A lot has been written about these three people over the years. In fact, I wasn't sure about writing this hub because it will probably not be ranked high in the search engines just because of that. But these men wander into my mind occasionally, especially lately with the theft of HubPage writer's articles, so I thought what the heck, I may as well, because I like to write about things that interest me.

All three of these authors knew the meaning of the word 'deceitful' and 'opportunistic', although one or two to a lesser degree than the other. As a writer, I find what each of them did unfathomable. Not from a moral standpoint, but from a professional one.

No...not even professional.

When you write for a living, you earn the title and the money for doing it, but you have to respect basic principles, the two highest ones being:

• Thou shalt not steal another writer's work.
• Thou shalt not present fiction as fact.

These principles apply to any writer in any medium. They also apply to authors.

Authors are writers whose works are accepted and published by publishing houses. These three men were both author and writer. Most writers pay attention to grammar and other writing rules, and some rely on editors to do it. If you are a professional writer, you need to know and respect the rules and you must know at least as much as your editor. You should also respect other writers, your audience and the people you write about.

So, each of these men, Stephen Glass, Clifford Irving and James Frey, used their skill with words and their position as 'writer' to deceive the general public. They did not commit plagiarism, which is when you take another's words and attempt to pass them off as your own. Their words were their own, but they were fiction. Fiction presented as fact.

Consider James Frey.

Consider James Frey. He wrote the smash bestseller "A Million Little Pieces", his "autobiography", and skyrocketed to fame when Oprah Winfrey promoted his book on her show and website, and stamped it with the Oprah Seal of Approval on Amazon.com and other booksellers. Everything went well until people who either knew him or had intimate knowledge of some of the scenarios in the book started analyzing the content. Eventually, he was exposed on snopes.com as lying in much of his book, and he once again appeared on Oprah's show to confess his sins. That was when I bought his book - a first edition copy of a controversial book like that, complete with the Oprah seal will become an interesting part of my library. James Frey wronged Oprah, indirectly, when she chose to promote his book. He also wronged people who identified with his situation and whose faith was subsequently dashed when the truth was uncovered. But i think, most of all, he wronged himself. Basically, he altered the truth of his own life for a buck - I would never do that, no matter how much money you paid me. That is sacred territory, and if you could lie about yourself that way, it seems to me you lie in every aspect of your life, and to everyone you come into contact with.

Shattered Glass

Stephen Glass was a promising young writer who landed a juicy position as a features columnist for The New Republic, the highly respected political and arts magazine that was carried on Air Force One. Before long, he became a regular writer for the magazine by writing very entertaining articles telling the behind-the-scenes stories of hot or controversial news topics. Unfortunately, when Forbes Digital magazine took an interest in an article he wrote about hackers and began researching the article, it was quickly exposed as a fabrication, and, from that, almost every article he had written for The New Republic was exposed as fiction. Stephen Glass destroyed his credibility and damaged the credibility of The New Republic when he was exposed. He fabricated his notes, created fake business cards of fictional people, and created a fake website for the fake corporation showcased in his article, Jukt Micronics.

The editors at The New Republic should partially share the blame. Each stage of the writing and editorial process should be thorough, and every fact checked and every article well researched. In the film 'Shattered Glass", it depicted Stephen as schmoozing with his fellow writers and editors, and manipulating everyone he came into contact with, so perhaps that partially explains their failure to perform their duties properly. Stephen Glass' actions eclipsed James Frey's because he damaged the credibility of his employer and his fellow writers, and deliberately took the deception further by creating fake documentation to support his body of lies. Stephen Glass went on to write "The Fabulist", a fictional book about his experience.

The Big Kahuna — Clifford Irving.

Clifford Irving was already a successful author before he wrote "The Autobiography of Howard Hughes", which turned out to be a complete fabrication, as he had never met the reclusive billionaire and was banking on Mr. Hughes' reclusive nature and mental instability to help him get away with it.

Clifford Irving stole other people's manuscripts and sensitive documents through impostering, and took money from a major publishing house when he sold his completely fake "autobiography" of Howard Hughes. He (with a little help from his friend, Richard Susskind) exploited Mr. Hughes' mental and physical illness, appeared on countless news shows, including "60 Minutes", and perpetuated this colossal lie for as long as he could, and only stopped when he got caught. He faked interviews with Howard Hughes, posed as various people to gain access to private residences and government offices to steal manuscripts and classified information, which he used to give his story some merit. He was exposed and arrested for fraud, and spent a year and a half in prison. He remained unremorseful and never gave back any of the money he funnelled into his Swiss bank account. Some people think that taking advantage of Howard Hughes' frailty and reclusiveness and situation was at best unprofessional and at worst, criminal, while others say he paid his debt and has a right to redeem himself.

So, three writers, three different stories - All filled with deception of one form or another. James Frey seemed to be the only one truly sorry for what he did, and willing to face a firestorm of negative public opinion and chastisement by Oprah, so he redeemed himself somewhat, and you've got to respect that, at least.

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