I often listen to my favorite radio show, National Public Radio’s (NPR) “This American Life”, hosted by Ira Glass. This time, one of the show’s producer’s, Sarah Koenig, hosted the show about her brilliant 88 year old father Julian Koenig, a pioneer legend in the advertising industry.
The show was called “Think Small: Julian Koenig v. George Lois. ” You can click below is you want to listen to the entire show.
[podcast]http://audio.thisamericanlife.org/jomamashouse/ismymamashouse/383.mp3[/podcast]
But in a nutshell, the show was about Julian Koenig being ripped off by a colleague named George Lois, who took credit for Julian’s creative ideas like the classic Volkswagen add “Think Small” and countless others.
George Lois even allegedly stole a personal experience that Julian Koenig had with Muhammed Ali, where Julian convinced the great boxer to pose as a pin cushion for a specific photo shoot. Apparently, George Lois wasn’t even present at the photo shoot according to Julian Koenig.
As Julian Koening relayed these alleged egregious acts of George Lois I could hear the pain still present in his voice for incidents which took place over forty years ago.
Julian got some emotional relief by placing an ad in Adweek (which unfortunately he had to pay for) accusing George Lois of being “the greatest predator” of his work. The NPR radio show and podcast also helped him to gain back his dignity, which was made possible by the fact that his daughter Sarah Koening, is one of the show’s producers.
TOUCHED BY JULIAN’S STORY BECAUSE A SIMILAR THING HAPPENED TO ME
When I heard the emotional pain in 88 year old Julian’s voice, I was deeply touched to the bone. I shared Julian’s pain as the same thing essentially happened to me.
The only difference is that Julian did not pursue legal channels as I am doing against a woman named Marsha Petrie Sue, a motivational speaker who did word for word copying of my work and called her book the same title as my book, TOXIC PEOPLE, which I wrote in 1995.
She had gone around the country giving lectures called Toxic People as well. I am now suing her for copyright infringement in hopes that justice will be served.
I was so deeply moved by the NPR broadcast that I wrote Julian Koenig’s NPR producer daughter the following letter that I wanted to share with you in this blog:
LETTER TO SARAH
Dear Sarah
My name is Dr. Lillian Glass ( www.drlillianglass.com). Yesterday I heard the fantastic interview you did on NPR about your brilliant 88 year old father Julien Koenig, a genius and pioneer in the advertising world and how his partner George Lois tried to take credit for your father’s original work with regard to the creative advertising campaigns your father originated.
I think what you have done for your father in presenting this information publicly is the biggest gift you could have given to this great man. It should be very healing for him to know that the truth has now been exposed to the world.
I want both you and your father to know that your father’s story touched me very deeply on a very personal level.
After hearing the emotional pain in your father’s voice as he spoke of the despicable act of someone trying to take credit for his work and representing themselves as the creator of your father’s branding, I became even more motivated in my own fight for justice in a similar situation with an author who has done word for word copying of my book, which she also called by the same name- Toxic People.
Like your father, I have worked hard all of my life. In 1995 I wrote a book called Toxic People and gave lectures on the topic throughout the world. A few years ago in 2007 a Marsha Petrie Sue not only wrote a book called Toxic People but she did word for word copying of my work and has put herself out there as the author of Toxic People, causing considerable confusion in the ,marketplace I feel . She took identical word for word copying of information in my He Says She Says book and placed in in her version of her Toxic People book. Needless to say, I am involved in
I have had my doubts about going forward, but I always return to the conclusion: how can I look myself in the mirror if I don’t at least get a court to say whether this is or is not actionable copying?
As I venture forth in my own pursuit of justice, it will be your father’s voice that will help propel me forward. I will never forget the pain I heard in his voice as he discussed the egregious acts of George Lois.
I will keep your voice in my mind as well as someone who exposed the injustice intellectual thievery.
People who take credit for other’s work and do word for word copying of their materials must be exposed for the frauds they are.
I am only sorry that your father did not pursue his grievance against Mr. Lois through the legal system in order to achieve justice and closure.
But the fact that you have exposed this case around the world should bring your father peace of mind as he has definitely achieved justice in the court of public opinion.
Thank you again for your brilliant expose and God Bless your father.
Warmly,
Dr. Lillian Glass
STICKING UP FOR MY DIGNITY, SELF WORTH,AND SELF RESPECT
As I essentially stated in this letter to Sarah Koenig, how could I live with myself and not look myself in the mirror if I did not fight for myself and what I have worked for my entire life? What would that say about me as a human being and about my self worth and my self respect?
I cannot allow what happened to Julian Koenig over the past 40 years to happen to me. I cannot allow the pain about the injustice to fester within me for years without resolution. As Julian Koening used the term “intellecual predator” I too am seeking legal action against someone I feel has behaved as ab “intellectual predator” by doing word for word copying of my work- Marsha Petrie Sue.
Let Julian Koenig’s plight be a lesson to us all. Let us not keep things in when we believe injustice has been done to us in any way. Instead, let us speak up and act immediately so it doesn’t have to fester inside of us for decades.
