Lucian
King Truscott IV (born April 11,
1947) is an American writer and journalist. A former staff writer for The
Village Voice, he is the author of several military-themes novels
including Dress Gray, which was adapted into a 1986 television film of the same name.
Life
Truscott
was born in Japan to US Army Colonel Lucian K. Truscott III and Anne (née
Harloe).[1] His grandfather Lucian Jr was a US Army general during World War II where he
commanded the 3rd Infantry Division and later the Fifth Army in Italy. His father Lucian III served in the US
Army in Korea and Vietnam, retiring as a colonel.[2]
Truscott
attended the United States Military Academy, graduating in 1969. In 1968, Truscott and other cadets
challenged the required attendance at chapel services. Later a court case filed
by another cadet along with midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy resulted in a 1972 US Court of Appeals decision (and upheld by the Supreme Court) that ended mandatory chapel attendance at all of the
service academies.[3] He was then assigned to Fort Carson, Colorado.[4] There, he wrote an article about heroin addiction among enlisted soldiers and another about what he
felt was an illegal court martial. He was threatened with being sent to Vietnam, so he resigned his commission about thirteen months
after graduating, receiving a "general discharge under other than
honorable conditions."[1][5]
He
is a member of the Monticello Association, the members of which descend from Thomas Jefferson, who
was Truscott's great-great-great-great-grandfather.[6][7] The association owns the graveyard at Monticello.
During a November 1998 appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show he invited descendants of Sally Hemings to the family reunion in 2000. The Hemings
descendants had not been allowed to join the association, or to be buried in
its graveyard.[6][7][8]
Novels
Truscott's
first novel was Dress Grey and was about a West Point cadet
who was found dead. It was a bestseller, appearing thirteen weeks on The
New York Times hardcover bestseller list and seven weeks on the
paperback list.[13] In The New York Times, Gene Lyons said
the book was "as compelling and important a popular novel has emerged or
is likely to emerge from the Vietnam era."[14] It was made in a two-part
television movie in 1986,
starring Hal
Holbrook, Eddie Albert and Alec Baldwin; Gore Vidal wrote the screenplay.[15]
His
fifth novel, Full Dress Grey, was a sequel to his first. The
earlier book received a cool reception from West Point, while for the sequel,
the campus bookstore scheduled Truscott for two book signings.[17] Library Journal's review of the book
described it as "a thoroughly satisfying mystery story with an uncommon
setting."[18] Booklist said that it was "a basic
police procedural" but predicted the book would be "popular for its
realistic dialogue couched in military protocol, which reflects the author's
own past as a cadet."[19]
References
1.
^ Jump up to:a b "Lucian K. Truscott, IV." Contemporary
Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Biography In Context. Web. 5 June
2013.
2.
^ Jergenson, Beth (3 April 2000). "Lucian
King Truscott III, 78, commanded Army troops, marshaled spirit for joy of
life". The Albuquerque
Tribune. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
3.
^ Gelfand, H Michael (2006). Sea Change at
Annapolis: The United States Naval Academy, 1949–2000. University of North
Carolina Press. pp. 85–103. ISBN 9780807877470.
4.
^ McCall, Cheryl (4 June 1979). "Lucian
'dress Gray' Truscott and Carol 'cheap Chic' Troy Are a Scott and Zelda for the
'70s". People Magazine.
Retrieved 6 June 2013.
5.
^ Jump up to:a b c Klemesrud, Judy (19 January 1979). "Successful
Writing Couple Become a Hot Property". The New York Times. p. A14. Retrieved 19
May 2018.
6.
^ Jump up to:a b Truscott, Lucian (10 July 2003). "The
Reunion Upon a Hill". The
New York Times. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
7.
^ Jump up to:a b Truscott, Lucian (February 2001). "Children
of Monticello". American Heritage magazine. p. 50.
8.
^ Janofsky, Michael (16 May 1999). "Jefferson's
Kin Not Ready To Accept Tie to Slave". The New York Times. Retrieved 8
June 2013.
10.
^ Truscott, Lucian (2 January 1969). "A
Stockingful of Love, But No Re-admission". The Village Voice. Retrieved 6
June 2013.
11.
^ Truscott, Lucian (2 July 1969). "Gay Power
Comes to Sheridan Square". The
Village Voice. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
12.
^ Truscott, Lucian (25 June 2009). "The Real
Mob at Stonewall". The
New York Times. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
14.
^ Lyons, Gene (7 January 1979). "Worst Point". The New York Times. p. BR3. Retrieved 19
May 2018.
15.
^ O'Connor, John J (7 March 1986). "TV
Weekend; 'Dress Gray,' A Military Mystery Tale". The New York Times. Retrieved 8
June 2013.
16.
^ Nathan, Paul (18 December 1995). "Assuaging
the pain. (Renaissances, a literary agency has negotiated a $1 million contract
for Jaffe Entertainment to buy the movie rights to 'Heart of War' a half
finished book by Lucian K. Truscott)". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 7
June 2013.
17.
^ Bruni, Frank (14 August 1998). "West Point
Greets the Enemy; Author Once Shunned Returns to His Alma Mater". The New York Times. Retrieved 8
June 2013.
Democrats are on the path to 4 more years
of Trump — here’s why
written by Lucian K. Truscott IV / Salon
April 17, 2019
It’s hard to know who to be more disgusted
with: the liberal media or the Democrats. They’re forming circular firing
squads around the glass-topped anchor tables on MSNBC and CNN.…
It’s hard to know who to be more disgusted
with: the liberal media or the Democrats. They’re forming circular firing
squads around the glass-topped anchor tables on MSNBC and CNN. They’re sniping
at each other on op-ed pages.
They’re posting unhinged, granular
takedowns of their opponents on Facebook. They’re tweeting out quotes from
decade-old speeches targeting each other for departures from liberal orthodoxy.
They’re catching fellow Democrats for slips of the tongue, or use of the hands,
or backroom misbehavior like — gasp! — yelling at a staffer!
And you know who’s watching?
The white supremacist in chief; the man who
ordered babies to be kidnapped from their mothers at the border; the author of
the transgender ban in the armed forces; the man who appointed industry
lobbyists to watch over our public lands, our air, our water and the safety of
our transportation system; the man who has turned the Supreme Court into a
rubber stamp for racism; the man who has said he believes Russian President
Vladimir Putin is a greater leader than the three American presidents who
preceded him; the man who has paid off porn stars, grabbed women’s pussies, and
wants to put them in prison for having abortions.
WFT, Democrats?
WTF, liberal media? Did we learn nothing
over the last three years?
We’ve watched Trump appoint a cabinet full
of halfwits and criminals; we’ve watched him hollow out the government with
budget cuts, neglect and ignorance; we’ve listened to him rail and screech his
racism at public rallies and Fox TV interviews; we’ve listened to him tell
thousands of lies; we’ve watched him excoriate the American system of justice,
his own intelligence and defense experts and military leaders even while he
found reason to heap praise on despotic foreign leaders who jail their own
citizens without trial and assassinate political opponents with impunity; we’ve
seen him walk away from international treaties and alliances with friends and
embrace enemies; and we’ve been witness to a debasement of American culture and
values so astounding that he praises white supremacists, supports accused child
molesters and befriends murderers.
He bragged that he could shoot someone in
the middle of Fifth Avenue and get away with it, and he was right. That isn’t
enough?
I turned on MSNBC recently and sat on my
couch and watched a so-called “panel” on one of the afternoon shows tear into
Joe Biden for two whole segments, lasting almost a half hour, taking him apart
because he had the temerity to put his hands on a woman’s shoulders and sniff,
or kiss, or something anyway, the back of her head. That Biden was there to
support her candidacy for office as a fellow Democrat didn’t matter.
Nor did it matter that photographs emerged
of the same woman putting her hands on Biden’s shoulders and gripping the arms
and shoulders and waists of other male political figures.
It didn’t seem to matter that the woman has
supported one of Biden’s opponents in the presidential primary, and could have
had a political reason to bring up this alleged offense from several years ago.
Do you think they spent even 60 seconds
talking about Donald Trump and his treatment of women?
Do you think they mentioned even once that
at least 16 women have accused Trump of sexual harassment or abuse?
The list is all over Google. It’s not hard
to find. Here’s one of them you might glance at the next time you think about
taking down Biden or any other Democrat.
I didn’t hear the word “Trump” even once as
they went after Biden for the unthinkable crime of putting his hands on a
woman’s shoulders.
The same thing goes on practically daily
with the other Democratic candidates. Amy Klobuchar is a bad boss! She has
raised her voice with Senate staffers! Elizabeth Warren is wonky! She gets all
bogged down in details about big banks and financial regulations! Kamala Harris
was a meanie prosecutor! She wanted to put parents in jail if their kids
skipped school! Jay Inslee is a one-issue candidate who thinks climate change
is the only thing we should care about!
Pete Buttigieg thinks we should abolish the
Electoral College and reform our democracy before we deal with health care and
poverty! He called Vice President Pence a “Pharisee!” He’s too gay, or he’s not
gay enough, or he didn’t come out at the right time, or something!
Beto O’Rourke lost his campaign for senate
in Texas! How can we take him seriously as a presidential candidate? He thinks
he can roll up his shirt sleeves and stand on diner counters and wave his arms
and win! Kirsten Gillibrand sacrificed Al Franken on the altar of her own
ambition! She’s wooden! She’s not nice!
Joe Biden is too old! He’s prone to
“gaffes!” He’s too handsy with women! He’s stuck in the past! Bernie Sanders is
a millionaire! He’s too old! He’s too far left! Or he’s not far left enough!
He’s still feuding with the Clintonites! Or they’re still feuding with him! Or
something!
Let’s see, did I miss any of them?
Probably, but it doesn’t matter. Somebody will show up on MSNBC, or in a New
York Times front page article, and they’ll attack somebody else. Every day
Democrats throw garbage at each other. Every day, MSNBC finds a new “issue” to
nitpick a Democrat for. Every day, the media machine grinds up another
Democrat. You have the feeling that MSNBC and CNN anchors are sitting there
watching their Twitter feeds, waiting for the word “emails” to show up so they
can start pounding that drum again. You wait. They’ll catch somebody for a
10-year-old email or a racy text message or a misbegotten tweet. That somebody
will be a Democrat, and within moments other Democrats will jump on the story,
and you’ll see “campaign strategists” on Katy Tur, or (God help us) Chuck Todd,
opining about the damage done, the dive they’ll take in the polls, the
difficulty they’ll face with fundraising. Another day, another scandal. Another
day, another damaged Democrat.
Down the memory hole went the months they
spent pounding on Hillary Clinton for her emails, for her “aloofness,” for her
control of the Democratic Party machine, basically for her being a woman, for
being Hillary Clinton. Every day has to be Groundhog Day for Clinton as this
Democratic primary grinds on. What a fucking shame.
You know what the real shame is?
They’re nitpicking the Democrats while
Trump puts a torch to the whole damn house. Every day has to be Groundhog Day
for him, too. Last time around, he flew around the country and told lies at his
rallies as he watched the media peck at Hillary Clinton like ducks, exposing
this “scandal” or that “failure.” He didn’t need campaign strategists like
Steve Bannon. Hell, he didn’t even need the Russians.
The Democratic Party “campaign strategists”
flapping their jaws every night on the cable shows were doing the job for him.
The New York Times didn’t use the word “lie” until Trump made his lame
admission that Barack Obama was a United States citizen. Whoop-de-doo.
Meanwhile, Trump’s entire campaign was a lie.
You want four more years of this shit? Four
more years of Trump turning the White House into a criminal enterprise? Four
more years of racism and gay-baiting and Muslim-hating, and demolition of
democratic norms and government institutions and the rule of law? Go on another
cable show, pen another op-ed, tweet out another rumor, trash another fellow
Democrat.
Keep it up.
