Portland vs. Exeter: Who is Plagiarizing Whom?

I am grateful for help being offered now by many people out in the blogosphere who are devoting an enormous number of hours to helping me dig for facts. The following came from the most energetic of all those:

Can YOU find the differences?

From Portland writer Margo Finke's Secrets of Writing for Children

All readers (editors & agents included) love to learn as they read. Whenever possible, place your action in a setting that treats your readers to a locale about which they know very little. A dairy farm, a secret intelligence agency, a coalmine, even another time in history are all settings that have the potential to transport readers to new worlds. It's no secret that the success of medical and legal thrillers is due in large part to their "settings" (we all love to learn about the inner workings of hospitals and courtrooms.) Readers love to learn, so choose settings that teach.

From Dan Brown's "Getting Published: 7 Powerful Tips"

All readers (editors & agents included) love to learn as they read. Whenever possible, place your action in a setting that treats your readers to a locale about which they know very little. A dairy farm, a secret intelligence agency, a coal mine, even another time in history are all settings that have the potential to transport readers to new worlds. It's no secret that the success of medical and legal thrillers is due in large part to their "settings" (we all love to learn about the inner workings of hospitals and courtrooms.) Readers love to learn... so choose settings that teach.

And if you think that excerpt is a bit too identical, visit the web pages to see more. The entire documents are nearly word for word.

There is a current version of this page on Brown's web site that is similar, but has been edited and is no longer word-for-word.

I have emailed and left a voicemail for Ms. Finke, but her web pages says she is on vacation.

A 2001 post on Ms. Finke's web site indicates that the piece in question was based on a talk given by Portland educator and editor Linda Zuckerman at a writer's conference.

I also emailed Ms. Zuckerman, but have had no reply.

Did Brown copy from Finke?

Did Finke copy from Brown?

If any of the links go dead, please email me. I have archive copies I can post.