Pubdate: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 Source: Associated Press Copyright: 1999 Associated Press PUBLISHER HALTS GEORGE W. BUSH BOOK WASHINGTON (AP) - Publication of a new book about Texas Gov. George W. Bush has been suspended while the publisher resolves questions about the author's background, including a report that the writer had served a prison term on a felony charge. St. Martin's Press had heavily promoted the book, particularly a chapter that alleged, citing anonymous sources, that Bush had been arrested for cocaine possession in 1972 and that the record of the arrest had been expunged as a favor to his father. The Dallas Morning News reported this week that J.H. Hatfield, author of "Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Making of an American President," was paroled from a Texas prison in 1993 after serving time for a felony conviction. Hatfield told the newspaper it was a case of mistaken identity. St. Martin's Press issued a statement Thursday saying it had stopped all sales, promotion and other publishing activities for the book and was notifying booksellers. "We're trying to get to the bottom of this. We just don't know what to think at this point. We are struggling," Sally Richardson, president of the trade division of St. Martin's Press, told The New York Times. The book alleges that Bush was arrested for cocaine possession in 1972 but the matter was dropped after he performed community service arranged by his father, former President Bush. The book also alleges that a judge expunged any record of the arrest from court records at the request of the senior Bush. Bush, the front-runner for the race for the Republican presidential nomination, has called the allegations "science fiction" and "totally ridiculous." The New York Times said that the Department of Criminal Justice in Texas had records showing a James H. Hatfield was convicted in 1988 of solicitation of capital murder and served five years in a Texas prison. It said J.H. Hatfield's first name was James. The convicted felon, cited by the Dallas paper, had hired a hit man to use a car bomb to kill a former employer, according to published reports. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D