"it tends to make me doubt the authenticity of the story"
Nice job, Sherlock. You put the pieces together and called Griffin's bluff. People have been duped for 47 years, but not you. Congrats, you get a gold star.
If any of you guys are serious, than I've got to say that you are either dumb or didn't do your homework. the "treatments" were massive doses of the anti-vitiligo drug Oxsoralen. It darkens the skin. Vitiligo is a disease that causes the part of the cell that is responsible for skin pigmintation to either die of cease to function. the drug reverses that and in most cases can darken your skin. famous people with it include Michael Jackson and "Vanessa" from the Cosby Show. And don't try to write it off as a mythical disease that doesn't really exist, because it does. In fact it is currently attacking the women in my family.
Recently having read the book, this is still fresh. You're right on the drug but John Howard Griffin also exposed himself to UV for several hours a day (I think 15) to make the drug react... or something like that :)
I'm not sure why people must have such short tempers on these posts, but in the book, he uses a stain for his scalp after he shaved his head. He applied it dozens of times, rinsing then reapplying until it set in.
"Proactive" and "paradigm"... Aren't these just buzzwords that dumb people use to sound important?