NEWS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE      DATE: 06/08/06 CONTACT : LESLIE SCHALER, COMMUNICATIONS ASST., (413) 545-0162   UMASS AMHERST LIBRARIES HOST EXHIBIT “PULP PATRIARCH TAKES ON THE PROTOCOLS: WILL EISNER’S THE PLOT AND ITS PREDECESSORS”   Amherst, MA – The UMass Amherst Libraries present an exhibit “Pulp Patriarch Takes on The Protocols: Will Eisner’s The Plot and Its Predecessors” on the Lower Level of the W.E.B. Du Bois Library until August 31, 2006.  The exhibit is based on Will Eisner’s last book The Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols.  The exhibit is curated by N. C. Christopher Couch of the Department of Comparative Literature at UMass Amherst.  The Library will hold a talk on the exhibit by Professor Couch and a reception on Wednesday, June 21, 2006 at 4:00 p.m. on the Lower Level of the Du Bois Library. The event is free and open to the public.             The Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion (2005) was the last graphic novel created by Will Eisner, “the father of the graphic novel.” Eisner’s book tells the story of an infamous anti-Semitic forgery created by the secret service of the Russian Czar Nicholas II, which spread around the world after the Russian Revolution of 1918 and became a key element in Nazi propaganda. This forgery, purported to be a plot by Jewish conspirators planning world domination, is in reality a plagiarized text.             Although the forgery has been exposed over and over – starting with an expose in the London Times in 1921, through a trial in Berne, Switzerland, in 1934-1935, and an investigation by the U.S. Senate in 1964—Eisner became concerned because of the renewed circulation of the Protocols on the Internet, among extremist groups, and in the Middle East. He decided to use his own medium to tell the story in a way that anyone could understand, combating racist fiction with fact—using the graphic novel.             This exhibit features Eisner’s The Plot and other works that expose the forgery of The Protocols.  Eisner is one of a line of courageous scholars, journalists, jurists, and filmmakers who’ve employed their own media to oppose racism and hate. The exhibit includes books exposing the Protocols from 1921 to today, posters and other materials, material tracing Eisner’s career as a graphic novelist, including first and rare editions, and Eisner’s visits to the UMass Amherst campus.             Born 1917 in Brooklyn, NY, the son of Jewish immigrants, Will Eisner started out as a cartoonist and later in his life focused on the graphic novel.  The Will Eisner Comic Industry Award was created in his honor.  He passed away in 2005 at the age of 87.