Leslie Kean

Yeah, you know, all my books really kind of fell into my lap. It's very strange. They say that, you know, writers don't pick subjects. Subjects pick writers. I mean, it's kind of a Zen thing. And it was true in my case. Every book I did was not the end of a process of me looking around for a subject, but something happened. that sort of forced me to do a book about it.

And it was the same in this case. I was in Texas for the New York Times And I used to you know haunt the used book shops and in one of them I picked up a copy of Passport to the Cosmos which was John Mack's second book. John Mack was the Harvard psychiatrist who famously learned about accounts of abduction from Bud Hopkins and decided at great risk to his lofty reputation at Harvard

And it was the same in this case. I was in Texas for the New York Times And I used to you know haunt the used book shops and in one of them I picked up a copy of Passport to the Cosmos which was John Mack's second book. John Mack was the Harvard psychiatrist who famously learned about accounts of abduction from Bud Hopkins and decided at great risk to his lofty reputation at Harvard

And it was the same in this case. I was in Texas for the New York Times And I used to you know haunt the used book shops and in one of them I picked up a copy of Passport to the Cosmos which was John Mack's second book. John Mack was the Harvard psychiatrist who famously learned about accounts of abduction from Bud Hopkins and decided at great risk to his lofty reputation at Harvard

to study it, to study the phenomenon. So I picked up this book. I was intrigued by the idea of an eminent Harvard faculty member getting involved in accounts of abduction by alien beings. And I thought it would be good to interview this guy. I didn't know, by the way, he was already very famous, but he had not come into my realm at all. I was a hard news reporter.

to study it, to study the phenomenon. So I picked up this book. I was intrigued by the idea of an eminent Harvard faculty member getting involved in accounts of abduction by alien beings. And I thought it would be good to interview this guy. I didn't know, by the way, he was already very famous, but he had not come into my realm at all. I was a hard news reporter.

to study it, to study the phenomenon. So I picked up this book. I was intrigued by the idea of an eminent Harvard faculty member getting involved in accounts of abduction by alien beings. And I thought it would be good to interview this guy. I didn't know, by the way, he was already very famous, but he had not come into my realm at all. I was a hard news reporter.

I was covering national politics in Texas and national events. It's just not something I knew anything about. But I did think he was worth a story, very interesting. And as fate would have it, a few days later, I picked up the New York Times to find out he had been run over and killed in London. He had gone there for a conference on Lawrence of Arabia.

I was covering national politics in Texas and national events. It's just not something I knew anything about. But I did think he was worth a story, very interesting. And as fate would have it, a few days later, I picked up the New York Times to find out he had been run over and killed in London. He had gone there for a conference on Lawrence of Arabia.

I was covering national politics in Texas and national events. It's just not something I knew anything about. But I did think he was worth a story, very interesting. And as fate would have it, a few days later, I picked up the New York Times to find out he had been run over and killed in London. He had gone there for a conference on Lawrence of Arabia.

He had written a Pulitzer Prize winning book, a biography of T.H. Lawrence. And 30 years later, he went back to London and he came out of the underground, looked the wrong way and got killed. uh, hit by a car. A lot of, you know, at the time it was, um, uh, you know, uh, the conspiracists had a field day, uh, you know, but it turned, I checked it out very carefully. It was a complete hit and run.

He had written a Pulitzer Prize winning book, a biography of T.H. Lawrence. And 30 years later, he went back to London and he came out of the underground, looked the wrong way and got killed. uh, hit by a car. A lot of, you know, at the time it was, um, uh, you know, uh, the conspiracists had a field day, uh, you know, but it turned, I checked it out very carefully. It was a complete hit and run.

He had written a Pulitzer Prize winning book, a biography of T.H. Lawrence. And 30 years later, he went back to London and he came out of the underground, looked the wrong way and got killed. uh, hit by a car. A lot of, you know, at the time it was, um, uh, you know, uh, the conspiracists had a field day, uh, you know, but it turned, I checked it out very carefully. It was a complete hit and run.

The guy didn't know who he was hitting. Uh, Mac was disoriented. He was, it was late at night. He couldn't see well. He had trouble seeing anyway. Um, So now I had an interest in John Mack, but he was dead. So I did go to the family quite quickly, and of course the family was in no mood to discuss a book about John Mack. They were grieving.

The guy didn't know who he was hitting. Uh, Mac was disoriented. He was, it was late at night. He couldn't see well. He had trouble seeing anyway. Um, So now I had an interest in John Mack, but he was dead. So I did go to the family quite quickly, and of course the family was in no mood to discuss a book about John Mack. They were grieving.

The guy didn't know who he was hitting. Uh, Mac was disoriented. He was, it was late at night. He couldn't see well. He had trouble seeing anyway. Um, So now I had an interest in John Mack, but he was dead. So I did go to the family quite quickly, and of course the family was in no mood to discuss a book about John Mack. They were grieving.

He was just about 75 years old, but he was not expected to die, unfortunately. The family was in deep mourning. But we stayed in touch, and eventually I convinced them to let me do a book, and they turned over all his archives to me. And, I mean, as a trained New York Times reporter, this became very important to me because, you know, it was one thing to imagine

He was just about 75 years old, but he was not expected to die, unfortunately. The family was in deep mourning. But we stayed in touch, and eventually I convinced them to let me do a book, and they turned over all his archives to me. And, I mean, as a trained New York Times reporter, this became very important to me because, you know, it was one thing to imagine

He was just about 75 years old, but he was not expected to die, unfortunately. The family was in deep mourning. But we stayed in touch, and eventually I convinced them to let me do a book, and they turned over all his archives to me. And, I mean, as a trained New York Times reporter, this became very important to me because, you know, it was one thing to imagine

his life, it was another thing to be able to document every stage of it through his papers, which I was able to do. Even his therapy sessions with his therapist. As a psychiatrist, he had to be analyzed. And he went through analysis and he taped those analysis sessions. So I know really his innermost thoughts with his therapist. And he wrote a lot. He was not a secretive guy.