Tale of telepathic gorilla inspires fan to go on rampage

Alan Boyle writes:The "Ishmael" books are aimed at encouraging radical social change — but their author says hostage-taking is definitely not the change he had in mind.

Daniel Quinn's story of Ishmael, a telepathic gorilla who tries to show humans where they're going wrong, has spawned a popular series of books, an eerie Hollywood movie and a movement that takes a critical look at our global industrial society. Unfortunately, it also spawned an escalating series of threats from James Lee, who resented the Discovery Channel so much that he took company employees hostage.

PHOTO: "My Ishmael," written by Daniel Quinn and published in 1998, was cited as a guide to global change by hostage-taker James Lee. "I wish I could understand ... what he's trying to say," Quinn said. "It's hard to connect it with my book."