John H. Marsh to F. S. Daly on a Proposed Auto Industries Article (1976)

A one-page Raybestos-Manhattan memo of October 25, 1976, from John H. Marsh to F. S. Daly about a proposed trade-press article, "Environmental Realities." Marsh called the draft full of errors and "almost totally negative in tone," and told Mr. Nelson that Raybestos-Manhattan did not want to be associated with it: "He agreed to kill the story." Nelson said another Chilton publication, Motor Age, might do a story on the safe use of asbestos friction materials in the aftermarket, and Marsh wrote that he, Paul Lee and Ike Weaver could put together "a very positive story of Raybestos-Manhattan's activities in this area."

What it shows

Nelson understood that the material for the story had come from someone at Raybestos-Manhattan. Marsh closed by asking that company personnel "be instructed to refer all inquiries on the health aspects of asbestos exposure to the Environmental Affairs Department." The memo shows the company's environmental affairs director shaping how the trade press covered asbestos in brakes and clutches.

In Johns-Manville's index

Johns-Manville's legal department indexed the Motley 1,000 in 1984. Its index describes this document as follows:

J.H. Marsh memo to F.S. Daly, 10/25/76, entitled "Proposed Article by Auto Industries 'Environmental Realities'." Marsh states that the above-mentioned proposed article is poorly written and contains many misstatements. Marsh has told Nelson that R-M would not be associated in any way with such an article, and Nelson "agreed to kill the story." Marsh says that Nelson told him that Motor Age would like to do a story on the safe use of asbestos-containing friction materials "in the after market." Marsh told Nelson that R-M would be happy to participate in such a project but emphasized that if R-M was to participate, it would want to make certain that "Motor Age personnel talked to people qualified to respond in this area." Marsh tells Daly that R-M personnel should be instructed to refer all inquiries about the health aspects of asbestos exposure to the R-M Environmental Affairs Department.

About this copy

This is document 644 of the Motley 1,000, from the set the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust's records facility certified as true copies, pages CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-002228 to CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-002228.