The subject of several tell-all books, Conrad Black has one of his own coming out - a memoir in which he will tell all about his recent legal battle and his life behind bars.
Lord Black's conviction on fraud and obstruction of justice charges, which led to the 6½-year sentence he is currently serving in a U.S. prison even as he seeks a Supreme Court ruling on his case, is the centrepiece of his highly anticipated memoir, entitled The Fight of My Life. The book, published by McClelland & Stewart, will appear in Canadian bookstores this fall.
Doug Pepper, chief executive officer of M&S, tells us the book picks up where Lord Black's last memoir leaves off - in the early 1990s. He says it covers his trial and experience in prison and will be as up to date as possible, which implies material may still be added to the manuscript, which is currently being fine-tuned. Mr. Pepper says a draft was written before the former media baron went to jail a year ago.
"It's a great read. He's taken a lot of business and legalese and made it so that you can really follow it and turned it into a thriller - even though you know what happened in the end." Mr. Pepper says the publisher is still working out how to publicize the book of an incarcerated author. "Maybe there are ways to get his voice out there."
As for whether Lord Black will be able to keep his book income, Mr. Pepper won't comment. All he will say is that it was a book contract like any other, with an advance against royalties. The manuscript is being carefully reviewed by libel lawyers.
Practice makes perfect
Nortel has cut an astounding 65,000 jobs this decade - including 3,200 last week. One assumes the company's human resources department has become quite efficient with the process by now. So what does a laid-off Nortel employee get these days? A few hours' notice, according to the senior vice-president of human resources.
Elena King sent an e-mail to staff last week, following news that the latest round of job cuts at the troubled telecom equipment maker would eliminate 10 per cent of the remaining work force. She wanted to help people understand how the process would work. Laying off 3,200 people means cancelling projects already under way, she writes. "For that reason, in some cases you will see teams of employees assembled together and notified as a group that their roles are being eliminated. In most instances, employees will have the necessary time (a few hours whenever possible) to collect their personal belongings and remove personal files from their computers before returning the equipment and their security badge to the company."
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