"The Kennedy brothers are not trained historians. I would classify them as writers."

Craig, I have had the good fortune to meet the Kennedy brothers and am in the same SCV division as they. So, I am familiar with their work. As for charles Dew I confess to simply brushing through his book at Books-A-Million and saw all I needed to see.

My conclusion is that you are splitting hairs over what defines the word "historian". You seem to be arguing that unless someone is a "trained historian" their works are invalid. I guess somebody should have told us about this sooner. That way we could really cut down on the volume of books being printed. Take for example, Winston Churchill. He was not a "trained historian". Therefore we have to exclude his four volume A History of the English-Speaking Peoples.