Identification of Booth's body

[L Verge]

Please see Post #37 above: The article by Len Guttridge was written in 2004. Len did not die until 2009, plenty of time to learn the errors of his cooperation with Ray Neff and regret it. Also note that Len was the author of a fair number of books, but his expertise was in naval history - not the Lincoln assassination. His work with Neff (and the later defensive articles he wrote about that work) comprises his only venture into that field, I believe. His best work may be his book on the Jeannette Expedition to the North Pole and his later co-authoring - with George S. McGovern - of The Great Coalfield War and the Ludlow Massacre of the early-1900s. This pertains to one of the worst labor conflicts in American history. The following is a brief bio on Leonard Guttridge from Indiana State University's library system:

LEONARD GUTTRIDGE
A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY
Known as Len to his friends, Leonard Francis Guttridge was born on August 27, 1918 in Bournemouth, England. He died June 7, 2009.

In his 90 years, Leonard packed many roles into an eventful life. During World War II, at the age of 19 he enlisted in the British Royal Air Force and performed the duties of aircraft mechanic, working on fighter and bomber fuselages. He was stationed in Tunisia and Morocco, often volunteering to make supply runs to U. S. military bases so he could borrow the latest Hollywood movies. He had a breadth of knowledge of classic films and would regale friends with his insights about Bogart, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astair, Gene Kelly, and Bette Davis. In addition, he loved jazz and big swing bands and shared V-discs with his American allies.

In 1946, he immigrated to Washington, D.C., where he was employed by the Indian embassy. He met some of the legendary jazz greats during this period of his life, including Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Jimmy McPartland, and trombonist-crooner Jack Teagarden. In 1960, Len started his 50-year career as an author when he co-authored a biography, Jack Teagarden: the Story of a Jazz Maverick, with Jay Smith.

Len developed an abiding interest in the history of his newly adopted country, writing numerous articles for adventure magazines and many highly-regarded books. These books include The Commodores with Jay Smith, 1969; The Great Coalfield War with George McGovern, 1972; Icebound: The Jeanette Expedition's Quest for the North Pole , 1986; Mutiny: a History of Naval Insurrection, 1992; Ghosts of Cape Sabine: The Harrowing True Story of the Greely Expedition, 2000; Dark Union: the Secret Web of the Profiteers, Politicians, and Booth Conspirators That Led to Lincoln's Death with Ray Neff, 2003; Our Country, Right or Wrong: The Life Stephen Decatur, the Navy's Most Illustrious Commander. Shortly before his death, Guttridge completed a handwritten account of the evidence supporting the findings in Dark Union, a work he considered to be among the most important of his writings.

Not much life-long work on the assassination of Lincoln until snared by Dr. Neff. Historians have been dealing with the Neff theories since the 1970s when The Lincoln Conspiracy movie was released by Sunn Classics. It has been a very "interesting" and frustrating ride. BTW: The Surratt Society and the Dr. Mudd Society were the first to see that movie. Its premiere was actually in the town of Waldorf, Maryland, near both museums. The audience came out disgusted as well as amused at the corruption of documented history.

And, in fairness, let's post Ed's and Joan's response to the articles by Guttridge and David Vancil: https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/3874