This fact checking has dragged Transworld into the fray as Transworld Media alumni Lee Crane is listed as the sole consultant on the title page, which is available online. “I have no knowledge of Burton being involved,” states Crane, who was approached by Capstone to review the book as an “expert” after they saw a snowboard historical timeline online that he edited. “I remember asking the publisher if all of Jake’s life sketch details were correct (nothing seemed glaringly wrong to me) and they said they had all those details handled.”

Capstone, who approached O’Hearn with the book idea, is focused on getting children to read. “We wanted to take a topic that kids are interested in, a topic kids want to know about, and present it in a way that is appealing to kids,” says Capstone Senior Product Planning Editor John Rahm. “Although Burton may not be the official inventor of the snowboard, we feel his story fits into this series because of his important contribution to the sport…That said, no one from Burton Snowboards was involved with this project.”

Which brings us back to the elephant in the room. Burton. It seems pretty clear they had nothing to do with the creation of the book, but in a prepared statement they said “just like everyone else, we think this book is misleading. We wish it wasn’t out there, but it is.” So why haven’t they done anything about it? “We’re limited in what we can do because Jake is a public figure and anyone can choose to write about him,” says Bryan Johnston, Burton’s Senior VP of Global Marketing.

In fact, the only recourse would be to pursue a defamation lawsuit, which would require they prove not only defamation per se, but also malice on the part of O’Hearn and Capstone. “There’s noting we can do about the copies that are already out there. But we are going to recommend the publisher work with us or an independent source like Transworld to make corrections if the book is re-printed,” adds Johnston.

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Tags: BURTON, capstone, childrens book, controversy, history of snowboarding, Jake Burton Carpenter

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 6th, 2008 at 3:58 pm and is filed under FEATURES. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.