Thunderstruck Historic True Crime God Erik Larson didn't want to write another dual narrative, but the chase scene from the life and death of Dr. Crippen (see the Clews version of the story) was too much to pass up, and now there's 300,000 reasons for Larson to feel comfortable with his choice of subjects -- and that's just the first press run.
Powell's Books recently interviewed Larson too, with the goofiest questions ever put to him, I'm sure.
The Real McCoy Do you remember a jerk named John Humble, who made the grandiose claim in letters and tapes that he was the Yorkshire Ripper, throwing the bloodhounds off the real man's trail? He got eight years for his fake letters, and this week his sentence was upheld. To get some real Yorkshire Ripper letters, best to talk to one of his former sweethearts. Sandra Lester (who may sound familiar) is selling her memorabilia, 180 letters by Peter Sutcliffe. The list is available online; they're being auctioned off by The New Criminologist.
Now don't get any crazy ideas about your next money-making hobby. I'm talking to you, "Miss R" -- when do you have time to write all those letters anyway?
Trail of Feathers London's Publishing News named this book by Robert Rivard one of the top ten true crime titles in its recent list of noteworthy paperbacks. I've heard of this page-turning true story from several other people. I couldn't find the other nine titles named on the London list -- if you come across it, let us know.
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What happened to the cool website Prison Sucks? It didn't always seem so much like homework.
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And finally...Weird Search of the Week
Laura
weird search indeed. i noticed that you didn't actually find any movies with that search. the only one i can think of with a lynching of a woman is Johnny Guitar -- Mercedes McCambridge is hung (or comes close; can't remember).
Posted by: jdchandler | October 30, 2006 at 07:56 PM