The murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till of Chicago was one of those revolting, chilling Deep South stories of the pre-civil rights era. Till was brutally murdered by parties known yet never convicted in a small town in Mississippi.
Young Till was visiting relatives in Money, Miss. in 1955. With a few local African-American boys, he visited a local store to buy some candy. His companions dared him to speak to Carolyn Bryant, a young woman who, with her husband, owned the store.
Accounts differ about whether Till whistled at her to made some kind of flirtatious remark, but three days later, the woman's husband and another man kidnapped Till from his uncle's house, beat and shot him and weighted down his body, which they dumped into the Tallahatchie River--a river later publicized again in a song by one-hit wonder Bobbie Gentry.
Till's uncle identified the two white men who abducted Emmett, but the all-white jury predictably found the men not guilty.
Till's mutilated remains were taken back to Chicago for burial, and an open-casket service allowed some 50,000 people to see what had happened to the boy. Emmett Till's dreadful demise infuriated the black community and sickened most decent whites. His killing is regarded as one of the important precursors that motivated the drive for equal rights for all Americans.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Victim John Kennedy Toole
Aspiring New Orleans writer John Kennedy Toole died of suicide in his early 30s, the victim of stupid, humorless publishers.
Growing up in the Crescent City, Toole did a remarkable job of soaking up the vagaries of that wonderful and unique city, and of its residents.
He attended Tulane, did a master's at Columbia in New York City and had begun work on his Ph.D. there when, in 1961, he was drafted into the Army.
Thereafter, Toole moved back in with his parents in New Orleans, did some teaching and worked at a number of odd jobs while writing a pair of novels.
He appears to have regarded his first novel as, essentially, a warm-up exercise but was very happy about his second manuscript.
But the book had a fault. It was original and brilliantly funny. It was not about celebrities, nor was its author a celebrity. Consequently, publishers didn't know what to make of it and rejected the manuscript.
Toole knew he had written something good and became so despondent that he took his own life in 1969 by carbon monoxide in a car.
Toole's mother was still determined that the book should be published and considered her son an unappreciated genius, rejected by dunces.
Famous writer Walker Percy was teaching at Loyola in 1976. Mrs. Toole tried phoning him, then went to his office with manuscript in hand. With reluctance, Percy agreed to give it a look.
What he found amazed him: one of the funniest books ever written, with a protagonist unique in all literature. The main character, Ignatius J. Reilly, was a lazy, supercilious slob, yet so endearingly out of place in the modern world as to be fascinating.
Toole's grasp of the New Orleans patois was just about perfect, as well. Percy saw to it that the book got published, and, as so often has happened in the history of publishing, the book, "A Confederacy of Dunces," was a huge success. It won Toole a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1981 and sold well all over the world. Truly it stands as one of the best works of comic fiction ever--as as a monument to the dubious judgment of book publishers.
Growing up in the Crescent City, Toole did a remarkable job of soaking up the vagaries of that wonderful and unique city, and of its residents.
He attended Tulane, did a master's at Columbia in New York City and had begun work on his Ph.D. there when, in 1961, he was drafted into the Army.
Thereafter, Toole moved back in with his parents in New Orleans, did some teaching and worked at a number of odd jobs while writing a pair of novels.
He appears to have regarded his first novel as, essentially, a warm-up exercise but was very happy about his second manuscript.
But the book had a fault. It was original and brilliantly funny. It was not about celebrities, nor was its author a celebrity. Consequently, publishers didn't know what to make of it and rejected the manuscript.
Toole knew he had written something good and became so despondent that he took his own life in 1969 by carbon monoxide in a car.
Toole's mother was still determined that the book should be published and considered her son an unappreciated genius, rejected by dunces.
Famous writer Walker Percy was teaching at Loyola in 1976. Mrs. Toole tried phoning him, then went to his office with manuscript in hand. With reluctance, Percy agreed to give it a look.
What he found amazed him: one of the funniest books ever written, with a protagonist unique in all literature. The main character, Ignatius J. Reilly, was a lazy, supercilious slob, yet so endearingly out of place in the modern world as to be fascinating.
Toole's grasp of the New Orleans patois was just about perfect, as well. Percy saw to it that the book got published, and, as so often has happened in the history of publishing, the book, "A Confederacy of Dunces," was a huge success. It won Toole a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1981 and sold well all over the world. Truly it stands as one of the best works of comic fiction ever--as as a monument to the dubious judgment of book publishers.
Victim Vicki Van Meter
A victim of having tried to do too much while still a child was Victoria "Vicki Van Meter of Meadville,Pennsylvania. She was the youngest pilot to fly across the continental United States.
This feat was accomplished in a Cessna light aircraft in 1993; Van Meter, then age 11, accompanied by a flight instructor, crossed the nation with the young girl at the controls, going from Maine to California--quite an accomplishment for a sixth grader.
Much celebrity-style publicity followed this flight, and in 1994, she flew another Cessna from Maine to Scotland.
After finishing college as a criminal justice major, she spent a tour in the Peace Corps in Moldova, then became an insurance company investigator.
Van Meter suffered from depression and took her own life by gunshot in 2008.
This feat was accomplished in a Cessna light aircraft in 1993; Van Meter, then age 11, accompanied by a flight instructor, crossed the nation with the young girl at the controls, going from Maine to California--quite an accomplishment for a sixth grader.
Much celebrity-style publicity followed this flight, and in 1994, she flew another Cessna from Maine to Scotland.
After finishing college as a criminal justice major, she spent a tour in the Peace Corps in Moldova, then became an insurance company investigator.
Van Meter suffered from depression and took her own life by gunshot in 2008.
Victim Selene Walters
A victim, or at least an alleged victim from the near-forgotten political past is Selene Walters, who charged Ronald Reagan with raping her in 1952.
No legal actions were taken in this case, but the actress charged that Reagan, at that time president of the Screen Actors Guild, pushed his way into her apartment and forced himself on her.
Allegations of this incident appeared in the controversial 1991 book "Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography," by Kitty Kelley, who also claimed that Nancy Reagan had an affair with singer Frank Sinatra while her husband was U.S. president. (He used the baaaaaack way.)
Walters did not come forward with her charges against Reagan until 1991, when news of her allegations of rape appeared in major media. By this time or soon thereafter, Regan was beginning to sink into Alzheimers. The truth of the matter probably will never be known.
No legal actions were taken in this case, but the actress charged that Reagan, at that time president of the Screen Actors Guild, pushed his way into her apartment and forced himself on her.
Allegations of this incident appeared in the controversial 1991 book "Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography," by Kitty Kelley, who also claimed that Nancy Reagan had an affair with singer Frank Sinatra while her husband was U.S. president. (He used the baaaaaack way.)
Walters did not come forward with her charges against Reagan until 1991, when news of her allegations of rape appeared in major media. By this time or soon thereafter, Regan was beginning to sink into Alzheimers. The truth of the matter probably will never be known.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Victim Harry Whittington
Well connected lawyer and investor Harry Whittington of Texas was doing very, very well-- until he went quail hunting with Vice President Dick Cheney.
While hunting near Corpus Christi in 2006, the V.P. failed to notice Mr. Whittington as he swung around and blasted away at an escaping game bird. The shot caught Whittington in the face, neck and chest. One of the roughly 150 pellets that struck him lodged in his heart and caused a minor heart attack, although Whittington recovered.
While feeling bad for the injured lawyer, many an American could not refrain from laughing at Cheney's expense, and a truly remarkable number of spoof videos of this incident were made and put online.
Public attitudes toward the vice president were greatly polarized. Many considered him a tough, stand-up, no-nonsense guy. Others, however, found him scary--sort of a cross between Dr. Strangelove and Darth Vader.
While hunting near Corpus Christi in 2006, the V.P. failed to notice Mr. Whittington as he swung around and blasted away at an escaping game bird. The shot caught Whittington in the face, neck and chest. One of the roughly 150 pellets that struck him lodged in his heart and caused a minor heart attack, although Whittington recovered.
While feeling bad for the injured lawyer, many an American could not refrain from laughing at Cheney's expense, and a truly remarkable number of spoof videos of this incident were made and put online.
Public attitudes toward the vice president were greatly polarized. Many considered him a tough, stand-up, no-nonsense guy. Others, however, found him scary--sort of a cross between Dr. Strangelove and Darth Vader.
Victim Essie Mae Washington-Williams
A victim of racial prejudice and hypocrisy is Essie Mae Washington, daughter of prominent segregationist U.S. Senator Strom Thurman of South Carolina.
Essie Mae's conception was the result of a youthful indiscretion of Thurman, then 22, and Carrie Butler, a 16-year-old servant in his family's home.
The baby was sent to Pennsylvania to be brought up by Carrie's older sister and her husband, Mary and John Washington. Essie Mae was not told the identity of her father until 1941, when she was 16. At that time she was allowed to meet him for the first of a number of irregular get-togethers.
Thurman paid for his daughter's education. Essie Mae went on to earn a master's degree and had a roughly 30-year career teaching in the Los Angeles public schools.
Essie Mae did not go public about her parentage until Thurmon's death in 2003, at age 100, when Essie Mae was 78. "Senator Strom" had been in Congress longer than any other American and along with North Carolina's Jesse Helms, was regarded as iconic figures of the Old South.
Essie Mae, who has showed remarkable forbearance about her life's secret story, in 2004 saw her name carved into the Thurman monument at the state's capitol building in Columbia, listed there among his other children.
Essie Mae's conception was the result of a youthful indiscretion of Thurman, then 22, and Carrie Butler, a 16-year-old servant in his family's home.
The baby was sent to Pennsylvania to be brought up by Carrie's older sister and her husband, Mary and John Washington. Essie Mae was not told the identity of her father until 1941, when she was 16. At that time she was allowed to meet him for the first of a number of irregular get-togethers.
Thurman paid for his daughter's education. Essie Mae went on to earn a master's degree and had a roughly 30-year career teaching in the Los Angeles public schools.
Essie Mae did not go public about her parentage until Thurmon's death in 2003, at age 100, when Essie Mae was 78. "Senator Strom" had been in Congress longer than any other American and along with North Carolina's Jesse Helms, was regarded as iconic figures of the Old South.
Essie Mae, who has showed remarkable forbearance about her life's secret story, in 2004 saw her name carved into the Thurman monument at the state's capitol building in Columbia, listed there among his other children.
Victim Christa Worthington
Murder victims are all to numerous in today's America, but some of them gain considerable, if temporary celebrity all the same.
Such was the case with attractive blond and blue-eyed retired New York fashion writer Christa Worthington, who in 2002 was beaten, raped and stabbed to death in her Cape Cod home. When she was found, her 2-year-old daughter was sitting beside her mother's partially clad body on the kitchen floor.
Worthington, 46, had enjoyed a successful career, writing for The New York Times, Women's Wear Daily, Harper's Bazaar, Cosmo and ELLE in addition to authoring a few books on fashion.
The victim's father, a well to do attorney, put up a substantial reward, and finally, in 2005, a local trash collector with a long criminal record, Christopher McCowen, was arrested for the crime. He was found guilty and got a life sentence.
Worthington's tragic death was the topic of a 2003 book: Invisible Eden: A Story of Love and Murder on Cape Cod, by Maria Flook.
Due to the nature of the crime, the Worthington murder got enormous media coverage, but a few years later her name has pretty much faded from public memory.
Such was the case with attractive blond and blue-eyed retired New York fashion writer Christa Worthington, who in 2002 was beaten, raped and stabbed to death in her Cape Cod home. When she was found, her 2-year-old daughter was sitting beside her mother's partially clad body on the kitchen floor.
Worthington, 46, had enjoyed a successful career, writing for The New York Times, Women's Wear Daily, Harper's Bazaar, Cosmo and ELLE in addition to authoring a few books on fashion.
The victim's father, a well to do attorney, put up a substantial reward, and finally, in 2005, a local trash collector with a long criminal record, Christopher McCowen, was arrested for the crime. He was found guilty and got a life sentence.
Worthington's tragic death was the topic of a 2003 book: Invisible Eden: A Story of Love and Murder on Cape Cod, by Maria Flook.
Due to the nature of the crime, the Worthington murder got enormous media coverage, but a few years later her name has pretty much faded from public memory.
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