Carlyne Campbell v. The Seabury Press and Will D. Campbell

Carlyne Campbell brought this action for libel and invasion of privacy against Will D. Campbell, author of “Brother to a Dragonfly,” and the Seabury Press, publisher of the book. The plaintiff claims that the essence of the entire book is defamatory to her, that two specific passages of the book are libelous per se, and that various disclosures in the book constitute a tortious invasion of privacy. The district court found that neither the book as a whole nor either of the two specified passages is capable of a defamatory meaning and dismissed the plaintiff’s libel claims. Additionally, the…