American Anarchist Page #6

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for the ways in which

the book has been used.

Have you always felt that way?

When the Cookbook

has been associated

with Columbine,

and the later

Karl Pierson killing,

I did feel responsible.

But I didn't do it.

And I wonder what

sense of responsibility

the factory worker has

who makes the Smith & Wesson,

or the Colt.

What responsibility

do they have

when the weapon is misused?

Now, I'm not comfortable

with that analogy,

so let's not pick it apart.

But I think there is a sense of

while I do feel responsible,

I didn't do it.

Somebody else.

Somebody else with a perverted,

distorted sense of reality

did something awful.

I didn't.

Why isn't that your

answer to all of these questions?

Why do you feel any

responsibility at all?

Why isn't the answer simply,

"I wrote a book.

I didn't harm anyone."

Mm-hmm.

Even though

there is a distance...

I'm not responsible

for the murder of

children in Columbine...

I'm appalled

that in any way

my work, my book,

was influential

or was associated with it,

and I do feel

responsibility there.

I really kind of

reclused myself.

I mean, to be

really frank with you,

part of the fact

that I don't know

is that I didn't want to know.

The last thing I wanted to know

was that it had been used

in some sort of escapade

that had ended up

hurting people.

So I think there was probably some

avoidance on my part as well.

Has it been difficult for you?

The role that

the book has played?

There have been times

where it's...

made life quite difficult.

And so, perhaps...

And it was always

people from outside

who wanted to...

Um, you know,

get at Bill.

1991, I was appointed

the CEO of the school

in Dar es Salaam.

I went away for a conference.

While I was away,

there was delivered to my

secretary a pile of envelopes.

And in it is

an anonymous letter

and a photocopy of

"The Anarchist Cookbook."

So, it's an anonymous

group of teachers,

and they're

saying to the board,

"If you don't terminate

Bill Powell's employment,

"we will send copies

of 'The Anarchist Cookbook'

to the Ministry of Education,

the Prime Minister..."

So it's a blackmail attempt.

It was a terrible,

very painful experience.

It was particularly

difficult for me.

I remember one time

when Bill came home

and it was really

late at night,

and our son Colin

was at the door,

and he was waiting

and he said,

"Dad, Dad!

Do we still have a job?"

And it was so... It was

heartbreaking to see that.

They advised me

not to reapply

for contract renewal

after the end of my contract,

which was coming up

to an end in August.

And the following day

I resigned.

The parents launched a petition

to throw the board out.

They got over 400 signatures

and I stayed another

five and a half years.

I left the International

School of Tanganyika

of my own volition in '99.

I did not put "The Anarchist

Cookbook" on my CV.

You know, you don't put things

that you did when you were 19

that you no longer agree with

on your rsum.

I applied for half a dozen

or so jobs

at international schools,

and I wasn't shortlisted

by any of them.

Anonymous emails were

going to those schools

that included information about

"The Anarchist Cookbook."

I was shortlisted for the

Lincoln School in Accra, Ghana.

The interview went

extremely well.

And the chairman of the board

all but offered the position.

She comes to the hotel

and she says,

"We've just learned that you're the

author of 'The Anarchist Cookbook.'"

And I said that

that's correct.

She said, "Well, you're

not a viable candidate."

It was school after school

after school.

The American School of Paris,

Turkey, came up with Accra.

I thought it was going to bring

my career to an end.

Every time there was a viable

position open,

somebody was communicating

with those schools saying,

"If Bill Powell is a candidate,

you need to know."

It came up during the interview

in Kuala Lumpur.

I said to them,

"If you offer me the job,

"I'm going to write an email

to every parent in the school

and tell them about it."

And that's exactly what I did.

And I got absolutely no response

from the parent community.

There was nobody

who was outraged.

-I mean, it was... -We just

thought it was a non-issue.

There's a transparency there.

It was successfully

out of the picture.

And the hope

was that it would just...

Go away, yeah.

To be frank, you know,

"The Anarchist Cookbook" rears

its head every so often.

But it's not a constant

or continuous, um, issue.

And I think,

to be frank, also,

it has been a source of pain.

So, perhaps,

to protect my family,

it's maybe not something

that I wanted to bring up.

Because I did feel

that we were under attack.

We have been under attack.

Two New York City women accused

of plotting a terrorist attack.

Court documents say they were

influenced by ISIS.

Those women had been researching

how to make bombs...

both women had copies of

"The Anarchist Cookbook."

Anarchist cookbooks

or mayhem manuals...

They became the precursors

to al-Qaeda's online

magazine, "Inspire."

And one of the articles

in "Inspire" is called

"How to make a bomb

in the kitchen of your Mom."

So you can hear this incarnation

of the '70s and '80s manuals.

"The Anarchist Cookbook,"

Senator Dianne Feinstein says

she wants that book

removed from the Internet.

Saying, quote,

"these documents are not,

in my view,

protected by

the first amendment."

Would you say hoping

it would go away didn't work?

More than that.

I think it was naive.

You know, we say to kids

to be really careful

about what they put

on Facebook

or any other social media

because those footprints

last forever.

This has done

exactly that same thing.

It's not easily controlled.

Do you resent the idea

that anyone would say

that the book

is in any way

responsible for people

doing bad things?

You know, um...

I think that's a question

that should be directed to me

-rather than Ochan.

-Well, I'm just curious...

But Ochan

didn't write the book.

She didn't even know me

when the book was...

But I just mean because

she's having to deal with

-the impact it has on both of your lives.

-Why, I don't mind answering it.

You know, people read

books all the time.

So, I think that

at some point,

individual responsibility

needs to kick in,

and I think that

your visit here has kicked in

individual responsibility

on our part,

but I think

that other people also

must take responsibility

for their actions.

Do you feel that Bill

has been unfairly treated?

Well, I think that

some of your questions

have been, um...

leading in a way that have... has

perhaps made me uncomfortable.

Um...

I didn't...

I didn't mean by me.

-Oh! Okay.

-But...

but I apologize for that.

No, no, it's quite all right.

Um, no, I mean

do you feel that

Bill has been

unfairly treated by others,

that he's been given

more blame than he deserves?

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