter. I'm losing control of the diary. I'm losing control over my life. If I can't get my daughter back, or my life back, I will use the diary any way I can to get back at my enemies."

Again, this would not plausibly be a rationale for false confession. One does not “reclaim control” over one’s life and family by admitting to fraud. Nor does one “get back at enemies” by admitting to fraud/ personal wrongdoing.

“You really have to know the whole story, of what was going on…”
I’m always skeptical when someone references an alleged complex, confusing “whole story," to explain what is otherwise pretty implausible. The fact is, none of the reasons put forth for false confession of forgery are plausible on their face.

[Iconoclast]

In case anyone is interested, David has added an addendum to his "Send in the Clowns" article. It is under the News heading. Not surprisingly he has "dissed" (American slang meaning to disrespect someone) us all again.

c.d.

Honestly, c.d., we have wall-to-wall American shows over here on satellite TV so we are familiar with the likes of 'dissed', in the same way as we are all now saying 'back in the day' (a term I feel was first dreamed-up in the excellent Blue Bloods) amongst an endless stream of other over-the-ponders.

My twenty year old daughter says 'pissed' instead of 'pissed off', and even has the audacity to pronounce a 'z' as 'zee' rather than 'zed'. Naturally, I am the English language police and correct her every time she does it ..

Back atcha, buddy. Hope you're enjoying your cwwoffee and donuts. Watch the mayo and the cream, though, or else all of those lucky ladies may become pissed with you. [Fist pump]

Uncle Ike

[Iconoclast]

Has anyone ever read any of David Barrat's writings apart from those concerning the Ripper Diary? (Btw, if you didn't know, Barrat is the name he pins to his published works. His publishing company is called Orsam Books...but I expect everyone knows that by now).

C.d: next time I'm Stateside, we must meet up. You sound like my kinda guy.

Ike: I thought the Villains had at least got the drawer. But thanks for your kind words.

Graham

Best player on the park on Sunday ran out of steam and dallied too long on the ball just the once and got sorely punished for it. It's a merciless league.

[Iconoclast]

And to assist David in his choice of pronoun when referring to me, I am a male. I use initials because I have a lot of husbands looking for me and you can never be too careful. But definitely a guy and a handsome devil if I say so myself. Charmed many a lady if you get my drift and there were even a few who said "this is silly, I should be paying you."

c.d.

Genius - whether this is for real or for fun, I absolutely loved this post!!!!!!!!!

PS Although (on reading it again) I'm afraid I can't condone the affairs with the married - but that's maybe just me ...

[Graham]

Has anyone ever read any of David Barrat's writings apart from those concerning the Ripper Diary? (Btw, if you didn't know, Barrat is the name he pins to his published works. His publishing company is called Orsam Books...but I expect everyone knows that by now).

C.d: next time I'm Stateside, we must meet up. You sound like my kinda guy.

Ike: I thought the Villains had at least got the drawer. But thanks for your kind words.

Graham

[harry]

His resignation is just a 'One off".

[Purkis]

Isn't he just something else, chaps?

Good to see he's taking his ban, sorry, his 'resignation' from the 'Censorship Forum' well.

[c.d.]

And to assist David in his choice of pronoun when referring to me, I am a male. I use initials because I have a lot of husbands looking for me and you can never be too careful. But definitely a guy and a handsome devil if I say so myself. Charmed many a lady if you get my drift and there were even a few who said "this is silly, I should be paying you."

c.d.

[c.d.]

In case anyone is interested, David has added an addendum to his "Send in the Clowns" article. It is under the News heading. Not surprisingly he has "dissed" (American slang meaning to disrespect someone) us all again.

c.d.

[Iconoclast]

May I very politely - as I am extremely humble and insignificant and easily ignored and overlooked - point out that in Orsam's incredible 'analysis', I am actually NUMBER TWO before c.d. (whoever he might be) and the fragrant Caz. I did seriously try to read all of Orsam's tiresome ramblings, but failed. Isn't he just something else, chaps?

Graham

Hi Graham,

Quite right - respect is due, your No. 2 spot in the Orsam rankings is both worthy and meritful (the spell checker doesn't like this word so I've added it to my dictionary to get rid of that tiresome red underline). I only mentioned c.d.'s 3rd place because he/she mentioned it themselves. To date, Caz hasn't commented on her respectable 4th place, but I have no doubt that being out of the medal places will drive her on in the future !

Sad about the Villa on Saturday, by the way. Despite my 10 year frustration with the banners, I can't deny that they were excellent against Spurs. Once they've played a few games and got used to the pace of the Premiership (did for us against Arsenal too) they'll have a good season.

Cheers,

Ike
No. 1 Arch-Enemy of Anti-Diarists Wherever They Lurk

[Graham]

No. 3 - great work, c.d. - Caz will be fizzing to only come in 4th!

Don't you love farce?
My fault I fear
I thought you'd want what I want
Sorry, my dear!

Ike

May I very politely - as I am extremely humble and insignificant and easily ignored and overlooked - point out that in Orsam's incredible 'analysis', I am actually NUMBER TWO before c.d. (whoever he might be) and the fragrant Caz. I did seriously try to read all of Orsam's tiresome ramblings, but failed. Isn't he just something else, chaps?

Graham