Author/Satirist Micah Ian Wright never was a Ranger

[Khephra]

The Reliable Source

By Richard Leiby
Sunday, May 2, 2004; Page D03


Rangers Lead The Way in Exposing Author As a Fraud

In the Style section last summer we profiled a Los Angeles writer named Micah Ian Wright, who'd just published a shrill antiwar poster book called "You Back the Attack! We'll Bomb Who We Want!" In his book, he described himself as a veteran of combat, a former Army Ranger whose experiences during the 1989 invasion of Panama turned him into a peacenik. In interviews with The Post and other media, he played up that background.

Wright, it turns out, is a liar. He never served in the military -- and confessed that last week to his publisher, Seven Stories Press, after we insisted on evidence of his service. Pursuing a tip from real Rangers who'd never heard of Wright, we filed three Freedom of Information Act requests with separate Army commands -- and last month finally confirmed that Wright never served.

"I feel awful about it. It was a lie that just grew and grew and grew," Wright, 34, told us Friday. He said mounting combat deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, including that of Ranger Pat Tillman, compound his sense of remorse: "I plan to make a public apology on my Web site ."

Seven Stories has canceled publication of Wright's next book, "If You're Not a Terrorist, Then Stop Asking Questions," due out in two months. It also will remove from future printings of the first book his detailed and wholly fictional account of parachuting into Panama under fire during Operation Just Cause. Wright's book of satirically "remixed" World War II propaganda posters was a minor success, selling more than 20,000 copies. It carried endorsements from two WWII vets, novelist Kurt Vonnegut and historian Howard Zinn.

more.............................

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60119-2004May1.html

and more here too:

http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12524

[deutsey]

1. This sucks.

Micah, you're an asshole.

[Khephra]

2. This is really bad

The man has loads of talent. He didn't need to make up a background like the Rangers to give himself more credibility, instead he's probably shot his growing career right in the foot.

[deutsey]

3. And has helped to smear the anti-war movement in the process

:evilfrown:

When I heard him on Democracy Now a while ago I have to say I thought it seemed odd to me that a Ranger would go on to do cartoon shows on Nickelodian, but I thought, why not? More power to him. And it was inspiring to think that a former Ranger would speak out so boldly (and creatively) against Bush's war. He also gave some moving details about his "experience" during the invasion of Panama, which are now exposed as bogus.

The big question that keeps coming to mind is, "Why, Micah, why?"

[KoKo]

4. It can't be all bad for Anti-War movement. I've never heard of the guy,

and I'm one of those who should have, I guess. But, now I'm glad I didn't! :shrug:

[deutsey]

6. I know you've seen his work

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A13755-2003Jul5¬Found=true

He took old WWII US propaganda posters and put new anti-war messages on them.

[Khephra]

7. His work has been posted here from time to time

Here's some samples. I think you'll recognize more than a few of them.

http://homepage.mac.com/leperous/PhotoAlbum1.html

[KoKo]

8. Thanks for the links. I've seen the posters here on DU but didn't connect

it with who it was. Too bad..

[Memekiller]

5. I know this guy...

I used to write for Comedy Corner at the University of Arizona. He was trying to be a stand-up comedien at the time. I have to say, I'm not surprised. He always had a sick, twisted sense of humor, and of our group, I thought he had the most potential to make headlines one day.

Guess I was right.

[rinsd]

9. Geeezzzzzzz.........

Pretending to be a soldier to bolster your anti-war creds and for the purpose of giving more weight to your anti war arguments?

That's low and unnecessary.

[RandomKoolzip]

10. Micah, you're a dipshit.

Thanks for making us all look like liars, too. Asshole.