A Suspense Authors Cautionary Tale
31 July 2000 at 1:07 pm
Here’s a cautionary tale that sends a shiver down the spine of any Not for Profit organisation as reported by the New York Times and the Philanthropy News Network.
Popular suspense author, Tom Clancy (Hunt for Red October etc and Patriot Games) has dismantled his Foundation after seven years and millions of dollars spent on everything other than what was originally intended!
In 1992 Clancy set up the Kyle Foundation to help children with grave illnesses to use the Internet to talk to each other via the Web so they can learn about their diseases.
He named the Foundation after meeting 6 year old Kyle Haydock, who wrote him a fan letter from his hospital bed telling him about his illness, Sarcoma.
Seven years and $5 million dollars later the Kyle Foundation is being dismantled without even a Web site to its name.
Clancy is accusing Katherine Gorshow, the Foundation’s Executive Director of improper expenditures and mismanagement saying she used the money for personal expenses including travel.
Gorshow denies the accusations and is suing the Foundation for breach of contract!
According to the New York Times about $700,000 of the Kyle Foundation’s money remains unspent. Clancy plans to spend it by endowing a paediatric oncology research chair at Johns Hopkins University that will be named after Kyle Haydock.
The full text of the story is currently found at www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/07/biztech/articles/11clancy.html
