Fate has just chucked a rather large spanner in the works of James Cameron’s future plans, not to mention the past associations he’s had with author Charles Pellegrino. What’s the problem? Pellegrino’s historical tome The Last Train From Hiroshima is now being seriously disputed - and yanked from publication.
Despite gathering great reviews and healthy early sales, Pellegrino’s publishers, Henry Holt, have decided to halt the book’s run after questions were raised by the Associated Press about one of his interview subjects, who falsely claimed to have been on board the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic weapon on Hiroshima. That has led to a deeper investigation into the two main figures in the book, Father Mattias, who allegedly lived in the city at the time of the bombing and John MacQuitty, who oversaw his funeral.
"It is easy to understand how even the most diligent author could be duped by a source, but we also understand that opens that book to very detailed scrutiny,” said the publisher’s statement. "The author of any work of nonfiction must stand behind its content. We must rely on our authors to answer questions that may arise as to the accuracy of their work and reliability of their sources. Unfortunately, Mr. Pellegrino was not able to answer the additional questions that have arisen about his book to our satisfaction."
Which brings us to James Cameron, who has collaborated with Pellegrino on Titanic projects and a controversial claim in 2007's **The Jesus Family Tomb **that a burial site for Christ and some family members had been found in Jerusalem. Cameron wrote the introduction to the Tomb book and for Last Train, which he’d announced he was considering as a future film project.
Pellegrino worked as an “advisor” on Avatar. Does this mean that the Na'vi aren't real? That the Great Leonoptryx was made up? We're so confused!