THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 11, 1996 TAG: 9605110298
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 139 lines
Stanley Hainer's book about Nauticus is not available in stores. It is not available by mail. It's just not available.
Hainer fears it may never be available.
The $35 coffee-table book has been delayed for five years. Hainer, the publisher, has had to revise the manuscript four times, each time at the request of Nauticus directors and city leaders.
In the end, Hainer says, the souvenir book just can't keep up with the numerous changes at Nauticus. As each new director shaped the museum to his personal vision, the book had to change accordingly.
Finally, Hainer had enough.
Hainer's company, Donning Productions, is suing Nauticus. Hainer says he has been jerked around by a string of demands by Nauticus officials, who have veto power over the manuscript.
As a result, Hainer wants Nauticus to pay him $20,920 for the book's increased production costs. Failing that, he wants out of his 1991 publishing contract and to be reimbursed his total production costs of $34,359.
The book, Hainer says, is a metaphor for Nauticus itself.
``You're acquainted with Nauticus and all the turns and twists it's taken?'' Hainer asks. ``That is the book.''
Hainer's attorney, Gregory Sandler, says it is impossible to capture the museum in a snapshot when it changes so frequently. ``They have never gotten stable long enough to say, `This is what Nauticus is,' '' Sandler says.
But Nauticus' president, David T. Guernsey Jr., says Hainer is wrong.
``We have, in my opinion, fulfilled our obligation,'' said Guernsey, who joined Nauticus in January. ``We feel that Donning has not totally upheld their end of the agreement. If they decide to pursue it in a court of law, we will vigorously defend Nauticus' position on this book.''
Guernsey would not discuss details, but he said he has met with Hainer and has offered to settle the dispute out of court.
``We don't understand why Mr. Hainer has refused to settle this case so that the book can be published and we can get on with our lives,'' Guernsey says.
The book is titled simply ``Nauticus: The National Maritime Center.'' It is 200 pages of text and photos - heavy on photos, with pictures from the project's conception to construction to operation.
It is not the photos, however, that have proved thorny. It is the 30,000-word text.
The book project began in July 1991, about the time Nauticus was born.
Donning was the logical choice to print it. The Norfolk company has published about 500 oversized coffee-table books in the past 30 years, mostly pictorial histories of various cities around the country, including Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
In concept, the Nauticus book would be similar. Donning would publish the book at its own expense. Nauticus would get 5 percent of the profits, Donning the rest.
In turn, Donning would solicit sponsors for the book, including major local companies and cities, which would get write-ups.
Hainer expected to sell about 2,000 copies, mostly to libraries, and some at Nauticus' gift shop and local bookstores. Another 1,000 copies would go to Nauticus free, for contributors and patrons.
There was one catch: Nauticus required final approval of the book's contents. Hainer did not object. ``I would want the book to be authentic,'' he said. ``If that's what they wanted, I would be delighted.''
Hainer signed the publishing deal with Nauticus' founding director, retired Rear Adm. Jackson Parker, in 1991. The stage was set.
As originally conceived, both Nauticus and the book would focus on Hampton Roads' maritime history: the Navy, the shipyards, the ports.
Parker hired planners to put Nauticus on the map. Donning hired writers to put the book on paper. Photos were taken. A manuscript was finished in 1992, in time for Nauticus' scheduled opening in 1993.
Then, change.
Suddenly Nauticus had a new director. Parker, the old sea salt, was replaced by Michael Bartlett, a techno-theme-park guy.
Bartlett's job was to bring some whiz-bang to the museum. He had the background. He was former president of the 1986 World's Fair in Vancouver and vice president of Universal Studios Florida.
In a flash, everything changed. Bartlett brought stunning new ideas, virtual-reality rides, warship adventure games, hands-on exhibits. The whole project was overhauled.
So, too, was the book, on the eve of publication. ``I met with Mike Bartlett,'' Hainer recalls, ``and he said, `Wait.' ''
So the book was rewritten. Bartlett added a foreword and an epilogue. New photos were shot to keep up with Nauticus' new look. Pages were laid out all over.
``What we were dealing with were, to say the least, giant egos,'' Hainer recalls.
Then, change again.
A few months after Nauticus opened in June 1994, Bartlett abruptly quit. He said it was simply time to move on. City Manager James Oliver offered a different version. He said Bartlett wanted more changes, but the governing board wanted to pause. So Nauticus paused.
So did the book.
About this time, the Nauticus board started flexing its muscle. Guernsey won't discuss details, but he says the board was unaware of the book until late 1994 or early 1995, about the time Bartlett quit.
``When the board became aware of this book,'' Guernsey says, ``their sole objective was to work with Mr. Hainer to produce a quality book that both Donning and Nauticus would be proud of. The board offered some constructive comments to him about how the book could be cleared up and cleaned up in order to meet the high standards that both organizations hold.''
Hainer has a different recollection.
Hainer says the board blitzed him with a flurry of manuscript revisions - some minor, some major. Some were misspellings or date changes. Others dropped entire paragraphs about Nauticus' light show and the marine exploratorium.
And still the revision process was not over.
Last month the new Nauticus director, Guernsey, suggested more changes. Among other things, he asked that a long paragraph lauding Bartlett's role in the project - with references to ``high-tech sizzle'' and such - be dropped. He asked that Bartlett's two-page epilogue be cut, along with four pages on Captain Nauticus, a promotional comic book character, and a laser-light show, both of which have been discontinued.
Guernsey says the latest changes deal strictly with ``factual issues,'' such as ``the way Nauticus was developed.''
The text, however, is no longer the sticking point.
``We can probably resolve the issue of what goes into the book,'' says Sandler, Hainer's attorney. ``Our preference has always been to publish the book. The sticking point is the compensation.''
Hainer says Nauticus owes him money for five years of work and for changes that Nauticus forced him to make. In 30 years of publishing, he says, it has been the hardest book he has ever worked on.
``In 400 or 500 cases, we had a book out in a year to a year and a half, mostly less than that,'' Hainer says. ``We've never held a book up at this length.''
Guernsey says a settlement offer is on the table. He will not discuss details, but adds, ``We are trying to work it out without going to court.''
Hainer is doubtful.
``All of this has cost me money, time and aggravation. All because I'm trying to keep a contract,'' Hainer says. ``I despise doing business in this manner.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by CHRISTOPHER REDDICK, The Virginian-Pilot
Stanley Hainer's company, Donning Productions, sued Nauticus over
changes in a book that delayed production.
by CNB