Neil Young Stops Bio

By Stephen M. Silverman

09/24/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

Writer Jimmy McDonough, 40, has sued Neil Young for $1.8 million, claiming the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member rejected the authorized biography for Random House that McDonough has been writing since 1991. The suit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday. "It's comprehensive. One of the themes is the elusive Neil Young," McDonough's attorney, speaking to the Associated Press, said of "Shakey: The Biography of Neil Young." An attorney for Young declined comment. Random editor Ann Godoff wrote to McDonough: "I am sure that any writer would feel devastated, after spending a decade working on a biography, to have the subject of that biography sabotage its publication."