I find the info on Roger Pearson
appalling. One's first instinct is to refuse to believe that these
hair-raising accusations are true, but searching the WWW I have found a good
deal of apparently solid confirmation. I am not familiar with Pearson's own
publications, though I have found he has occasionally contributed to
the JIES. Anyway, _if_ these reports are true and Pearson is what he is claimed
to be, the fact that he remains the "founding editor" of a serious
journal should be regarded as a slap in the collective
face of the world's linguistic community. You can quote me.
The vast majority of scholars who publish
in the JIES or in its monograph series do so attracted by its high standard
and well-deserved reputation, and certainly have no idea of Mr. Publisher's
biography and sympathies (as allegedly expressed in less dignified
publications). In particular, John V. Day's book must be judged on its own
merits rather than discredited a priori because it can be indirectly
associated with Pearson's name.
I have been in this trade for some time and
have a high opinion of most of the JIES editorial board members. They are all
competent scholars, they live in different countries, meet each other at various
conferences once or twice a year, and the idea that they could form an
international fascist conspiracy is ridiculous. There is absolutely nothing
racist about their opinions, or about the general editorial policy of the JIES,
as far as I can see. However, I wasn't born yesterday. I don't believe that all
the members of the editorial board are equally unaware of who helps to fund the
journal, especially if they are close to the JIES headquarters and happen to
have known Pearson for a long time. I suppose they owe their colleagues a public
explanation.
I will make further inquiries, ask my older
and more experienced colleagues what they think of these revelations, and
if I learn anything worth reporting I'll share it with the list.
Piotr
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2002 9:16 PM
Subject: [tied] Fwd: Re: IE Origins - Anthropological
Evidence
Roger Pearson, whose Institute for the Study of Man has been one of
the top Pioneer beneficiaries over the past twenty years ($870,000
from
1981-1996) is the clearest example of the extremist ideology of
the Fund's
leadership. Pearson came to the United States in the mid-
sixties to join
Willis Carto and the group around Right magazine. In
1965 he became editor
of Western Destiny, a magazine established by
Carto and dedicated to
spreading fascist ideology. Using the
pseudonym of Stephan Langton, Pearson
then became the editor of The
New Patriot, a short-lived magazine published
in 1966-67 to
conduct "a responsible but penetrating inquiry into every
aspect of
the Jewish Question," which included articles such as "Zionists
and
the Plot Against South Africa," "Early Jews and the Rise of Jewish
Money Power," and "Swindlers of the Crematoria." Taking account of
all
groups linked to Pearson, Pioneer support between 1975-1996
exceeds one
million dollars - nearly ten percent of the total
Pioneer grants for that
period.