A Quest to Bring Bloggers ‘Within the Framework of Law’

To the Editor:

In response to “Herbert Richardson v. the World” (The Chronicle, April 15), your journalist dealt with me in a professionally courteous way and I believe that his article is fair. Please note that, in the photograph you published, the picture on the wall behind me is the face of my father. It is his courage and perseverance that has guided my life.

But am I a “second class scholar”? I taught 10 years at Harvard University and 25 years at the University of Toronto (plus seven guest professorships at institutions like the Universities of Tuebingen, Quebec, and Iowa). I have written 20 books, directed 60 theses, given invited lectures at 100 universities, and published 8,000 scholars (thereby qualifying more faculty for jobs and promotion than any university press). I have taught 10,000 undergraduates to think and to write, received awards for innovations in adult education, established a non-traditional university, and I was personally commended by Queen Elizabeth II.

I have engaged and won five cultural/political battles. My next is to bring Web blogging within the framework of law governing civil society. To do this, I am using defamatory Web statements that have been made about the Edwin Mellen Press as an opportunity to initiate lawsuits for libel against two universities. Through these lawsuits, I hope that penalties for cyberbullying will be assessed and, thereby, some legal precedents established.

Most importantly, I’m a Christian minister—like Jonathan Edwards!

Herbert W. Richardson
Editor-in-Chief
The Edwin Mellen Press
Lewiston, N.Y.