Statement by Derek Mali, Actor and Aesthetic Realism Consultant

My name is Derek Mali and I have studied Aesthetic Realism for 34 years and taught it for 30 years. I also have the misfortune to be the adoptive father of one of the liars who have been maliciously attacking Aesthetic Realism for many years now. While the list of fabrications and fictions that he puts forth is much longer than I have the patience to discuss, I would like to refute just a few of the lies that are being promulgated by Adam Mali and give some details of corroborating history.

As to his assertion that “Aesthetic Realism is a...self-help group”: Aesthetic Realism is not and has never been a “group.” It is a careful, consistent study based on logic and ethics, taught in classes, public presentations, and individual consultations. It is as much a study as the study of the Spanish language. And to call a Spanish student a “member of a self-help group” or a cult member would be ludicrous, stupid, and outrageous.

I also had the bad luck to be married to Adam’s mother for 16 years, and when he was five years old I adopted him legally. It is true that Adam’s mother did all she could to control the Aesthetic Realism Foundation and change the students of Aesthetic Realism into such a group; when she failed—not because of lack of determination, but because it went completely against Aesthetic Realism’s ethical principles—and she learned that she would have to study like any other student, she was outraged and severed her relation to Aesthetic Realism in 1990. She and her son have been after revenge ever since. Along with Adam, Ellen Mali, as she still likes to call herself, has badmouthed Aesthetic Realism in public venues.

We had been divorced in February of 1987 so she could get married for a fourth time. After she divorced this next husband, she and her son began to harass me; this continued for several years. One of the ways was by leaving over 100 unwanted telephone messages, pleading and cajoling, asking me for personal contact. These messages are recorded and in my possession; they take over 2 and a quarter hours to play.

There was also harassment by mail. All this in spite of the fact that I have been happily remarried for more than ten years, and in spite of the following edict in our divorce agreement:

“Neither party shall in any way molest, disturb or trouble the other or interfere with the peace and comfort of the other, or compel, or seek to compel, the other to associate, cohabit or dwell with him or her by any action or proceeding for restoration of conjugal rights or by any means whatsoever.”

It was only because of a cautionary letter from my lawyer that her harassment abated to some degree. Her son, however, continued the job. It seems he doesn’t want to understand that I find his behavior odious, and that there is no one I would like less to have to do with than himself.

As to Adam Mali’s saying, “My own father is forbidden to have any contact with me”: Nonsense! Nobody has forbidden me any such thing! It is through my own good sense that I want nothing to do with him.

His numerous and steady messages over the years have included obscenities as well as threats, all of which are recorded for posterity on tape.  How Adam is carrying out some of these threats is to be observed now on the Internet.

About Adam’s statement that “Eli Siegel was a self-proclaimed...poet”: Oh really—is that why he was awarded the Nation magazine’s poetry prize and why William Carlos Williams said of him, “I can’t tell you how important Siegel’s work is in the light of my present understanding of the modern poem”?

Adam says, “No time is spent on vacations.” Oh please! My wife and I have laughed a lot about this. We often vacation in the Adirondack Mountains, in Montreal and Quebec, and in the cabin in Maine on East Grand Lake that is owned by her family.

He says, “The members of the group live within walking distance of the headquarters, in SoHo, New York City.” As stated before, there are no members, there is no group, and people study this beautiful philosophy who live in various parts of the world, including Italy, Israel, Brazil, and Japan (quite a walk!)—and of course places like New Jersey and Long Island.

As to Adam’s assertion that “The members of the group…are in contact with each other during work hours, as if to ’check up’ on each other”: What an astonishing piece of malevolent and ludicrous fiction! And again, there is no such thing as “the group.”

If his statements were not so ugly, there would be something truly funny and sad about their deranged nature. But at this point I shall step aside and let others in their own words state their opposition to the lies that he proclaims. Long live truth!