Susan Kelly

An Associated Press article dated November 23, 2009, which I found posted at www.firstamendmentcenter.org, sheds further light on Vickie Stewart's lawsuit against Haywood Smith and St. Martin's Press, respectively author and publisher of The Red Hat Club.

To quote from the article: "Because Stewart is not a public figure, her attorneys only needed to  Read More 

Haywood Smith, author of a 2003 bestseller entitled "The Red Hat Club," and her publisher, St. Martin's, were sued by a childhood friend of Smith who claimed that Smith had based a character in the novel on her. A Georgia jury found that plaintiff Vickie Stewart had indeed been defamed, and awarded her $100,000.

Interestingly, the jury did not find that Stewart's privacy had been invaded, and did not award her attorneys' fees. The jury also found that Smith and St. Martin's had acted "in good faith" in, respectively, writing and publishing the book, and that the characterization didn't constitute "an act of vengeance."

What Smith  Read More