King of the Cats myth found misprinted in textbooks across America

Teachers and publishers alike have been baffled by a mysterious misprint found in textbooks arriving in schools across the country.

"Page seventeen of our new Western History text has been replaced with a two-page story about a dead cat," says Irma Janzen, principal of the Westchester County High in Boston. "By itself, that might not be so strange, but we have a new math book from a completely different publisher, and the story appears there too, also on page seventeen." Janzen is just one of hundreds of school administrators who have called in staff from summer vacation to open and examine new texts before classes begin in September. To date, over twenty books in a variety of subjects have been affected.

William Beale, Vice President of Marketing for InStep Publishing, who published three of the tampered books, is convinced the misprint is the work of computer hackers. "This is going to turn out to be high school or maybe college students pulling a sophisticated prank. Unfortunately, it is also a serious crime. As publishers, we are obligated to recall and replace the altered books. The cost of this high-tech vandalism could run in the millions."

When asked why students would choose an obscure myth like King of the Cats as opposed to something political or perhaps pornographic, Beale said, "Who knows?"