Science Fiction writer’s estate caught in lawsuit: Response from Sue Stewart Last updated: 15.07.2008
		A few days ago, an article about the current state of the legal dispute concerning the copyrights to / royalties from Andre Norton's books has appeared in a number of newspapers across the USA. Sue Stewart, who manages the Norton estate has asked for an opportunity to publicly respond to this article.
Further links: Editor's commentary Since the matter is vital to us as Andre's fans, I would like to encourage you to express your opinions and discuss this issue. Please see the new thread at the Andre Norton Message Board.		Sue Stewart Murfreesboro, Tn. 37129 July 13, 2008 Re: Article on Science Fiction writer’s estate caught in lawsuit Dear friends and fans of Andre, On behalf of myself and Andre I feel that I must speak out now regarding the litigation lodged by Victor Horadam against myself and Andre's estate. For 3 years now I have tried to refrain from making any comments concerning this matter. I feel I must respond to an article that was published last week in several newspapers across the country. This article essentially dealt with Victor Horadam and his relationship with Andre as he saw it. While I contend that he was a friend and a fan, I do not necessarily agree with his assumption that he was her "dearest friend" or "leading fan". Andre had countless fans through out the world. She also had extensive correspondence over the years with many of them, one who received 1062 letters. ([Mr. Horadam] says he received 500). He recently posted a reply on the SF-Fandom board stating that he had received "nasty emails" from people who read the Associated Press article. Imagine that!!! Everyone who was really "close" to Andre knew that, during the last year of her life, she was grooming me to take over her literary estate. She had introduced me to many of her co-writers and publishers and had included me in all the decision making concerning her book contracts. She provided me with an exhausted 12 page Power of Attorney which gave me unlimited powers over all her personal and business affairs. She retained attorney, Don O'kula, and trusted close friend, Bill Fawcett, who has been in the science fiction and fantasy field for over 30 years, to assist me in overseeing her copyrights and royalties before and after her death. Mr Horadam was NEVER part of this "loop" nor was it ever intented that he be part of this loop. During trial numerous witnesses who were exceptionally close to Andre in her final years, testfied that it was Andre's intent, to leave the bulk of her estate to me. That testimony, (including a video of Andre herself, wherein, she stated that I was to receive the bulk of her estate) was disregarded by the trial court. Mr. Horadam was unable to offer a single witness to testify on this issue. I’m not sure as to why I could not be reached for comment on the AP article, but, if I had been contacted, I would have stated the following: There was no miscalculation or accident involved in the wording of Andre Norton’s Will. The trial record was quite clear: I was to receive copyrights and royalties, and Mr.Horadam was to receive "the royalties from all posthumous publications of any of Andre’s works". Mr. Horadam would have you believe that Andre had left no posthumous publications behind and that the provision in the will is a cruel joke unless he is allowed to recover royalties from all of Andre’s publications, whenever published. Posthumous publications left by Andre Norton at the time of her death were considerable and included approximately 300 of her personal diaries (these are priceless since Andre kept a personal diary from age 18 until her death), numerous short stories and story outlines that could easily be taken up and completed by another writer. Additionally, there were unpublished Norton works contained in a donation made to the Texas A & M Library, unpublished Norton works in the possession of other collectors, 4 completed collaborated novels that were never published and the alleged 500 letters to Horadam, from Miss Norton. The worth of these items is considerable. The more interesting story is why the trial judge ruled as he did. The judge’s ruling that Miss Norton used the terms royalties and copyrights interchangeably in her will is unsupported by the trial transcript. No evidence was ever introduced at the time of trial from any source whatsoever that Miss Norton had used these terms interchangeably. (don’t take my word for it read the trial transcript) [Editor's note: I will check if it is possible to publish these on the site]. The source of this unsupported statement is Mr Horadam’s trial attorney, who was giving his opinion during trial, not offering evidence. Notwithstanding, the judge then proceeded to take the copyrights that were unmistakenably left to me by the terms of Andre’s will, and give them to Mr. Horadam solely because Mr. Horadam, in the court’s opinion, had a greater appreciation for Miss Norton’s literary works. A collosal miscarriage of justice has occurred here in Murfreesboro, one which I hope will be corrected by the Appellate Court. I hope this helps clarify for all of Andre's friends and fans what this case is about. Respectfully, Sue Stewart Sue can be contacted at sue.stewart@andre-norton.org

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