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Red and Black: The Lester Jackson Manifesto > THE LOST NOVEL top
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In 1965, Lester Jackson began writing a follow-up novel to From Black and Communist to Black and Democratic. In his 1967 interview with Shelton Masters, Lester described it as �a compilation of notes and experiences, journal entries, etc. focusing primarily on a very special friendship that was terminated by and unfortunate death.� When questioned about the release of this novel, Lester responded that the novel would never see release because �To release that novel would be to exploit the friendship I still hold close in my heart.�
Given the time that the novel was written it is easy to draw the conclusion that the �special friendship� of which Lester speaks would be between himself and Malcolm X. If this novel consisted of notes and experiences as Lester claimed it does, then it would most certainly be valuable, not only to followers of the slain leader and historians, but it would also be most valuable of all to government intelligence agencies. Since Lester�s disappearance, the (as far as we know) untitled book has never surfaced, leading one to question:
- Was Lester murdered because of contents of that book?
- Did Lester himself destroy the book before or after his disappearance?
- Was the book left behind amongst Lester�s belongings, and if so, who had it/has it? Dee? The FBI, CIA, KGB? The Nation of Islam? What did they do/are they planning to do with it?
- If Lester is alive, does he still have the book on his person?
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