On Wednesday, the family portrayed in Augusten Burroughs’s book Running With Scissors (St. Martin’s Press, 2002) settled their lawsuit against the author and his publisher. The Turcotte family, with whom Burroughs lived as a teenager, filed suit two years ago seeking over $2 million in damages for defamation.
According to Howard Cooper, the family’s attorney, St. Martin’s Press agreed to remove "memoirs" from the author’s note in the book and add an acknowledgement from Burroughs stating that the Turcotte family’s recollection of events is "different than my own" and apologizing for "any unintentional harm" done to the family. Though the family name was changed to "Finch" in the book, the Turcottes claimed that the resemblance is apparent, and that Burroughs revealed their identity in interviews.
Ten months prior to yesterday’s settlement, Sony Pictures Entertainment, which produced a film based on the book, avoided a lawsuit from the family with a "mutually resolved" agreement. In a statement issued by their attorneys, the family said that both settlements "have achieved everything we set out to accomplish."
