Moldering in my collection somewhere is a 70s paperback called "Space Relations" by one Donald Barr.

I don't recall much about the book. I finished it, but didn't like it
much and never intended to reread it. It's barely SF and features a lot
of sex with slaves.

A number of things have brought this book to the attention of the
conspiracy minded:

Donald Barr was an old OSS hand, and father of Trump's former attorney general, William Barr.

The conspiratorial interest centers on the fact that as headmaster of
the Dalton school, Barr hired Epstein to teach math and science. All
other teachers had degrees, but Epstein did not. So was he hired because
he already shared certain tastes with Barr, the "theorists" ask?

The contents of Barr's novel are considered to be a foreshadowing of
Epstein's operations. This is untrue in at least one important respect
- the slave owners did not have sex with underage slaves. Though there
is one comment which could be read that way, it is hypothetical.

However silly the conspiracy theory, paperback prices for this novel
reached $60 on ebay, and the hardback (A hardback of this? Really?) was selling for several hundred.

The above is perhaps a bit harsh. Bard Searles thought "Space
Relations" was "delightful" and badly under-recognized, and while he
found Barr's other SF novel, "A planet in Arms" to be "impenetrable", he
did say that he might have missed something. And Greg Costikyan called
the latter novel superb.

Barr also wrote "The How and Why Wonder Book of Atomic Energy" which I
must have read as a kid. I wonder if I can sue for mental distress?
William Barr must have a lot of money.

Or more profitably I could perhaps sell my copy for $20. If I hurry.

William Hyde

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