Southeastern NEWS
Southeastern Louisiana University
Public Information Office
publicinfo@selu.edu
SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
Date: 6/28/00
Contact: Christina Chapple 65
KURTZ ARTICLE ON "JFK" INCLUDED BOOK ON OLIVER STONE
HAMMOND -- Southeastern Louisiana University history and political professor
Michael Kurtz has written an article in a new book about Hollywood movie producer and
director Oliver Stone.
Edited by film historian Robert Toplin and recently published by the University Press of
Kansas, "Oliver Stone's USA: Film, History and Controversy" has been favorably reviewed in
Publisher's Weekly and the Washington Post Book World. The book includes articles by best
selling historian and D-Day Museum founder Stephen Ambrose, Pultizer Prize journalist David
Halberstam, Pulitzer Prize historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., and former Democratic
presidential candidate George McGovern.
Kurtz's article, "Oliver Stone, JFK, and History," covers Stone's controversial film,
"JFK," about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In his article, Kurtz criticizes Stone
for what he claims is a "highly sympathetic portrayal" of New Orleans District Attorney Jim
Garrison's controversial prosecution of businessman Clay Shaw for conspiracy to assassinate the
president.
Stone, Kurtz said, "depicts a complex historical event in a film marred by numerous
inaccuracies." However, he also praises Stone for producing and directing a powerful film. "The
film's impact on public opinion resulted in considerable pressure on the government to release its
long-suppressed Kennedy assassination files," Kurtz said.
-SLU-
Press release available online at www.selu.edu./NewsEvents/PublicInfoOffice/newsp00.htm