November 28th, 2007, Thomas Lippman and Tim Barger gave a presentation at the Library of Congress. This hour long discussion about the people and places of Saudi Arabia and the world of Discovery! - seventy five years ago, is now available for viewing at the C-SPAN Video Library. (more…)

Sadly the critics of Discovery! continue to spin the web, trying to diminish the work of the man they claim to represent. On NPR today among other things I was called a “pirate” by Page Stegner and on NewWest.net  Page accused Selwa Press of ”omitting passages that “portrayed ARAMCO critically or would have caused problems between the company and Saudi Arabia’s leaders.” (more…)

Lawrence and Dick Meade in 2003

If I was Barnes & Noble I would fly Lawrence Rajakariar to New York City and pay him handsomely to explain the fine art of bookselling, especially in a multi-lingual society. Without men like Lawrence, none of us - authors, publishers, wholesalers, distributors or retailers, would survive. (more…)

 ”Was Cecil Green the one who first found oil in Arabia? ”

As Jon Claerbout writes, “He never said that. I recall him saying, ‘Whenever anyone speaks with assurance about finding oil, you know you are talking to a beginner.’ The facts are that the Standard Oil Company of California contracted with Cecil’s company GSI (Geophysical Services, Inc) for a geophysical survey in Arabia. ” (more…)

As Lisa Leff reports for the AP some people have attempted to muddy Selwa Press’s right to publish Discovery! by disparaging me as well as Mr. Stegner’s remarkable work of narrative history. While it is interesting to speculate about the various editions of the text and what might or might not have been the late author’s motives there are a few facts that interfere with the negative chatter of these detractors. (more…)