In 1967 American magazine writer
Anthony Amaral tried to sell an article to Horseman magazine.
Amaral's story promoted Frank Hopkins' fantasy about having won a 3,000 mile
race which had supposedly taken place every year for a thousand years in
Arabia.In a letter dated February 10,
1967, Bob Gray, Editor-Publisher of Horseman, expressed his
skepticism about an Arabian race nobody except Hopkins
had ever heard of. Gray asked Amaral to provide proof of
Hopkins' improbable equestrian exploit.
"Frankly, a lot of Arabian breeders simply
won't believe that tale. Not unless you've got some sources and some
reliable authority to back it up. So can you come up with some sort of
written award, newspaper clippings, letters from somebody other than Hopkins
to pin down the authenticity of that ride?" Gray wrote.
The Editor went on to warn Amaral, "You can
readily understand that our magazine would be accused of irresponsible
reporting if we printed a story such as this without knowing the basis of
the background facts."
Amaral chose to ignore Gray's editorial
concerns.
Click on image at left to read the entire
letter.