What Allegations Did Michael Martinez Make Against Tolkien In His Biography?

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A man reading a newspaper expresses shock under the words 'What Allegations Did Michael Martinez Make Against Tolkien In His Biography?'
An anonymous online question implies that Michael Martinez made ‘allegations’ against J.R.R. Tolkien in a book. But is that true?

Q: What Allegations Did Michael Martinez Make Against Tolkien In His Biography?

ANSWER: This is a real question, though not submitted directly to me. Apparently someone asked on Quora (sometime around March 2023): “Who is still defending JRR Tolkein against allegations made by Michael Martinez (author) in ‘Tolkien: A Biography’?”

I’m not going to link to the discussion, though it’s not hard to find.

As of the last time I checked it, 2 people had responded. One identified the Michael Martinez in question with me:

Only the guy who blinded the Cyclops – No man.

There is no Biography by Martinez that I can find, and given his long devotion to the author and the paucity of seed for scandal, I think the question facetious.

I do not know Martinez. I am aware that he is active in the portion of the roll playing game world which co-opted Tolkien’s Middle Earth. I think you do him a disservice with the question.

I think this question is both funny and outrageous. And possibly a bit dangerous (for me and anyone else named Michael Martinez who may find themselves unwittingly blind-sided by this question).

There are toxic people who have gone out of their ways to lie about me over the past 20-ish years. I have been stalked, threatened, and subjected to considerable abuse over the years. And as there are several other published authors named Michael Martinez, I’d hate for any of them to be subjected to toxicity (or worse abuse) that someone intends for me.

That said, if this question was an attempt to bait me, well, I quit Quora years ago (only for technical reasons – not because of any disputes). I don’t have an account with which I could respond. And I’m not sure if I would respond.

Even so, like the Quora user who defended me, I could not find any books titled Tolkien: A Biography published by anyone named Michael Martinez.

The 2nd respondent to the question claims I (or my namesake) published this alleged biography in 2003. That person defended the mysterious Mr. Martinez and then added, “However, it’s worth noting that Martinez’s biography, which was published in 2003, has been criticized by some Tolkien scholars and enthusiasts for its accuracy and objectivity.”

Never having written any biography of J.R.R. Tolkien myself, I cannot comment on the accuracy or objectivity of any such books published by anyone with the name Martinez. I’ll leave it to the (unnamed) scholars and enthusiasts to rationalize or justify their criticisms of the purported book, if they feel compelled to do so.

I have read elsewhere that Quora began seeding itself with machine-generated questions sometime in the last 1-2 years. I don’t know if there is any truth to that rumor but it seems plausible. This question sounds like the kind of ridiculous nonsense that a hallucinating AI algorithm might generate.

Was This Really Worth A Response?

The Internet being the kind of thing that it is, I thought it would be prudent to respond to this question here in case it should be picked up and passed around. Actually, it already has been republished on at least one other site (and I’m not going to link to that one, either – it’s also easy to find). So I guess I’ve got yet another lie to defend myself (and my namesakes) against. Or maybe we can all just have a good laugh. I’m not sure how to take this.

In case it’s not clear, I have never (as of August 2023) published a biography of J.R.R. Tolkien; hence, if such a book by someone named Michael Martinez does exist, that’s not my book and I don’t know anything about it, its contents, or its author’s views of J.R.R. Tolkien. Nor do I have any response to the unnamed scholars and enthusiasts who have apparently expressed some disagreement with the presumed publication in question.

I’ll leave it to all the other Michael Martinezes to recuse themselves from this possibly scandalous publication, should they feel overshadowed by its vague and oblique stigma.

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5 comments

  1. That’s the kind of issue people like us could always face. Us, who don’t have or use a second first name/middle name. J.R.R. Tolkien basically struck gold when it comes to SEO

  3. Interesting point about Quora manufacturing questions, which tracks with something I’ve wondered about for a while.

  4. I have to admit I’m relieved that there’s not another Tolkien biography out there. As much as I love the man’s work his life does not really make for an enthralling read.

  5. There was a Tolkien biography in 2001, by Michael J White. I suppose it’s possible that someone’s scrambled memory, filtered through the Chinese Whispers nature of some parts of the Internet, could have turned that into a book by Michael Martinez. 2003 could have been tagged on as it was 30 years since JRRT’s passing. And once misinformation is out there, it has the endurance of a Tolkien Dwarf 🙂

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