HILL’S PASTOR TARRED

Plagiarism in book

This is one reverend who is not being forgiven.

A Nashville publisher is recalling all copies of a book by Hillary Clinton’s pastor after finding numerous instances of plagiarism among its 365 devotionals.

Abingdon Press at first stood by the author, the Rev. Bill Shillady, when it discovered a single plagiarized passage in the book, “Strong for a Moment Like This: Daily Devotions of Hillary Clinton.”

But upon further review, Abingdon, the book-publishing arm of the United Methodist Church, uncovered numerous additional instances, so it will recall all copies of the book from store shelves.

The copies will then be pulped.

“Abingdon Press has zero tolerance of plagiarism,” said the Rev. Brian K. Milford, president and publisher.

The book was published Aug. 15. Almost immediately, a pastor in Indiana, the Rev. Matthew Deuel, noticed a story about it on CNN containing a devotional that he had written in a blog two years earlier.

Deuel contacted CNN, which broke the story of the “borrowed” devotional. That resulted in mea culpas on all sides, including from Shillady.

The publisher had initially accepted the apology of Shillady. It was going to recall books, properly credit Deuel — who was willing to let bygones be bygones — and then reissue the amended version with proper credit.

But then Abingdon, during a review, discovered more instances of plagiarism.

“Following the discovery of unattributed passages in the November 9 devotional of ‘Strong for a Moment Like This,’ Abingdon Press initiated an extensive review of the book and was alarmed to discover other content unattributed by the author,” said Milford.

“Consequently, we have discontinued sales, will remove existing copies from all sales outlets and will have them destroyed along with our existing inventory,” Milford said. “We are contacting all writers and contributors involved; we deeply appreciate their time and understanding as well as the cooperation of our valued trade partners.”

Milford said the publisher relies on its authors to guarantee that unattributed material is original.

The $13.99 book had only sold about 3,000 copies, according to NPD Bookscan.