The Ghostwriter

by Jeffrey A. Rothermel

June 14, 2025

Captain's Log

An Intro to

The Ghostwriter Mysteries

June 14, 2025

Trigger Warning: If unresolved mysteries bother you, do not read any further.

The book trade is often a story about the books one didn't go after. This is such a story.

Today, I was sleuthing in the home of a ghostwriter. The dictionary defines a ghostwriter as "a person who writes for and gives credit of authorship to another person."[1] The writer reportedly worked on a speech that Jesse Jackson gave at the Democratic National Convention. He had also worked in the 1960s for the late U.S. Senator from Arizona, Carl Trumbull Hayden (1877-1972).

Senator Hayden had been an Army Major during World War One. Before the war, he "engaged in mercantile pursuits and in the flour-milling business at Tempe 1900-1904; member, Tempe Town Council 1902-1904; treasurer of Maricopa County 1904-1906; sheriff of Maricopa County 1907-1912; upon the admission of Arizona as a State into the Union was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-second Congress; reelected to the seven succeeding Congresses and served from February 19, 1912, to March 3, 1927..." There were 103 books that had belonged to Senator Hayden which had been given to the ghostwriter. All of them had been printed by the U.S. Government and concerned the Foreign Relations of the United States. When the Senator retired from Washington he gave the books to the ghostwriter whom brought the books to Iowa City. Congressman Hayden had been Chairman of the "Committee on Printing (Seventy-third through Seventy-ninth Congresses)" and "co-chairman, Joint Committee on Printing (Eighty-first and Eighty-second, and Eighty-fourth through Ninetieth Congresses)."[2]

My mission, should I opt to take it is to find these books with strong provenance a new home or institution. Most of the books have tight bindings. A few have signs of past water damage. If you are interested in this fascinating collection of books, please contact me. I will put you in contact with the current owner.

Photo of the Ghostwriter's books.

Ghostwriters are never ending publishing mysteries to investigate. The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew book series were all written by ghostwriters. Another famous ghostwriter is Tony Schwartz. He crafted Donald J. Trump's 1987 Book Art of the Deal.

"...earning a joint byline on the cover, half of the book’s five-hundred-thousand-dollar advance, and half of the royalties. The book was a phenomenal success, spending forty-eight weeks on the Times best-seller list, thirteen of them at No. 1. More than a million copies have been bought, generating several million dollars in royalties. The book expanded Trump’s renown far beyond New York City, making him an emblem of the successful tycoon. Edward Kosner, the former editor and publisher of New York, where Schwartz worked as a writer at the time, says, “Tony created Trump. He’s Dr. Frankenstein.”"[3]

The book will remain a historical reference for historians to decipher concerning the debates and perspectives of Donal J. Trump's public popularity. A casual search of the internet reveals fifteen books that Donald Trump has authored (some with a co-author / ghostwriter). He is also credited with at least two forwards for books. The number of publishing houses and ghostwriters Mr. Trump has done business is an interesting riddle to unravel.

Browsing the private reference library of a ghostwriter is a spiritual experience. While a peaceful NO KINGS protest was occurring, simply a few blocks away... I was struck by the poetry of finding a signed Bob Woodward First Edition of FEAR TRUMP IN THE WHITE HOUSE.

NOT FOR SALE.

NOT FOR SALE.

The book is now in my private collection. I bought other books, and they will soon be available for instore browsing and perhaps online purchase- too. This is more a Thomas Magnum story of the little voice in my head thinking about the 103 books titled Foreign Relations of the United States. They deserve another chapter of life and existence in someone's reference library. Let me know if you are interested in them.

Last thoughts about June 14: Happy Birthday, US Army!

As a US Army Veteran, I am not certain how fiscally prudent it was to throw a birthday bash costing millions of dollars. 40 million dollars for a parade? It is hard to believe our elected representatives are allowing such expenditures. The legislative branch has odd budget priorities.

Our nation has NO KINGS DAY every year. It is called the 4th of July.

June fourteenth was definitely a strange day this year.

Signed

Jeff

Captain's Book Shoppe LLC

Store Phone: USA (319) 351-3166

email: Jeffrey@CaptainsBookShoppe.com

===== END

= = = = = Footnotes

[1] American Heritage Dictionary Second College Edition. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1982), 557.

[2] Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress. https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/H000385 (Accessed June 14, 2025).

[3] Jane Mayer. Donald Trump’s Ghostwriter Tells All “The Art of the Deal” made America see Trump as a charmer with an unfailing knack for business. Tony Schwartz helped create that myth—and regrets it. The New Yorker. July 18, 2016. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all (Accessed June 15, 2025).

Ghostwriters. https://www.lib.uiowa.edu/iwa/mildred/ (Accessed June 15, 2025)

https://www.lib.uiowa.edu/iwa/mildred/biography/ (Accessed June 15, 2025)

Notes:

Author Donal J. Trump Bibliography

Trump, Donald, with Tony Schwartz. Trump: The Art of the Deal. New York: Random House, 1987.

Trump, Donald, Dave Shiflett. The America We Deserve.  Renaissance Books, 2000.

Trump, Donald, with Meredith McIver. How to Get Rich and Think Like A Billionaire. New York: Random House, 2004.

Trump, Donald. Trump: The Way to the Top: The Best Business Advice I Ever Received.  Crown Business, 2004.

Trump, Donald. with Meredith McIver. Trump : Think Like A Billionaire : Everything You Need To Know About Success, Real Estate, And Life. New York: Random House - Ballantine Books, 2005.

Trump, Donald, (Meredith McIver), and Robert T. Kiyoskai (Sharon Lechter), Why We Want You to Be Rich: Two Men, One Message.  Rich Press, 2006.

Trump, Donald, with Meredith McIver. Trump Never Give Up: How I Turned My Biggest Challenges into Success. John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2008.

Trump, Donald, Bill Zanker. Think Big; Make it Happen in Business and Life.  Collins Business, 2008.

Trump, Donald J. Time to Get Tough : Making America #1 Again. New York: Regency, 2010.

Trump, Donald, with Meredith McIver. Think Like a Champion : An Informal Education in Business and Life. Vanguard Press. 2011.

Trump, Donald, Robert T. Kiyoskai, (Mark Burnett, forward). Midas Touch: Why Some Entrepreneurs Get Rich-And Why Most Don't.  Platta Publishing, 2011.

Trump, Donald. Time to Get Tough : Make America Great Again! Regency, 2015.

Trump, Donald J. Great Again: How to Fix Our Crippled America. New York: Simon & Schuster - Threshold Editions, 2017.

Trump, Donald. The greatest speeches of Donald J. Trump 45th President of the United States. Edited by West Palm Beach, FL: Humanix Books, 2022

Trump, Donald. Letters to Trump. Lewes, Delaware: Winning Team Publishing, 2023.

= = = = =

Henry, Amy. Donald Trump (forward) . What It Takes: Speak Up, Step Up, Move Up: A Modern Woman's Guide to Success in Business.  St. Martin's Press, 2004.

Ross, George H., Andrew James Mclean, Donald Trump (forward). Trump Strategies for Real Estate: Billionaire Lessons for the Small Investor.  John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2005.