Comments on: Amos Lassen Falls From Grace, When Reviewers Attack

By: black hound

black hound — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 23:36:07 +0000

I had the misfortune to meet Lassen a few years back and initially found him charming and intelligent. His other personality issues came through pretty quickly, though, and, I stopped associating with him. In short, he’s a user.

By: PA

PA — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 00:09:41 +0000

I apologize for reviving this old thread, but I nearly fell out of my chair this evening when I heard Derek Hartley mention Amos Lassen’s review of his latest book.

This scandal is hardly surprising, as it appears that he has been up to his very old tricks once again.

I have known or known of Amos Lassen for nearly fifteen years. We met in the mid-90s, and I thought he was intelligent and engaging, if bitter. We had mutual acquantainces who were quick to inform me that he was not exactly the paragon of virtue. When his father died, he tried (and nearly succeeded) in defrauding his two siblings of their sizable inheritance when their father died. This was possible at the time due to Louisiana’s inheritance laws, which tended to favor male heirs.

When I cut off contact, he threatened to take (vague) action through my university against me. However, he went away, as the reality was that he was a semi-disgraced instructor at this particular New Orleans university with few connections of substance.

In the very early 2000s, one of his siblings informed me that Amos served a stint in prison for kiting checks. When I saw him walking in the French Quarter one day in ’03 or ’04, I knew I once again had to avoid him, which was made all the easier in 2005, when I left New Orleans for good post-Katrina.

Amos is an exceptionally intelligent, engaging and well-read individual, and were he not a con man, we would perhaps be friends to this day.

By: john gury

john gury — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 18:36:09 +0000

Fantastic job and thank you so much. This guy and his pals have been behaving like a bunch of little Red Guard Savonarolas on Amazon and god knows where else in cyberspace. Many people have good reason just to get this over with and give him a basic good punch out that he deserves.

By: Stu Maddux

Stu Maddux — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 01:47:39 +0000

I think that’s a great idea. If anyone wants to write it then I’m happy to talk. I just wanted to take that writing process off-line and post when it’s complete rather than have bits and pieces here for Amos to gyrate on. E Jacobs, I am sorry that I haven’t had a chance to reply yet to your kind email. We are getting ready to screen our film, Gen Silent, at Frameline and it’s really crazy here.

By: John

John — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 22:34:57 +0000

I don’t see why we should. Our hostess Ann-Kat might be willing to post your side of the story in its entirety. As an indie filmmaker I wonder if you ever thought about making a documentary or something out of this?

By: Stu Maddux

Stu Maddux — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:12:17 +0000

Sure. I’ve got nothing to hide. Should we take this off-line?

By: E. Jacobs

E. Jacobs — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 15:05:48 +0000

Sorry you are having to deal with this, Stu. Unfortunately it’s likely that this will continue to escalate.

I’d love to have coffee and talk with all of you cats though.

By: John

John — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 13:26:59 +0000

Yeah, I’d call that cyber-bullying. It’s his MO; always attacking and libeling others to bolster his own ego. If you’re really interested in sharing your story with us we might be able to figure something out.

By: Stu Maddux

Stu Maddux — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 16:44:30 +0000

OK John I wasn’t going to wade into it but: I just got this bizareness from Amos on my Facebook page apparently in response to my comments on your blog:

“Did you forget that you came to Little Rock to cheat on your lover?
I guess I will post the real story of what happened in Little Rock now that I have all the facts and I do have them. You were much better when you were quiet. Vengeance does not look good on you and pettiness looks even worse. I can also play your game but I bet you’ll lose if I have to totally destroy your reputation and I will if I must. What happened in Little Rock was the same in several other places that you visited alone with set up meetings ahead of time and I have records of all of that. Just say the word and I will publish it all. You do not scare me.”

So I’m thinkin…is this what they call cyber bullying? Or blackmail or….now I TOO have sheer morbid curiosity to hear about this life he’s got me living. I am also really feeling concerned for that person out there he really CAN hurt.

By: Stu Maddux

Stu Maddux — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:25:40 +0000

I know! If only we could all have coffee and talk! It was not any one thing that led to the above just a very toxic weekend that you can probably imagine after reading much of his work. In fairness, he did his best to make me feel welcome and I met many nice people there. My experience walking in Conway, AK Pride that weekend was something I will never forget. Getting down to details about Amos would actually just be him taking me down to the that crazy level with him. I just wonder if any other filmmakers have had the same experience?