Lonely Planet author: never been there! but it was a good write

Lonely Planet reeling after author's fraud...we've all been conned by these people whose guilt is absolved once they collect the money and admit truth...geez how often does this happen!

clipped from www.news.com.au THE Lonely Planet guidebook empire is reeling from claims by one of its authors that he plagiarised and made up large sections of his books and dealt drugs to make up for poor pay. Thomas Kohnstamm also claims in a book that he accepted free travel, in contravention of the Melbourne-based company's policy. In one case, he said he had not even visited the country he wrote about. "They didn't pay me enough to go Colombia," he said. "I wrote the book in San Francisco. I got the information from a chick I was dating - an intern in the Colombian consulate. "They don't pay enough for what they expect the authors to do." "Why did you (management) not understand that when you hire a constant stream of new, unvetted people, pay them poorly and set them loose, that someone, somehow was going to screw you?" author Jeanne Oliver wrote. Other writers believe some of the practices described in the book are widespread. Colombia AUD $36.95 4th Edition / June 2006 ISBN: 1741042844 / 9781741042849 268 pp / 12 pp colour / 62 maps Michael Kohn , Robert Landon , Thomas Kohnstamm Discover the best kept secret in South America. Colombia is safer then ever, affordable and still blissfully uncrowded - an independent traveler's dream. Laze on palm-fringed Caribbean beaches. Canoe slient rivers through lush rainforest. Stroll Cartagena's colonial old town. Salsa all night in Cali. Packed with practical advice and valuable tips for trouble-free travel, our peerless guide enables you to explore with confidence.