True Lies: The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
I’ve just added a brand new essay about Bob Dylan’s finest murder ballad to my PlanetSlade website.
Hattie Carroll was killed by a rich drunk called William Zantzinger, who beat her with his cane when she failed to serve him quickly enough at a Baltimore hotel dance in 1963. He received a six-month sentence for the crime, ensuring the case has remained a by-word for injustice ever since.
The essay uncovers some eye-witness accounts of the killing which have not been seen since their appearance in a black Baltimore newspaper 46 years ago. There’s also an account of the property scandal which returned Zantzinger to jail in 1991, a look at some of the more unlikely cover versions Dylan’s song has spawned, and a few words from Hattie’s great grand daughter. Finally, we’ll see how The Wire’s David Simon has exercised his own fascination with the case and watch as Hattie Carroll begins its journey into history.
If any of that sounds interesting to you, then please click the link above. The site, as I’ve mentioned before, generates no income, so I’m hoping the moderators won’t mind me mentioning it here.