Signed John McCain Books Found to be Fakes; McCain Campaign Faces Accusation It Authorized the Phony Signatures
Premium-priced copies of ‘Faith of My Fathers’ have signatures that don't belong to John McCain.
flatsigned.com - September 16, 2008
(PRNewsChannel) / Nashville, Tenn. / The stories in the book may be real, but John McCain’s signature on some copies of "Faith of My Fathers" are not the real deal, according to a publisher of autographed and collectible books.
Tim Miller, founder of FlatSigned Press, a Nashville-based publishing company specializing in rare and collectible books, says he purchased books that claimed to have an authentic McCain signature and sent them to a New York City auction house to be resold. But instead, an expert there determined the signatures were likely done by a secretary and not the presidential candidate.
Miller says it surprised him because signed books up until recently were being sold on Sen. McCain’s campaign Web site at a premium price.
“This one auction house and others just discovered yesterday that they have unwittingly been selling secretarial-signed John McCain books for months and now they must do the very embarrassing and financially hurtful steps of letting their customers know that they had been wrong when they had previously sold ‘signed’ John McCain books as being hand-signed by the presidential candidate,” says Miller.
Miller says it’s not unheard of for secretaries or other subordinates to sign books instead of the famous politician author. But he says it is unusual for someone to sell “signed” books at a premium when they are not authentic which it appears is what the McCain campaign was doing.
The campaign has since removed the ‘autographed’ book from its Web site.
Miller says fake autographs undermine and even threaten what is now a $1-billion industry.
“In this economy you don’t want to harm any sector of the economy,” says Miller. “We in the industry feel the pain when fakes are presented as authentic.”
MEDIA NOTE: Tim Miller is based in Nashville, Tennessee and available for interviews and/or talkbacks on the secretarial-signed books, as well as his expertise about rare and collectible books and the effect this discovery might have.
About FlatSigned Press: Founded in 1998, FlatSigned Press, Inc. is a retail rare book and publishing company specializing in the sale and publishing of rare and collectible books, first-edition signed books, manuscripts, historical documents, art, and autographs. FlatSigned has worked with many of the world's most famous authors and other notables including political figures who have also allowed Miller's company FlatSigned Press, Inc. publish their books into "Treasures for a Lifetime", leather, limited and signed editions.
Coined by legendary horror writer Stephen King, the term FlatSigned refers to the most desirable type of collectible book: One that is signed by the author directly on the title page without an inscription. Additional information can be obtained from www.flatsigned.com.
About Tim Miller: Born to an impoverished southern family, Tim Miller has worked hard his entire life to become one of the most notable publishers and book collectors in the world. Throughout his illustrious career, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Scholar has served as White House Press Correspondent and worked directly for U.S. Congress. He held Certified Press Credentials for the White House, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the U.S. Senate and has been honored with such distinctions as being named to Who's Who in America for seven consecutive years and being named one of George W. Bush's 1,000 Points of Light by the Commercial Board of Appeals, in addition to being named to Who's Who in American Colleges four consecutive years. Always civic-minded, Miller has also held distinctive positions such as the National Staff Officer for the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce, President of the Memphis Junior Chamber of Commerce and State Officer of the Tennessee Jaycees as well as Executive Director of the Wisconsin Junior Chamber.
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Source Web Site: flatsigned.com
