LONDON (AP) — Britons who saw Professor Jason Arday’s life and death dissected by weeks of headlines covering allegations about his academic qualifications and personal accomplishments can now read his version of the story.Simon & Schuster will on Thursday publish Arday’s memoir “Great and Unfortunate Things,” which tells the story of how an autistic boy who was non-verbal as a child and illiterate until his late teens grew up to be the youngest Black professor in the history of Cambridge University. The book’s release comes less than two weeks after Arday, 41, was found dead at his apartment in London following relentless media coverage about allegations that his academic work was bolstered by plagiarism and that he exaggerated his athletic and fundraising achievements. The memoir was published earlier this month in the U.S. Simon & Schuster said it decided to publish the book in accordance with his family’s wishes. The publisher said it would have no further comment about the book at this time.
“To the very end, Jason was clear that he wanted his memoir to be published, and it is only right that we honor his wishes,” the family said in a statement released by Simon & Schuster.“There has been so much that has been written and said about our beloved brother, son, father, partner and uncle, mostly by people who don’t know the truth of what he experienced, and we experienced as a family, or what an extraordinary person he was.”
