# Mark Lane dies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 13, 2016, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mark-lane-dies/754679 "2016-05-13T14:35:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mark-lane-dies/754679/1 "2016-05-13T14:35:26Z")
Not sure if CS is best place for this, but he was an author. [http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/national\_world/2016/05/12/0512-mark-lane-obit.html](http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/national_world/2016/05/12/0512-mark-lane-obit.html) Noted JFK conspiracy author Mark Lane has passed on. Probably the single most influential author on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mark-lane-dies/754679/2 "2016-05-13T14:46:45Z")
They finally got him. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mark-lane-dies/754679/3 "2016-05-13T15:01:10Z")
Mods, please close the thread now; there is nothing further necessary (or even possible!) after **Johnny L.A.**'s post. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mark-lane-dies/754679/4 "2016-05-13T15:45:18Z")
Sorry to hear this. I worked for him for a time and we became friendly. Remarkable life. His book on Jonestown is fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mark-lane-dies/754679/5 "2016-05-13T20:27:44Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > They finally got him. But who? The mafia, Castro, the CIA, the Illuminati …? The list of suspects is endless. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mark-lane-dies/754679/6 "2016-05-13T23:43:17Z")
Mark Lane publishes a book claiming the CIA killed President Kennedy. Fifty years later, he’s found dead of “natural causes”. And we’re supposed to accept this is a mere coincidence? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mark-lane-dies/754679/7 "2016-05-14T18:53:33Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Mark Lane publishes a book claiming the CIA killed President Kennedy. > > Fifty years later, he’s found dead of “natural causes”. > > And we’re supposed to accept this is a mere coincidence? Obviously, being a JFK assassination nut job kills you at the premature age of 89. He was the classic example of a conspiracy profiteer. Always coming up with new stuff that contradicted old stuff (and of course the facts), so more books could be sold. No one ever went broke … ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mark-lane-dies/754679/8 "2016-05-17T17:20:13Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Sorry to hear this. I worked for him for a time and we became friendly. Remarkable life. His book on Jonestown is fascinating. Was he a conspiracy theorist about anything else in his life, or just the JFK case? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mark-lane-dies/754679/9 "2016-05-17T17:33:18Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Was he a conspiracy theorist about anything else in his life, or just the JFK case? [Vietnam war crimes and the MLK assassination.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Lane_(author)#Vietnam_War_crimes_investigations) (About the assassination, [he might actually have been on to something](http://www.salon.com/2015/04/05/the_mlk_murder_mystery_how_slain_leaders_death_became_a_true_crime_whodunit/).) ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mark-lane-dies/754679/10 "2016-05-17T17:41:27Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Was he a conspiracy theorist about anything else in his life, or just the JFK case? He was certainly skeptical about the power and motivations of those in government. He did think (as do I) that MLK assassination was a conspiracy. His book with Dick Gregory was very interesting. Overall, he was a pretty standard “radical lawyer” in the 60s mold. He worked on American Indian issues, police misconduct, and racial and gender discrimination cases. He spoke about rights for Palestinians before it was more acceptable to do so. As I recall (and it’s been years since I read _Rush to Judgment)_ he didn’t have a particular theory about who killed Kennedy, but simply that the Warren Commission report was gravely flawed and there were serious reasons to doubt the “lone crazy gunman” theory. Anyway, he was a skilled lawyer, and writer, and a man who was kind to me when he didn’t have to be. He raised important questions and worked on behalf of many in our society that needed someone to speak for them. His worked shaped by career, and I am grateful that for a short time I was able to get to know him. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mark-lane-dies/754679/11 "2016-05-17T17:41:46Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > They finally got him. That’s just what they want you to think.