A Revisionist Look at Milton Hershey

Michael D'Antonio, the author of a newly released biography of chocolate giant Milton Hershey (linked above), charged in yesterday's Los Angeles Times that the Hershey Co. was trying to silence him by suing his publisher, Simon and Schuster, for trademark infringement -- the book's cover depicts a large Hershey bar.

D'Antonio says some of the negative details included in his book have upset the Hershey Co. The author's claim that the company wanted to suppress his book strikes me as overwrought, but it doubtless makes for great publicity.

In all honesty, looking at the cover, I can understand why Hershey might have felt they had a trademark case. The suit was settled with the agreement that the publisher place stickers on the book stating that the book was not authorized by Hershey.

The Baltimore Sun recently carried a positive review of the book which was originally published in the L.A. Times.

A book which came out a few years ago, THE EMPERORS OF CHOCOLATE: INSIDE THE SECRET WORLD OF HERSHEY AND MARS, was enjoyed by several members of my family. Arcadia Publishing has a picture book on the town of Hershey in its excellent Images of America series.