Friday, June 12, 2009

Noontide Press and von Brunn; what Fuentes' Regnery publishes

Just a brief update on yesterday’s blog re Holocaust Museum shooter James von Brunn and the Institute for Historical Review (IHR), a local Holocaust denial organization with which one-time SOCCCD trustee Steve Frogue was associated. (Frogue praised IHR’s publications, especially the “Journal for Historical Review,” old issues of which are currently sold by IHR’s Noontide Press.)

In 1983, von Brunn was sentenced to prison for attempted armed kidnapping of members of the Federal Reserve board. After von Brunn was released from prison in 1989, he traveled to Southern California to work for the IHR. More specifically, he worked for the publishing arm of the IHR, Noontide Press, which evidently had (has?) a bookstore.

But where? The address given for Noontide Press these days is Newport Beach (same as for the IHR). But at one point (probably at least through the early 90s), Noontide Press was located in Torrance, a coastal town in southern LA county (not far from us). Torrance was also the initial home of IHR.

Noontide Press was founded by notorious anti-Semite Willis Carto in 1969. Carto founded IHR nine years later.

By the early 90s, Carto was “fired” from IHR, owing to alleged mismanagement/corruption. (Carto bought his wife a Cadillac, using IHR money, etc. The big issue was who controlled a big chunk of money that had been donated by the heir to the Edison fortune.) Eventually, there was a lawsuit, filed in 1993. Carto has been hostile to IHR ever since. Nevertheless, evidently under the direction of Mark Weber, IHR and Noontide Press have continued to pursue their original “populist” (i.e., racist) vision.

It appears that von Brunn ceased his employment with IHR/Noontide in the early 90s, right about when Carto’s relationship with Weber and crew soured. Carto claims not to have known von Brunn, which seems highly unlikely. IHR’s current leader, Mark Weber, also denies having known von Brunn, though he acknowledges having known of him.

There are reports that von Brunn has continued subscribing to IHR publications/newsletters.

Think of it! No doubt our boy Steve visited IHR's bookstore in the late 80s or early 90s. Picture him served by and talking to Mr. von Brunn! Yikes!

The loonies in our midst. Troubling, ain't it?

I do believe that most of the nuts who are drawn to racist organizations and publications are neither violent nor would they condone violence. I'm pretty sure that Frogue was in the non-violent category.

He's just a deluded fool. (It was troubling, however, to watch him fail to condemn the Nazis who descended upon board meetings in 1997 and 1998. What was that about?)

—Yeah, Frogue was "just a harmless nut"—or maybe not so harmless. People like Frogue—people in positions of power or authority who cozy up to racists and racist themes—make it easier to be a racist nutjob.

In any case, he was one of our trustees (until 2000)! Good Lord!

FUENTES AND REGNERY

To examine the publishing company with which Frogue's replacement, Tom Fuentes, is associated (along with the likes of Pat Sajak, Tom is an "external director" of Eagle/Regnery), visit Regnery Press and its very special catalog, which includes the titles listed below.

(Naturally, I'm not equating Regnery with Noontide, though it is surely scandalous that a college trustee is associated with the incompetent and dishonest "scholarship" presented in some of these books. I suppose that global warming denial and evolution denial are not as egregious as Holocaust denial. But what about Muslim bashing?)


IN THE NEWS:

GLOBAL WARMING DENIER ROHRABACHER FROTHS ON (OC Weekly)

Half who died driving [Live Oak Canyon] road were 18 or younger (OC Register)

...Of the 189 fatal or injury crashes along the road, 66 percent of the drivers were 25 years old or younger. Twenty percent of drivers were found to be between 26 and 40, while 14 percent were over 40.

Of the 12 people killed on the road since 1999, one was 16, two were 17, and four were 18 years old. Three people were 25 years old, one was 40, and the oldest was 48....

1 comment:

ernie1241 said...

16-page report on persons, organizations, and publications which influenced James W. von Brunn may be seen here:

http://ernie1241.googlepages.com/vonbrunn

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...