Since I live in Connecticut -- I first heard Fromson on Colin McEnroe's radio show on WTIC -- and subscribe to The Hartford Courant, I read the absurd attack on the book by the head lobbyist from the Indian casino tribes that someone from Oklahoma -- most likely another Indian casino lobbyist -- has posted on this site. Well, here's what the author said in reply in last Saturday's Courant. I thought it explained really well the real agenda behind the casino lobby's attack on this work of investigative journalism.

Here's what the author wrote in reply in The Courant last Saturday:

I am the author of "Hitting The Jackpot: The Inside Story of the Richest Indian Tribe in History," which tells the remarkable story of the reinvention of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the creation of Foxwoods casino.

My book is the first to take readers inside a casino tribe, show the gritty reality of such groups and reveal how they are created.

Based on exclusive interviews with tribal members, confidential documents and interviews with key governmental and tribal advisers and leaders, "Hitting The Jackpot" raises serious questions about the proliferation of casino tribes with massive gambling operations in urban and suburban America.

"Hitting The Jackpot" has received uniformly favorable reviews from the mainstream press, including The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and The Courant.

Why, then, is an attack on my book published as an op-ed in this newspaper by Ernest L. Stevens Jr., chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association in Washington and a member of the Oneida Indian tribe [Feb. 15, "Resilient Pequots Should Be Applauded, Not Criticized"]?

Stevens does not question a single fact in my book, yet he calls it "a vicious and racist attack on American Indian identity in the 21st century." Nothing could be further from the truth.

As one Pequot tribal leader wrote me in a letter dated Dec. 5, 2003, "Thanks for your honesty and effort with this book."

A second Pequot, the matriarch of another tribal family, telephoned to say how much she appreciated the book and to thank me for "telling the truth."

In truth, the Indian gambling lobby attack stems from the attention my book has attracted wherever Indian casinos are popping up.

That is unacceptable to lobbyists like Stevens, who are paid to protect these lucrative gambling franchises.

Such people try to pre-empt debate by cynically playing the race card.

They seek to impugn the motives of anyone independently investigating casino tribes, Indian gambling and the social costs imposed on the public.

They do not want to be held accountable. They do not want the citizenry to be better informed about this special interest and how it often works contrary to the public interest.

Brett D. Fromson, Salisbury

Nuff said!