My life would have been a lot better if I had never heard of Katina Powell. Her revelations (or more likely her delusions) have caused me to wake up every morning since last Friday waiting for the other shoe to drop in the so-called prostitution/UofL former staff-member accusations.
It appears no one knows the truth including Powell, especially book author Dick Cady. Cady claims to be a reluctant author that refers to this endeavor (writing the book) as such, "I didn't want to take part in the project. I saw it as an awful lot of work involving a lot of time and an awful lot of bullsh-".
He initially turned it down but agreed to write the book after a request from (Indiana Business Journal owner/chairman) Mickey Maurer, "he sent me an email". After that email and most likely some serious cash, the elderly Cady agreed to write the book despite some "serious problems".
After reading Powell's journals and analyzing the Powell information in depth, Cady contacted Maurer and asked, "You sure you want to do a book like this". Maurer was emphatic that Cady should continue. At that point in the interview with C-J reporter Jeff Greer, Cady claims that he spent about five months verifying the information in the journals and "some of it was difficult and some of it wasn't". This is where Cady's credibility takes a hit.
He has already admitted that he didn't want to do the "bullsh--" necessary to write a book like this, but now claims that "Every time that we went after a fact, we either found it, or found something resembling it." The "we" in this saga is IBJ Publisher Patricia Keiffner who according to Cady talked to Powell at least 50 times.
Keiffner is the former Lexington Chamber of Commerce General Manager working for Maurer and the energy behind the book. Cady claimed to have talked to Powell "10 to 15 times". That would indicate that Keiffner was verifying the information in the Powell journals and passing it on to Cady.
Problematic in this scenario is the fact that no one - outside of Powell - named in this sordid affair admits to having any meaningful contact with Keiffner or Cady. How were they able to "find the facts" is a question that they are unwilling to answer.
My guess is that Powell was the originator and verifier of all the salacious content of her journals. Perhaps the most suspicious character in this tale is Maurer, the ultra-rich IU benefactor and a person known to use his money to manipulate events. He has IU officials on speed-dial and has given major bucks to the school.
Several questions about his involvement in this case are worthy of investigation: how did Powell and Maurer get together? Why did Maurer create an LLC Publishing company for this one book? Why did Maurer first contact IU officials when contemplating publishing the book? Why dedicate an editor (Keiffner) full-time to a project with such dubious credibility and questionable money-making potential?
I also have serious questions about Cady's veracity and Keiffner's motivation. Another question is why Powell, who said she is "in this for the money," would agree to only 10 percent of the net profit. This kind of deal would indicate that Maurer didn't expect to make much money, but wanted to insure that he recouped his investment.
This entire allegation smells like a locker room after a four-hour practice. Every time we try to verify some of the claims we turn over a rock and another slithery creature crawls away. I don't know how this is going to end, but if I was Katina Powell I would be very concerned. I doubt she makes enough money on the book to pay her anticipated attorney fees.
