King Family Feud Could Break Book Deal

AP
Posted: 2008-10-07 10:56:02
Filed Under: Top News
ATLANTA -- A sibling feud could derail a deal for a book on Coretta Scott King, wife of Martin Luther King Jr.

Dexter, Martin Luther III, Bernice
Dexter, Martin Luther III, Yolanda - AP
The couple's three children are at odds over whether to turn over documents for the book to New York-based publisher Penguin Group.

Penguin agreed to pay $1.2 million plus royalties to King Inc., which controls the civil rights icon's intellectual property.

Penguin said it would terminate the contract and demand the return of a $300,000 advance if it does not receive photos, personal writing and letters within seven business days.

Two King children maintain their mother no longer wanted to work with the woman writing the book, while a third signed the book contract.

Martin L. King Family Album 2

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, sit with three of their four children in their Atlanta, Ga, home, on March 17, 1963. From left are: Martin Luther King III, 5, Dexter Scott, 2, and Yolanda Denise, 7. Yolanda Denise King, daughter and eldest child of civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., has died, said Steve Klein, a spokesman for the King Center. King died late Tuesday May 15, 2007 in Santa Monica, Calif., at age 51.

AP Photo

27 Oct 1960, Chamblee, Georgia, USA --- After Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is freed from prison under a $2000 appeal bond, he is greeted by his wife Coretta and children, Marty and Yoki, at the airport in Chamblee, Georgia.

Bettmann/CORBIS

Coretta Scott King, wife of jailed integration leader Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and their three children pack a picnic basket with at their Albany, Ga. temporary home, August 5, 1962. This is the 10th day the Atlanta pastor has spent in jail for his integration activity. From left are: Martin Luther King III, 4; Yolanda Denise King, 6; and Dexter Scott King, 18 months old.

AP Photo

Coretta Scott King holds her sleeping daughter Bernice at the funeral of her husband Martin Luther King Jr.. His brother A.D. King sits beside them.

Corbis

ATLANTA - FEBRUARY 6: The children of Coretta Scott King, Dexter Scott King, left to right, Rev. Bernice King, Martin Luther King III, and Yolanda King react during a musical tribute to Coretta Scott King at the new Ebenezer Church February 6, 2006 in Atlanta, Georgia. King's casket will lie in Ebenezer Baptist Church, where her husband the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. preached in the 1960s and the civil rights matriarch remained a member until her death. King died January 31 in Mexico at an alternative medicine clinic, where doctors said she was battling advanced ovarian cancer.

Dexter Scott King, youngest son of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gets a hug from his mother, Coretta Scott King, at a news conference, in this Jan. 14, 1989 file photo, in Atlanta where it was announced that he would replace her as president of the King Center as of April 4, 1989. King, who turned a life shattered by her husband's assassination into one devoted to enshrining his legacy of human rights and equality, has died, former mayor Andrew Young told NBC Tuesday, morning, Jan. 31, 2006. She was 78.

Joe Holloway, Jr, AP

Family members of the slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., left to right, sister Christine King-Farris, son Martin Luther King III, widow Coretta Scott King, daughter Yolanda King and an unidentified young boy, pray at his tomb in Atlanta, Ga., Monday, April 4, 1994. The ceremony marks the 26th anniversary of King's death.

John Blazemore, AP

The second daughter and youngest child of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King, Jr and Coretta Scott King, Bernice A. King (R) and Honoree of the Ford Freedon Scholar Award Dr. Dorothy I. Height attend the Ford Freedom Award Dinner and Ceremony honoring Coretta Scott King and Dr. Dorothy Height at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History May 6, 2008 in Detroit, Michigan.

Monica Morgan/WireImage.com

Coretta Scott King's children, Dexter Scott King, left to right, Rev. Bernice King, Yolanda King and Martin Luther King III pose for a photograph before a press availability at Paschals Restaurant in downtown Atlanta Sunday, Feb. 5, 2006.

Ric Feld, AP

WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 13: Children of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King III and Bernice Albertine King speak to reporters before the groundbreaking ceremony of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial November 13, 2006 in Washington, DC. The memorial has been in the works for 10 years and will be situated on the National Mall near the Tidal Basin between the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials.

Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

Previous Story

Lawsuit: 2 King Children of Unfairly Used Center

Posted: 2008-10-07 10:52:53

ATLANTA - Two of Martin Luther King Jr.'s children have been sued by the institution their mother founded, accused by their brother of using The King Center for personal gain.

Dexter King, the center's chairman, filed the lawsuit Monday against his brother and sister, Martin Luther King III and Bernice King. He says his siblings have established foundations in direct competition with The King Center for Nonviolent Change.

Dexter King also says in the lawsuit that his brother used the center without permission to meet with then-presidential candidate John Edwards in January 2008.

A King family matter previously played out in the media when Bernice and Martin Luther King III sued their brother in July. They wanted to force him to open the books of their father's estate.

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2008-07-14 17:02:59
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