1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Me and Lee, January 30, 2011
By
Carol
This review is from: Me & Lee: How I Came to Know, Love and Lose Lee Harvey Oswald (Hardcover)
Read this one in a couple nights. Could not put it down. A truly human observation of two young lives, and what became loves. Happy, frustrating, angry, and ultimately heartbreaking. I believe it is true. I have read it two times, and have passed it on to my best friend.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow, Sensational Book!, January 29, 2011
By
pbcarey
This review is from: Me & Lee: How I Came to Know, Love and Lose Lee Harvey Oswald (Hardcover)
This is one book I did not want to end. Judyth brings to life, New Orleans in the early 60s. Her story flows and is easy to follow, I felt as though I was reading her diary. The depth that she takes the reader into her life is visceral. Judyth fills in the gaps of what Lee was doing in New Orleans during the spring and summer of 63. The book also answers questions about his pro-castro/anti-castro behavior. She explains very clearly how Lee could be a government agent, who is also in deep with the mafia, which explains the Jack Ruby connection. Her story begins with her background in cancer research (which by itself is impressive enough), but through fate that same background throws her into a dangerous world of CIA assets and FBI agents. Most of the people in Judyth's world are patriots being misguided by more powerful people with evil motives. It is not until it is too late that they, Lee realize they know too much and can't stop the wheels that are already in motion. By the end of the book your heart breaks for Judyth and you have a whole new perspective of who Lee Harvey Oswald was. I highly recommend this book!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars High adventure, spies, love, assassination - is it true and does it matter?, January 28, 2011
By
Robert Shuler (Friendswood, TX USA)
This review is from: Me & Lee: How I Came to Know, Love and Lose Lee Harvey Oswald (Hardcover)
"Me and Lee" is a mix of spy adventure and bio-warfare worthy of Michael Crighton, a love quadrangle you might find in the romance section but more sincerely written, and a deep interleaving of much of the conspiracy evidence in the JFK assassination. And to top it off, the author declares it is completely true! The personal and emotional story is certainly a breath of fresh air compared to muddled evidence usually associated with Dealey Plaza, and the author has the skill to keep you turning every page. Her story would be fascinating even without such a well known co-star as Lee Oswald.
But does it matter if it is true? You might enjoy reading this regardless, as I did. But about half way through you might become first curious, then obsessed to find out if it is really true. You might spend a week of evenings sifting through confusing and conflicting claims on the internet, or even longer if you read some of the 300 books on the subject. Let me suggest you consider first the question of whether the personal experiences Judyth relates are really her experiences, and postpone the imponderable murk of the assassination. You can enter Judyth Vary Baker into a search engine and find her web page, and also the web pages of a John McAdams, who is her leading critic, and read and compare them for yourself. John is a defender of the lone assassin scenario, and attempts to find inconsistencies in Judy's story as it evolved through time. Judy has a point by point rebuttal to McAdams on her website. You could hardly ask for a clearer debate.
On John's site you will find links to Black Op Radio interviews with Judyth. On Judy's site you will find video of an episode of the History Channel's "The Men Who Killed Kennedy" which is an interview with Judy, and hear a much synopsized version of her story told by herself. You can decide if she seems sincere to you. But this synopsis has only a shadow of the intriguing quality of the book, which reads with first person narrative intensity that begs to be made into a movie.
Quite separate from deciding the author's credibility, you can get lost in deciphering Lee's character, and trying to understand whether Judy really understands this apparently more charismatic character than we previously realized, or whether her view is colored by the fact she is obviously in love with him. There are also opposing analyses of Lee on the web, including articles you can find by Pricilla Johnson MacMillian, a book by his brother Robert Oswald, and interviews and articles on a Lee Oswald website. Was he a clever double agent, taking a Russian wife as part of his cover, charming many women when necessary for his missions, dumping them as carelessly as his hero and idol "I Led Three Lives" Herb Philbrick? Was Judyth just another of these women? Or did Lee really care about the people in his life, and was Judyth someone he loved and had plans to run away with? Even Lee's wife Marina has changed her mind through the years about whether she thinks Lee is guilty. It is impossible to resist this fascinating puzzle, and it is soon clear that whatever he was, Lee was not disconnected from people like the stereotype lone nut assassins we have found in so many other cases.
Whatever you think about who shot Kennedy, and even if you don't particularly care, this book will entertain you, make you think about relationships, take you through a time warp to relive the early 60s if you happen to remember them, and take you into the life of a brilliant, naive and inspiring woman.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Puzzling, January 23, 2011
By
Howard Schumann (Vancouver, B.C.)
This review is from: Me & Lee: How I Came to Know, Love and Lose Lee Harvey Oswald (Hardcover)
I think Judith's book is compelling, fascinating in its detail and very moving. Whether or not it is credible is a question the reader will have to determine.
I believe that it is although I do question how anyone could recollect not only the details of conversations but people's whereabouts, movements, and activities that occurred close to fifty years ago. I can't remember what happened last week.
Also Judith uses conversations that include the word "gay" as referring to homosexuals, a term not in general use until the late sixties and early seventies.
The story rings true but keep in mind that her hero Oswald, though he is depicted as a kind and caring person, was willing to help the CIA thugs murder the leader of another state, a criminal act. If he had any real integrity, he would have gotten out a long time before this "project" or would not have been involved in undercover spying in the first place.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating, eye-opening, heartbreaking read!, January 18, 2011
By
S. Simonetti "fuzzyrainbow" (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Canada)
This review is from: Me & Lee: How I Came to Know, Love and Lose Lee Harvey Oswald (Hardcover)
More than a few have doubted the veracity of Mrs. Vary-Baker's story and now, with this book, they need doubt no more.
Mrs. Vary-Baker gives a frank and candid potrayal of her early years before meeting Mr. Lee Harvey Oswald and her start in Science. She pulls no punches, gives no information without footnote upon footnote and source upon source. She does not tell a story without more than enough physical proof to back it up.
She doesn't claim to be a "saint" (there are a few racy and romantic anecdotes of her relationship with Mr. Oswald as well as some revelations of emotional abuse by her father) and does not paint Mr. Oswald as a saint either, but gives the information as it happened and allows the reader to make of it what they will.
We are all complicated individuals with our faults and good points! Simply put, Mrs. Vary-Baker tells the truth, "warts and all" and at tremendous risk to her own safety and life to exonerate herself and the love of her life, Mr. Oswald. I always doubted Mr. Oswald's "guilt" and now have proof and know that he was a true patriot and innocent in all this and most certainly did *not* kill one of the finest Presidents the USA ever had! From the forward to the heart-breaking conclusion of her story, it is a bona-fide page turner and worth the time to read this. Buy this book as a gift for friends, demand your library keep a copy or two for circulation. This story must be told! An excellent companion to this book would be "Dr. Mary's Monkey" by Mr. Haslam to fill in some more of the scientific data/backstory. God Bless Mrs. Vary-Baker, Mr. Oswald, and may the truth set everyone free!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing level of detail . . . and absolutely essential, January 17, 2011
By
Barry Krusch
This review is from: Me & Lee: How I Came to Know, Love and Lose Lee Harvey Oswald (Hardcover)
I have only one negative comment about this book: the cover. It is misleading. This is no dime-store novel folks, but a work of courageous non-fiction. Don't judge the book by its cover, but examine the extraordinary detail contained within it. Hundreds of photographs and footnotes, including a rare letter from Guy Banister. Paystubs, maps, photocopies of letters, it just goes on and on. And all giving a glimpse of Lee Harvey Oswald at an extremely important time and place.
If you are interested in Kennedy Assassination history, this is a must-read. You'll be amazed, I guarantee.
And yes, I'm absolutely convinced. I find extraordinary detail extraordinarily convincing.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Explosive, Undeniable Truth, January 12, 2011
By
ruakdsh
This review is from: Me & Lee: How I Came to Know, Love and Lose Lee Harvey Oswald (Hardcover)
Wonderfully written autobiography that develops perfectly into the real truth of the JFK assasination. Indeed poignant, heartbraking, but triumpant. Miss Judith is a herione of our time. And her book is easily readable, well written and hard to put down. A few editing mistakes do not affect any meaning. You must read this book !!!!! Worthy of a Pulitzer or Nobel prize.
See also: Dr. Mary's Monkey. But read Me and Lee first.