RUTHFULLY YOURS

John Frith, California Civil Justice Blog, 10/4/10

In 2003, flamboyant legal assistant Erin Brockovich and attorney Ed Masry sued the Beverly Hills Unified School District, alleging that some 300 cancer cases were linked to a cluster of oil wells on campus. The then- editor of the local weekly newspaper, Norma Zager, was skeptical, however, and, as the Columbia Journalism Review put it, “helped uncover what appears to be a Hollywood heroine’s campaign of deception.” In fact, a Superior Court judge granted summary judgment against the plaintiffs and Brockovich and Masry had to reimburse the school district $450,000 for its legal expenses.

Now Zager has documented her award-winning reporting in Erin Brockovich and the Beverly Hills Greenscam, available here on Amazon.com and elsewhere. CJAC President John H. Sullivan called the book “gutsy, inspiring reporting,” adding that “journalism schools everywhere should make Erin Brockovich and the Beverly Hills Greenscam required reading.”