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ROGER BRUCE FEINMAN Attorney and Counselor at Law
142-10 Hoover Avenue Insurance, Entertainment Litigation Jamaica, New York 11435 Excess Insurance & General Civil and Criminal Practice Telephone (718) 526-2362 Reinsurance Disputes CIS 75530,3540 Media Errors & Omissions MCI 379-4955 First Amendment Litigation
April 15, 1989
Dear Friends and Colleagues of Sylvia Meagher:
This little booklet was conceived by two of Sylvia Meagher's closest girlfriends, Bunny Heller and Anne Silberling. It is their tribute to our friend and associate as much as mine. It was printed without charge by a man who never knew Sylvia, so impressed was he by her unique per-sonality.
As her family wished, attendance at the Walter B. Cooke Funeral Home on West 72nd Street in Manhattan was limited to those closest to Sylvia. Two days before the ser-vice, her niece asked me to speak. Although I was deeply shaken, I somehow managed to prepare these remarks. Mindful that the gathering would be small, intimate and mainly comprised of people not involved in studying the JFK assassination, I nevertheless felt it imperative that one who had worked with Sylvia stand up at that moment and address her deepest concerns.
When Bunny and Anne asked to do this booklet, I de-cided not to alter the style or syntax of my reading copy; the eulogy therefore appears here as it was originally written and spoken. There have been -- and will undoubtedly continue to be -- other tributes to Sylvia Meagher, as well as more clinical appraisals of her work. We wanted to share this simple, very personal overview with those who knew her.
Sincer yours,
Roger Bruce Feinman
, r.4
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Sylvia Meagher July 22, 1921 - January 14, 1989
A Eulogy by
Roger Bruce Feinman
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.:1
A E
ULO
GY
FO
R S
YLV
IA M
EA
GH
ER
Delivered on January 16, 1989 in N
ew Y
ork City
Mem
bers o
f Sylvia
's fam
ily, and frie
nds, m
y nam
e is R
oger F
ein
man. I first
met S
ylvia M
eagher m
any ye
ars a
go w
hile
I was w
orkin
g in
journ
alism
and sh
e
was w
orkin
g a
t the U
.N. A
t our first e
nco
unte
r, I regard
ed h
er w
ith th
at d
egre
e o
f
deta
chm
ent a
nd ske
pticism
which
were
require
d o
f those
who w
orke
d in
my fie
ld.
I feel th
at sh
e re
gard
ed m
e a
t first in m
uch
the sa
me w
ay, if o
nly b
eca
use
I was
working at the tim
e for CB
S N
ews, w
hich was not am
ong her favorite news m
edia.
But a
ll that q
uickly d
issipate
d. S
oon, m
y longtim
e in
tere
st in th
e a
ssassi-
natio
n o
f Pre
sident K
ennedy, a
nd m
y understa
ndin
g o
f what jo
urn
alism
was su
p-
pose
d to
be a
bout, b
rought m
e to
the p
oin
t of m
akin
g so
me d
ifficult d
ecisio
ns
which
would
affe
ct the co
urse
of m
y care
er. S
ylvia h
elp
ed m
e to
face
those
deci-
sions a
nd to
see th
em
very cle
arly. S
he sa
w m
e th
rough th
e d
arke
st perio
ds o
f
my life
with
unsw
ervin
g lo
yalty. A
nd o
ver th
e ye
ars, o
ur frie
ndsh
ip tra
nsce
nded
by fa
r our m
utu
al in
tere
st in th
e a
ssassin
atio
n, a
nd th
ere
gre
w b
etw
een u
s afie
ry
rare
, specia
l, close
bond w
hich
fills my h
eart a
t this m
om
ent. S
he w
as rn
yivery
best friend, and I loved her.
So, I a
m b
oth
honore
d a
nd g
rate
ful th
at th
e fa
mily h
as a
sked m
e to
speak
with
you to
day. I h
ope th
at yo
u w
ill bear w
ith m
e, a
nd th
at sh
e w
ill forg
ive m
e, if I
should
falte
r as I try to
conve
y to yo
u m
y thoughts a
nd fe
elin
gs a
t this d
ifficult
mom
ent.
Love
; com
passio
n; g
enero
sity; inte
grity —
unfa
iling, u
nco
mpro
misin
g in
-
tegrity; a
n u
nw
illingness to
abid
e a
ny so
rt of h
ypocrisy; a
thirst fo
r know
ledge;
and, a
fierce
devo
tion to
the d
iscove
ry of tru
th. T
hese
were
Just so
me o
f the q
ual-
3
2
Rie
s which
imbued th
e life
of S
ylvia M
eagher, a
life w
hich
we ce
lebra
te, a
loss
which
we ca
nnot n
ow
fully fa
thom
, exce
pt fo
r the im
media
te p
ain
ful a
ware
ness
that th
ere
is suddenly g
one fro
m o
ur m
idst a
truly re
marka
ble
wom
an.
Long b
efo
re th
e te
rm "w
om
en's
libera
tion" c
am
e in
to v
ogue, S
ylv
ia
Me
ag
he
r qu
ietly b
laze
d h
er o
wn
trail, a
nd
she
en
joye
d a
lon
g, m
ea
nin
gfu
l, suc-
cessfu
l care
er a
t the U
nite
d N
atio
ns W
orld
Health
Org
aniza
tion. It w
as a
care
er
which
affo
rded h
er d
ignity, co
mfo
rt, and th
e o
pportu
nity to
hone th
e re
search
and
writin
g skills w
hich
late
r would
ele
vate
her m
ost im
porta
nt w
ork to
the le
vel o
f im-
morta
lity.
So
me
pe
op
le re
ga
rd th
eir a
pp
roa
chin
g re
tirem
en
t with
fea
r an
d tre
pid
atio
n.
They d
on't kn
ow
how
they w
ill manage to
adju
st to a
life w
ithout w
ork a
t its core
.
Sylvia
did
no
t ha
ve su
ch re
serva
tion
s. Sh
e fe
lt tha
t she
ha
d w
orke
d lo
ng
, loya
lly
and h
ard
, and th
at sh
e w
as e
ntitle
d to
a lo
ng p
erio
d o
f peace
and q
uie
t conte
m-
pla
tion. B
esid
es, sh
e h
ad o
ther p
assio
ns to
pre
occu
py h
er in
retire
ment, a
nd I
would
like to
speak fo
r a fe
w m
inute
s about th
e ve
ry passio
nate
natu
re o
f this
wom
an.
First a
nd fo
rem
ost, S
ylvia h
ad a
passio
n fo
r her fa
mily.
She lo
ved h
er fa
mily ve
ry, very m
uch
. She sp
oke
of th
em
frequently, a
nd
alw
ays w
ith th
e m
ost lo
ving co
nce
rn fo
r their h
appin
ess a
nd w
ell -b
ein
g. S
he u
sed
to jo
ke, w
ith th
at d
elicio
us w
it we
all kn
ew
, tha
t she
invite
d m
em
be
rs of h
er fa
mily
to visit h
er a
t Fire
Islan
d o
nly so
tha
t she
cou
ld p
ut th
em
to w
ork, sto
cking
the
cupboard
and cle
anin
g th
e h
ouse
. I knew
bette
r, and so
did
they. S
he m
en-
tion
ed
to m
e m
ore
tha
n o
nce
tha
t the
ma
in re
aso
n sh
e u
sed
to re
nt a
sum
me
r
ho
use
at F
ire Isla
nd
wa
s to e
nte
rtain
an
d visit m
ore
inte
nsive
ly with
he
r fam
ily an
d
close
friends, in
a w
ay th
at sh
e w
as u
nable
to d
o a
t her a
partm
ent in
Manhatta
n.
i am
ple
ase
d th
at I m
et so
me
of yo
u d
urin
g th
ose
very h
ap
py d
ays in
Sylvia
's life a
t Fire
Islan
d. A
ll of yo
u w
ere
alw
ays u
pp
erm
ost in
he
r min
d. Y
ou
ha
ve m
y mo
st sorro
wfu
l con
do
len
ces in
this tim
e o
f you
r be
rea
vem
en
t.
Sylvia had a passion for her friends.
She w
as ca
pable
of p
raisin
g h
er frie
nds w
hen sh
e fe
lt that th
ey w
ere
de-
servin
g o
f pra
ise, b
ut sh
e w
as e
qually ca
pable
of le
velin
g th
e m
ost p
enetra
ting
and w
itherin
g criticism
s tow
ard
them
when sh
e fe
lt it nece
ssary. B
ut sh
e w
as
ne
ver w
ron
g, a
nd
she
wa
s ne
ver le
ss tha
n co
mp
assio
na
te a
nd
carin
g.
Ma
ny o
f us kn
ew
he
r ge
ne
rou
s spirit, w
hich
susta
ine
d u
s in tim
es o
f pe
r-
sonal crises.
Sylvia
, qu
ite re
ma
rkab
ly, ha
d frie
nd
ship
s wh
ich sp
an
ne
d a
cross g
en
era
-
tion
s, as w
ell a
s con
tine
nts. S
he
de
ligh
ted
in th
e co
mp
an
y of h
er frie
nd
s An
ne
,
Bunny, a
nd L
enore
, but sh
e a
lso a
ttracte
d m
any p
eople
who w
ere
much
younger
than she, and the attraction was m
utual.
I thin
k that S
ylvia to
uch
ed u
s all in
much
the sa
me w
ay
. We w
ere
fasci-
nate
d b
y the sp
eed a
nd b
readth
of h
er in
telle
ct. We w
ere
ofte
n re
ndere
d h
elp
less
with
laughte
r by h
er se
nse
of h
um
or. A
nd a
lways, w
e w
ere
aw
estru
ck to b
e in
the
pre
sence
of a
wom
an w
ho h
ad m
ade a
diffe
rence
in o
ur co
untry, a
s well a
s in o
ur
lives.
It is a sign of her concern for her fnends that Sylvia kept from
many of them
the full extent of the physical ills which w
eakened her in recent months.
I must m
ake
refe
rence
to th
at g
roup o
f her frie
nds w
hom
I know
only a
s
he
r po
ker g
rou
p. W
e h
ave
no
t me
t, bu
t Sylvia
spo
ke a
bo
ut yo
u. a
nd
you
sho
uld
4
know that your gatherings gave her m
uch comfort and pleasure during her last
years. I would be seriously rem
iss if I did not mention S
ylvia's passion for her two
cats, Mim
i and Irini. She lavished them
with love and affection, w
hich they richly
returned to her. They w
ere her children, and she gave them perfect lives.
In recent years, as the eldest cat, Mim
i, became increasingly frail w
ith age,
Sylvia anticipated w
ith a sense of dread and anxiety the inevitable day when she
wo
uld
ha
ve to
pa
rt with
he
r faith
ful co
mp
an
ion
. Th
ose
of u
s wh
o lo
ved
Sylvia
,
though we grieve for her today, m
ust be grateful that she was spared that terrible
pain. But I am
certain that she would have overcom
e and survived that adversity
as s4 did so many others.
Sylvia had a passion for the ballet.
Outing her final years, w
hen it became physically too strenuous for her to
attend the ballet as she used to do, she derived great pleasure from being able to
watch at hom
e on Cable-T
V. A
nd perhaps her greatest joy during the last year
and one-half was som
ething quite simple, really: H
er nieces gave Sylvia her first
videocassette recorder, which enabled her to w
atch her favorite ballets over and
ove
r to h
er h
eart's co
nte
nt. A
lthough th
ere
was o
nly a
short tim
e re
main
ing to
her, she managed to am
ass an impressive collection of ballet tapes, in addition to
tapes o
f the ice
-skatin
g fro
m th
e re
cent O
lympic G
am
es, w
hich
she e
njo
yed
tremendously. P
erhaps she was draw
n to these arts because of the great preci-
sion they require, a possible reflection of the workings of her ow
n mind.
Sylvia w
as passionate about baseball, and particularly about her New
York
Mets. M
any of us knew the basic rule: if the M
ets were on television, w
e were not
5
to call her. I inadvertently broke that rule a few tim
es, but she forgave me. S
he
devoted the same rapt attention to tennis.
She w
as a voracious reader of books and periodicals.
This w
oman, w
ho would adm
it only with the greatest reluctance that she
never had a college education, nevertheless could hold her own in any conversa-
tion, with anyone, on alm
ost any subject. And it there w
as a subject she knew
nothing about, she was not em
barrassed to ask, and her mind w
ould quickly ab-
sorb the essential points.
If I were
to sto
p a
t this p
oin
t, I know
that yo
u w
ould
agre
e w
ith m
e th
at
Sylvia M
eagher had a successful and fulfilling life by ordinary standards. But, as
we alt know
, there was another passion w
hich stirred deep within S
ylvia and which
ne
ver w
an
ed
-- no
t eve
n d
urin
g h
er fin
al illn
ess (a
nd
I talke
d w
ith h
er ju
st last
week). I speak, of course, of her passion for justice and truth, w
hich she invested
so heavily in her work on the assassination of P
resident John F. K
ennedy.
This is neither the tim
e nor the place to discuss with you the technical m
er-
its of S
ylvia's ca
use
-- ou
r cau
se. In
stea
d, m
y pu
rpo
se is to
furth
er d
efin
e th
e
passio
n, co
mm
itment a
nd co
nscie
nce
which
perm
eate
d th
e h
eart a
nd so
ul o
f
Sylvia M
eagher.
There is now
an atmosphere of cynicism
and resignation in many corners
of society. We have suffered for m
any years from a vacuum
of inspired, comm
it-
ted, creative, imaginative leadership at the very highest levels of governm
ent. And
in that void we have also w
itnessed the smug com
placency of those who continue
to rape our economy and our environm
ent.
iP
fE •.!
It is well, therefore, to rem
ember S
ylvia's fife as a candle which illum
inated
for us something that the K
ennedys themselves said repeatedly, that an individual
can
ma
ke a
diffe
ren
ce. W
e ca
n b
e g
rea
ter th
an
ou
rselve
s. On
ce w
e h
ave
at-
tained the basic necessities of life, it is within all of us to m
ake the choice whether
to step beyond our mundane concerns in a w
ay that affects society, and even the
course of history.
Sylvia
did
no
t he
sitate
in m
akin
g h
er ch
oice
to co
mm
it he
r en
erg
ies to
something larger than herself.
We should bear in m
ind the temporal context w
ithin which S
ylvia began her
twenty-five years of study, w
riting, speaking and thinking about this tragic event.
In ttp
mid
-19
60
's, me
mo
ries o
f the
Jose
ph
McC
arth
y era
we
re still ra
w; th
e
wounds w
hich were inflicted during that period had not yet fully healed. T
hrough-
out the country, there was debate w
hether it was legitim
ate or whether it w
as dis-
loyal to dissent from governm
ent pronouncements and policies.
As the result of an experience in her job, S
ylvia was w
ell-prepared to travel
the o
ften lo
nely ro
ad th
rough th
is milie
u. A
lthough sh
e w
as a
true p
atrio
t, she
could
neve
r understa
nd w
hy sh
e sh
ould
have
to sig
n a
loya
lty oath
in o
rder to
con
tinu
e w
orkin
g fo
r an
inte
rna
tion
al b
od
y de
dica
ted
to th
e b
ette
rme
nt o
f all
mankind, the U
nited Nations W
orld Health O
rganization. In successfully resisting
such a requirement, she becam
e acquainted at first hand with forces w
ho were
pro
ne to
reso
rt to e
mpty rh
eto
ric, and e
ven ve
ry much
intim
idatio
n, w
hen th
ey
could not refute her logic.
At the tim
e tragedy struck on Novem
ber 22, 1963, Sylvia had adm
iration for
Kennedy's elegance, grace, w
it and articulation, but she did not idolize the man.
She w
as too sophisticated for that.
She detected alm
ost imm
ediately that the massive m
achinery of power had
begun to close the doors on any thorough, honest inquiry into the event, and that
this machinery w
as also moving just as quickly to seal a verdict of guilt against a
young man w
ho was helpless to defend him
self. This struck a responsive chord
within S
ylvia which tater found its expression in the dedication of her hook:
'Th
is bo
ok is d
ed
icate
d to
the
inn
oce
nt victim
s of a
socie
ty wh
ich
often inflicts indignity, imprisonm
ent, and even death on the obscure and helpless."
Her first m
ajor work on this case w
as the creation of her Subject Index.
No
w, ju
st thin
k ab
ou
t this: In
No
vem
be
r 19
64
, two
mo
nth
s afte
r the
Wa
rren
Com
mission disbanded, the governm
ent published 26 volumes of hearings and
exhibits which purportedly substantiated the C
omm
ission's Report. T
o be pre-
cise, th
ere
we
re 1
5 vo
lum
es o
f testim
on
y, an
d 1
1 vo
lum
es o
f exh
ibits. S
ylvia
imm
ed
iate
ly ob
tain
ed
on
e o
f the
rela
tively fe
w se
ts tha
t we
re p
rinte
d a
nd
wa
s
shocked by what she found. T
hese materials w
ere disheveled and disorganized.
There w
as no comprehensive index of these volum
es. There w
as no way for a
serious researcher to correlate the material contained in the volum
es with the text
of the Report itself.
And during that period of tim
e before we ever heard of personal com
puters
or wordprocessors capable of autom
ating this type of work, S
ylvia took it upon
herself to single-handedly index these volumes, arm
ed with nothing m
ore than
pen, pencil and an assortment of paper. R
emem
ber, too, that during this period
she was w
orking full-time at the U
nited Nations. S
he would rush hom
e and toil
long into the night, night-after-night, for a full year to produce this little volume,
which w
as published in March 1966.
7
8
9
Thanks to S
ylvia, we have this indispensable research tool. Y
ou cannot T
hose were heady days for S
ylvia. Most of us recall the rising expectations
f r
study this case unless you begin with the R
eport and its accompanying volum
es,
and you cannot deal with that m
aterial without S
ylvia's index. It is that simple.
The sam
e chord which resounded w
ithin Sylvia w
as also heard by others.
A unique, inform
al network of concerned citizens began to form
, and as Sylvia
discovered that there were others w
ho shared her concerns, her telephone fine
and her apartment gradually becam
e the hub of this network.
I think of the movie, C
lose Encounters of the T
hird Kind, for w
hich Sylvia
cared very little despite her serious consideration of extraterrestrial phenomena.
But you m
ay recall that several characters in the movie w
ere inexplicably drawn to
the same desert location in the S
outhwest at the sam
e time, because they som
e-
ho
w kn
ew
tha
t som
eth
ing
very im
po
rtan
t ha
d h
ap
pe
ne
d in
the
wo
rld, a
nd
tha
t
something even m
ore important w
as soon to change their lives_ So too, these
early critics came to know
and seek comfort w
ith one another as they exchanged
their information. T
hey would never becom
e a "movem
ent" in the sense of the
civil rights or antiwar m
ovements of the S
ixties, and many of the original partici-
pants in this network have long ago left its ranks, but it survives (although w
ithout
Sylvia, it rem
ains to be seen for how long).
As her index grew
throughout 1965, so did Sylvia's know
ledge and exper-
tise in this case. There w
as a time w
hen she could cite to you volume and page
number w
ithout cracking open the book.
She also began to show
her cogent and incisive style of writing w
ith articles
on
the
case
wh
ich a
pp
ea
red
in su
ch p
ub
licatio
ns a
s Th
e M
ino
rity of O
ne
, Th
e
Texas O
bserver, Esquire, and others.
of the Sixties. In our ow
n way, m
any of us were convinced that w
e could change
the world.
She pursued her goal of bringing about a reopening of the case w
ithout
fear, although this was the era of J. E
dgar Hoover's tyrannical rule over the F
BI,
and the egregious misuse of its pow
ers which has been fully docum
ented during
recent years. She never cared to know
if her phone was tapped; they could listen
in if they wanted to. S
he wasn't interested in seeing w
hatever files the government
may have kept on her.
Students of the assassination knew
that they could trust Sylvia im
plicitly
with their confidences. O
n the other hand, she unselfishly shared her findings
and her research, and she was unstinting w
ith the help that she gave to other re-
searchers. I know that S
ylvia would w
ish me to be discreet in discussing this w
ith
you, so I will not m
ention the names, but there are som
e authors of books which
came to early prom
inence in this case who ow
e to Sylvia a great intellectual debt
for her research and her counsel, debts which have never been fully or rightfully
acknowledged. W
hile some adopted her w
ork product as their own, how
ever,
they could never duplicate her fire or her cogency, her ability to crystallize the es-
sentials of an argument or an issue, and then to illum
inate it through the evidence_
In time, she issued her ow
n masterw
ork: Accessories A
fter the Fact.
The book has been universally acknow
ledged -- then as now —
to be the
most scrupulously accurate, the best w
ritten, and the most definitive treatise on
the work of the W
arren Com
mission.
The technique of the book w
as deceptively simple. S
he looked at what the
Warren R
eport said. Then she exam
ined the evidence. By com
paring the two,
10
she compiled a catalog of m
isrepresentations or one-sided interpretations of evi-
dence, inaccuracies, discrepancies, contradictions, obfuscations, omissions and
deliberate distortions.
Here is how
she explained to her readers what she had done:
This book exam
ines the correlation, or lack of correlation, between
the R
eport o
n th
e o
ne h
and a
nd th
e H
earin
gs a
nd E
xhib
its on th
e
other. The first pronounces O
swald guilty; the second, instead of cor-
roborating the verdict reached by the Warren C
omm
ission, creates a reasonable doubt of O
swald's guilt and even a pow
erful presumption
of his complete innocence of all the crim
es of which he w
as accused.
In h
er b
oo
k, Acce
ssorie
s, Sylvia
corre
ctly no
ted
tha
t the
re w
as a
rising
chorus of public opinion in late 1966 and 1967 which called for a new
investigation
cithe assassination. She took pride in having helped to bring about this new
cli-
mate. S
he did not foresee that it was about to be poisoned, neither did she an-
ticipate the sorrow and aggravation w
hich was about to befall her because she
was faithful to her principles and her conscience.
The D
istrict Attorney of N
ew O
rleans had announced his intention to pros-
ecute a defendant on charges of conspiring to kill President K
ennedy. Like a flock
of birds, many of S
ylvia's associates landed in New
Orleans and im
mediately of-
fered their consulting services to the District A
ttorney's office, as well as to any
mem
ber of the press corps who w
ould lend a willing ear. In their high expecta-
tions, their faith was blind.
Through all of this, S
ylvia stood back, casting her cool, skeptical eyes on
the situation. She w
ent back to the evidence, examined the underlying basis of
Garrison's case, and here is w
hat she wrote in June 1967 as an afterw
ord to her
book:
But as the G
arrison investigation continued to unfold, it gave cause for increasingly serious m
isgivings about the validity of his evidence. the credibility of his w
itnesses, and the scrupulousness of his methods.
The fact that m
any critics of the Warren R
eport have remained pas-
sionate advocates of the Garrison investigation, even condoning tac-
tics which they m
ight not condone on the part of others, is a matter for
regret and disappointment. N
othing less than strict factual accuracy and absolute m
oral integrity must be deem
ed permissible, if justice is.
indeed, to be served.
Sylvia
publicly d
isasso
ciate
d h
erse
lf and her
wo
rk from
the
Ga
rrison
sideshow. A
nd many of her closest colleagues abandoned her, and they never
forgave her.
But S
ylvia never waivered from
her conviction that she had been true to
herself and her work, and that her decision w
as correct.
In time, and w
ith some difficulty. S
ylvia ultimately recognized the unfortu-
nate fact that she and her colleagues in the early days of the case had opened a
Pandora's box. In the face of official intransigence and the new
s media's unpar-
donable default, some people becam
e infected by the infuriating ambiguities and
uncertainties of this case to the point that it disturbed their natural balance and
enveloped them com
pletely. She saw
others succumb to the tem
ptation to invent
solutions or -- as we saw
in the Garrison affair -- to latch onto the seductive solu-
tions advanced by others, though they lacked the hard evidence to support their
often convoluted theories. Moreover, som
e activists seemed m
otivated more by
their political leanings, or by the pursuit of fame and fortune, or perhaps a little of
both, than by pursuit of the truth.
For these reasons, am
ong others, Sylvia continued to refrain from
publicly
associating herself with any particular interest group, or from
endorsing any par-
ticular theory. She preferred to trust h
er ow
n impeccable instincts, and to safe-
guard the integrity of her own w
ork on the case.
1
12
This p
ostu
re e
ndeare
d h
er o
nly to
those
who p
roperly g
rasp
ed th
e
essence of her work. It alienated those w
ho were eager to capitalize on her nam
e
and reputation to suit their own ends.
Sylvia did not style herself as an investigator; she doubted very seriously
that a
priva
te citize
n co
uld
truly in
vestig
ate
this ca
se. W
hat kin
d o
f pre
cedent
would that create? S
hould private citizens have to do the work of the governm
ent
or the news m
edia? Neither w
as she interested in pursuing theories, just the facts.
Not that she didn't have strong suspicions. W
e discussed this matter over
the years and arrived at what w
e felt was a close approxim
ation of the truth. But I
willinot betray her trust and confidence, because she felt that if one w
ere to speak
or tvrite
pu
blicly o
n a
n issu
e o
f such
imp
orta
nce
, on
e m
ust b
e a
rme
d w
ith th
e
facts. Innuendo and insinuation were not her style.
In Sylvia's view
, it was the proper role of the critics to ask questions; it w
as
for the government to answ
er them.
Sylvia referred to herself either as a critic of the W
arren Com
mission or as
a student of the assassination. She struggled throughout the course of her w
ork
on the case to resist having other labels pinned on her.
Don't tell us that w
e have some kind of psychological need or inclination
toward grandiose conspiratorial explanations for this tragedy.
Please, don't call us conspiracy theorists; don't m
ake us out to be oddballs.
Just answer the questions w
hich Sylvia posed In her book!
My friends, I say to you that the challenges w
hich Sylvia M
eagher posed to
the G
ove
rnm
ent o
f the U
nite
d S
tale
s have
gone u
nan
swere
d. H
er d
etra
ctors
13
could never attack her work. B
ut just try to count the number of hoops that they
have had to jump through in their ,efforts to explain, excuse or exonerate the
Warren C
omm
ission.
Sylvia never retreated from
her principles, but she did reduce her public
activities. Notw
ithstanding that some of her form
er colleagues were unable to let
their lives go on, Sylvia w
as content that she had done her part, and although
some of us w
ho knew her urged her to continue to speak and w
rite, it cannot be
denied that she did more than an individual could reasonably be expected to do.
Professor G
. Robert B
lakey, Chief C
ounsel to the House S
elect Com
mittee
on Assassinations, invited her to participate in a colloquium
of critics early in that
body's investigation. She did so only w
ith the greatest personal reservations.
When the com
mittee issued its findings, she w
as privately very critical of its
work, including its om
ission of a comprehensive index. S
he Imm
ediately followed
her natural inclination to begin indexing the House S
elect Com
mittee's volum
es,
but this time she w
as not alone. With the help of a group of C
anadian students
and their professor, she produced her Master Index to the JF
K A
ssassination
Investigations. With that final accom
plishment, S
ylvia found herself lacking the
energy or motivation to duplicate the feat she had perform
ed with A
ccessories
After T
he Fact.
She continued to receive m
any invitations to appear on radio and televi-
sion. Most of these w
ere graciously declined. She kept receiving letters and tele-
phone calls from students, journalists, docum
entary-makers, and budding w
riters.
She encouraged the curious to pursue their researches, because she con-
ceived the possibility that there would one day be a break in the case, but she
was largely resigned to the notion that it w
ould be for history to make the final
14
15
judgm
ent. S
he w
as co
nfid
ent th
at h
istory w
ould
confirm
her b
elie
f that O
swald
wa
s inn
oce
nt o
f all th
e crim
es o
f wh
ich h
e h
ad
be
en
accu
sed
. Sh
e w
as e
qu
ally
con
fide
nt th
at h
er w
ork w
ou
ld su
rvive in
tact.
We
we
re b
oth
asto
nish
ed
at th
e o
utp
ou
ring
of a
rticles a
nd
bro
ad
casts a
nd
public se
ntim
ent w
hich
marke
d th
e 2
5th
annive
rsary. S
ylvia w
as p
articu
larly im
-
pre
ssed b
y the C
hip
Selb
y docu
menta
ry, with
its clear, fa
ctual, m
eth
odica
l dem
o-
lition
of th
e sin
gle
-bu
llet-th
eo
ry wh
ich is a
t the
he
art o
f the
lon
e a
ssassin
the
sis.
She la
mente
d th
at a
work su
ch a
s this co
uld
not h
ave
been se
en b
y the p
ublic
twenty ye
ars a
go, b
ut sh
e h
oped th
at S
elb
y's film w
ould
rece
ive a
wid
e a
udie
nce
.
I S
he le
ft no u
nfin
ished m
anuscrip
ts, no u
nfu
lfilled a
mbitio
n. H
er life
was
co'n
ple
te, h
er m
ission
fulfille
d. S
he
ha
d m
ad
e h
er ca
se.
Her w
ork h
as n
ot b
een re
fute
d. H
er w
ork h
as sto
od th
e te
st of tim
e. It w
ill
be so
ught a
fter a
nd re
cognize
d fo
r deca
des to
com
e. It w
ill be stu
die
d b
y futu
re
histo
rians, n
ot o
nly fo
r its trem
endous in
form
ative
valu
e, b
ut a
s a sym
pto
m o
f the
loss o
f vitality —
not in
our d
em
ocra
tic ideals, b
ut in
the in
stitutio
ns w
hich
should
nourish
and fo
ster th
em
. No stu
dent o
r journ
alist o
r futu
re h
istoria
n w
ill be a
ble
to
pro
pe
rly stud
y this ca
se u
nle
ss the
y be
gin
at th
e b
eg
inn
ing
, with
the
Wa
rren
Report a
nd its a
ccom
panyin
g vo
lum
es. A
nd n
o o
ne ca
n d
o th
at w
ithout h
avin
g
on th
eir d
esk S
ylvia's in
dice
s and h
er b
ook to
help
them
cope w
ith th
e d
auntin
g
task o
f navig
atin
g th
rough th
e va
st arra
y of lite
ratu
re w
hich
has b
een p
ublish
ed o
n
the ca
se. S
ylvia's le
gacy w
ill serve
as a
beaco
n to
those
of u
s who w
ill contin
ue to
follo
w h
er le
ad.
Now
, how
eve
r, we m
ust p
art co
mpany w
ith th
is wom
an o
f conscie
nce
, this
wo
ma
n o
f pa
ssion
.
Her b
ook co
nta
ins h
er o
wn e
pita
ph:
The co
untry o
wes p
rofo
und g
ratitu
de to
the critics a
nd re
search
ers
wh
ose
wo
rk, pu
blish
ed
or u
np
ub
lishe
d, h
as h
elp
ed
to d
estro
y the
myth
of th
e W
arre
n R
eport. B
eca
use
of th
eir co
ura
ge, in
tellig
ence
and in
-te
grity, 'it is th
e m
aje
stic Warre
n C
om
missio
n itse
lf that is o
n th
e d
ock
today, ra
ther th
an th
e lo
nely O
swald
," as A
nth
ony H
ow
ard
wro
te in
the
Lo
nd
on
Ob
serve
r on
Au
gu
st 7, 1
96
6. T
he
Co
mm
ission
mu
st rece
ive
justice
-- that ju
stice w
hich
was d
enie
d to
Osw
ald
in d
eath
as in
life --
but nothing less than justice.
Th
e co
un
try do
es o
we
Sylvia
pro
fou
nd
gra
titud
e. B
ut I h
op
e yo
u w
ill forg
ive
me a
selfish
, self-in
dulg
ent, p
erso
nal n
ote
: i cannot ye
t clearly co
mpre
hend h
er
pla
ce in
histo
ry. I on
ly kno
w, a
s I told
you
, tha
t I ha
ve lo
st my ve
ry be
st frien
d.
She w
as th
e b
righte
st perso
n I h
ave
eve
r know
n. S
he sa
w m
e th
rough th
e d
ark-
est o
f times, a
s wet a
s bette
r times. S
he n
eve
r dem
anded a
nyth
ing fro
m h
er
friends b
ut th
at w
e re
cognize
the b
est w
ithin
ourse
lves. S
he h
ad a
gre
ate
r faith
in
me th
an I h
ad in
myse
lf. I love
d h
er.
Now
she is a
t peace
with
God, a
nd I a
m ce
rtain
that I kn
ow
what h
er first
qu
estio
n w
as. I ca
n't sta
nd
no
t kno
win
g th
e a
nsw
er. B
ut n
ow
tha
t Sylvia
fina
lly
kno
ws, I h
op
e th
at sh
e h
as b
ee
n re
un
ited
with
he
r be
love
d frie
nd
, Ela
ine
. An
d
som
eday it is m
y faith
and m
y pra
yer th
at w
e w
ill meet a
gain
at th
at la
st concla
ve
of th
e critics, so
that w
e m
ay co
ngra
tula
te S
ylvia a
nd o
urse
lves o
n a
job w
ell
do
ne
. Rest w
ell, Sylvia.
---Roger B
ruce Feinm
an
(14
►
Sylvia M
eagher Ju
ly 2
2, 1
921 - Jan
uary
14, 1
989
CO
PY
RIG
HT
1989 BY
RO
GE
R B
RU
CE
FE
INM
AN
PR
TD
. US
A B
Y F
LY
NN
GR
AP
HIC
S
