The article at History News Network, the link to which Kevin Mac Donnell refers, casts serious doubt on Thomas Beer's credibility. Beverly Lyon Clark in her book _The Afterlife of Little Women_ (John Hopkins University Press, 2014) states: "Indeed, critics have recently discovered that letters that Beer elsewhere attributes to Stephen Crane are fabricated. It seems likely that the Alcott comment is too." Scholars may question Beer's motivations and just how many such other cases of false attribution can be found in his work.. But it certainly appears to be an intentional case of putting poison in the academic water. Barb