Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Goodman gets apology, retraction from book publisher

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman accepted an apology and a retraction Tuesday from the publisher of "Positively Fifth Street," a best-selling book that contains a passage suggesting he was involved in the murder of a federal judge.

Goodman said the settlement ensures his -- and his family's -- good name will be preserved.

"I worked my entire life to establish a good name and reputation -- it's the most important thing to pass on a legacy," Goodman told reporters at a news conference that he and his attorney, Anthony Glassman, a veteran First Amendment lawyer from Los Angeles, held minutes after Goodman signed an agreement with New York publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

The passage will be removed from subsequent editions of the book, and a retraction and an apology by the publisher will run in a full-page ad in the Sunday New York Times Book Review on July 6.

No other details of the settlement were released. Goodman would not say whether he received cash as part of the agreement.

"Positively Fifth Street," subtitled "Murderers, Cheetahs and Binion's World Series of Poker," was written by James McManus, a poet, author and teacher from the Chicago area.

The book is No. 18 on the New York Times best-seller list after peaking at No. 7, and about 75,000 copies were printed.

The passage that will be removed from future printings refers to a meeting Goodman says he never had with Benny, Jack and Ted Binion at Binion's Horseshoe.

It reads:

"With (narcotics kingpin Jimmy) Chagra on trial in Texas for heroin trafficking, Jack, Ted and Benny Binion convened in Booth 1 of the Horseshoe coffee shop with Oscar Goodman, the hyperaggressive young Philadelphia attorney, representing the accused. The upshot of that meeting was a $50,000 contract for Charles Harrelson (actor Woody's dad) to assassinate U.S. District Court Judge John Wood -- or so the lore has it."

Goodman said that while he was friends with all three Binion men, it was "highly unlikely" he ever met with the three at the same time, nor was he in any way involved in the slaying of the judge nicknamed "Maximum John" for his stiff sentences.

Another related passage to be removed from future publications of the book reads: "The working assumption in the coffee shop must have been that neither a satchel stuffed with hundred-dollar bills for Maximum John nor an eloquent closing by Oscar would yield the desired results."

Wood was murdered in Texas in 1979; Charles Harrelson was convicted of the crime and sentenced to two life terms.

Glassman, a former assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, said the insinuation that Goodman "was in any way connected to the tragic death of Judge John Wood is an outrageous falsehood without any basis whatsoever."

He said the response by the publisher to his letter of demand for a retraction was "the fastest response of any publisher" in his career. "This is full and complete vindication" for Goodman, Glassman said, noting the apology is from the publisher on behalf of the author.

Elizabeth Calamari, spokeswoman for both the publisher and the author, said "the settlement that was reached is amicable to both sides."

She said the terms of the settlement, other than that future printings will not contain the passages in question, are confidential.

Paul Sleven, attorney for the publisher, in his offer to Goodman, wrote, "We would like to assure you that the book was not intended to state as a fact that Mayor Goodman was present at any such meeting or was in any way involved in the assassination of Judge Wood. We hope that no reader misunderstood the passage to constitute an assertion of fact about Mayor Goodman, and we apologize to Mayor Goodman if any readers did misunderstand it.

In a previous interview with the Sun, McManus said he was "a little concerned" about crossing Goodman.

What about all of the copies of the book -- sold and unsold -- still circulating?

"I have received no letter to pull them, so I'm going to continue to sell them at the cover price of $26," said Howard Schwartz, longtime manager of the Gambler's Book Shop at 630 S. 11th St., which has sold several hundred copies of "Positively Fifth Street." Schwartz said he has two cases of unsold copies.

"I don't believe this is going to make the first edition a rare book, but there will be a certain level of public curiosity over what the fuss was about. In the years to come, I'm sure we'll have people come in and ask to see an original copy."

Schwartz said only time will tell if the retraction will hurt the significance of the book -- one of the few poker or gaming books to ever make a best-seller list -- or the reputation of the author, who has written about a half-dozen published books prior to "Positively Fifth Street," which chronicles his exploits as a poker player at Binion's World Series of Poker.

"He has good credentials, but an incident like this could result in either no publisher ever touching him again or several publishers waiting in line to consider his next work," said Schwartz, who has edited 25 of the 134 books published by the Gambler's Book Shop over five decades.

"This is probably one of the hottest gaming books in history and one of the most well-reviewed."

Glassman admitted there is little that can be done about the books still on the market.

"You cannot unring the bell," Glassman said. "But what you can do is to get the publisher to react responsibly."

Schwartz said he wonders whether the publisher ever questioned McManus about the passage.

"I definitely would have asked the author for proof," Schwartz said. "I once got into an argument with a writer over a passage in one of his manuscripts and we wound up not publishing it when he did not provide proof."

McManus, who was in town for the recently completed World Series of Poker, canceled a May 18 book signing that had been scheduled for the Horseshoe.

Glassman admitted that given that Goodman is a public figure and proving that the publisher and author had prior knowledge the statements were false would have made it "a tough case to prosecute." But he believes he could have shown that the publisher entertained doubts about the validity given that there were no FBI or police reports to support the claim.

Goodman said he has not read the entire book.

In early May, when he first heard about the book and his portrayal in it, an angry Goodman said McManus would "go down in history as the biggest jerk to ever visit Las Vegas to play poker."

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