At the Book Court in Brooklyn, NY, Sept. 14, 2013. (Bill Hackwell photo)
My New York publicist had arranged an interview for me with WLRN, South Florida’s popular National Public Radio affiliate, for this Tuesday (September 17) to talk about my new book, What Lies Across the Water: The Real Story of the Cuban Five.
Since I’m currently on a book tour in the northeastern US, the station arranged for me to go to affiliate WGBH in Boston to do the interview live from a studio there. All was set… Then, late last night, we got this email from WLRN:
“I’m sorry to say that Topical Currents host/exec prod, Joseph Cooper, has told me to cancel the interview with Stephen Kimber. After looking over the book and accompanying material… he feels that the topic is too ‘incendiary’ and fears a negative reaction from certain segments of the community.”
That email tells you everything you need to know — and more — about why it was impossible to find an unbiased jury in Miami to hear the case of the Cuban Five. And why it is even more important today — 15 years later, with four of the five still in American prisons — for Americans to learn the facts about this case.
Update: WLRN has apologized, and re-invited me to appear on another program on Friday, September 20 at 12 p.m. ET (1 pm AST). Here’s the story from the Miami Herald. And here’s a link to the live stream of the station’s broadcast. The program I’ll be appearing on, Florida Round Up, also has a web page with information about the program.
STEPHEN KIMBER, a Professor of Journalism at the University of King's College in Halifax and co-founder of its MFA in Creative Nonfiction Program, is an award-winning writer, editor and broadcaster. He is the author of two novels and eight non-fiction books. Buy his books 
WTF?
If these spies were caught,tried and convicted in the US what makes anybody think they were railroaded. If anything Goldman who was in Cuba doing business was arrested and jailed (the trail was a farce as all trials in Cuba are)as a bargaining chip for the release of the Cuban 5.
BTW I am Cuban, in the US for over 42 years. I plan to see my sick uncle I am boning up on all things Cuban travel and was surprised to learn that I am considered a Cuban citizen and subject to all their (stupid) laws. Come get me raul.
This is exactly we we have in Miami Florida. A bunch of haters that live off the Cuban tragedy of the embargo, and are here to promote their hate thought the media so they can get more and more money out of an unfair cause, based on hatred and lies this people buy and twist the truth that seldom comes out and Stephen Kimber put the dots and conects the truth with an exectional reseach and the other right side of the story Great we need more people like you to end this madness of censorship the same thing they said they are against here they favor
Thank you for supporting the bloodiest dictatorship in Latin America…
By the way…any brain dead idiot can be a “professor” at a Canadian university…
Gracias camarada!
FCR
Nuestro agradecimiento por todo lo que hace por los cinco. Seguimos en combate. Hace falta que sulibro ayude a incendiar a todos los Estados Unidos, pero de un gran amor hacia Cuba y hacia los Cinco.
The topic is one which had great need of a book, and I put it on my wish list at Amazon (it’s o.s. at the moment).
This outrageous injustice, re the Five, was totally politically motivated by the wretched refuse known as the gusanos of Miami, and made the US judicial system appear more contemptible than usual.
I’m looking forward to this read as soon as it is available