Steve Hodel Author Talk and Book Signing Whittier Library Whittwood Branch Monday May 13th 2019 6:30 PM: Black Dahlia Avenger III
May 2, 2019
Los Angeles, California
Will be presenting a PowerPoint Talk and Book Signing on Black Dahlia Avenger III (RareBird Books 2018) at the Whittwood Branch of the Whittier Library on Monday, May 13th at 6:30 PM. Hope to see you there.
W
Greetings Steve,
I do hope to attend this event. I work but hope to use some PTO, awaiting approval. Anyway, will copies of BDA 3 be available? I have BDA 3 in my Kindle. I may just have to find something else for you to sign.
I’m glad you watched the Very Scary People episode on the Zodiak. I recorded it and skipped over a lot since a good majority was the details of each crime and I already read all of that in your books. I didn’t expect much from the episode since you weren’t contacted regarding your findings and at least give your opinion like the other presenters but that’s ok! We’ll be waiting for the 8 episode series you mentioned!
Kudos to you and your family on the podcast as well! I can’t begin to imagine how difficult it all was. Just listening to the rawness of all of you was heartwrenching. However, I’m sure it’s given so many other survivors of similar situations strength to overcome such feelings as shame, etc.
Looking forward to meeting you soon.
Hi Julie: Thanks for the kind words. Much appreciated. Yes, depending on where one is coming from in LA that timing can be tricky as regards to traffic. I do hope to have some BDA III books available at the library. Last I heard my publisher was going to try and send someone to be there with books. All Best, Steve
Steve:
Good to see you so energized at the talk today. Have high hopes that having more eyes on the case with the documentary project will yield new insights.
The question came up as to whether there was contemporary news reporting on ES’s interest in the Degnan murder during her stay in Chicago en route to Los Angeles in 1946. I believe there was at least one story to this effect, in the LA Examiner:
In Chicago, Freddie Woods, 23, who described himself as a “friend” of the
slain girl, revealed that she was “fascinated” with the brutal slaying of
six year-old Suzanne Degnan, which took place in Chicago a year ago. Woods
said he met Miss Short last August when she was in Chicago for 10 days.
She told him she was a Massachusetts reporter covering the trial of William
Heirens, who was convicted of the Degnan kidnaping and slaying.
“Elizabeth Short was one of the prettiest girls I ever met,” Woods said. “But
she was terribly preoccupied with the details of the Degnan murder.”
Believe I’ve seen the original Examiner clipping reproduced somewhere, but this quote is from the BDIH site. This fits with the contents of the Jemison memo quoted in ME, although Woods is not mentioned in that one. Of course, one bizarre news story in the wake of a sensational murder is less convincing than a litany of witness reports in an internal police memo. On the face of it, at least, the Examiner story and the memo tend to corroborate each other.
-LW
LW: Thanks for coming to the PowerPoint talk in Whittier. My apologies for not saying “hi” directly. This old brain of mine needs a lot more RAM. I knew I knew you and had seen you at other talks, but for some reason the name “Luigi” LW remained inaccessible? Maybe it (brain) was down the street having coffee at Starbucks? My apologies. Yes, good crowd tonight. Good Q&A. Thanks for the Chicago info, missed that. I’ll try and find the original article somewhere? All Best, steve
Steve: There’s another bit of supporting evidence in police officer Edward Boynton’s account of his encounter with ES in the Long Beach drugstore (e.g., see the Independent Press-Telegram, 12/28/58 & 5/4/69). He recalls ES starting up a “prattling” monologue about murder cases, using a bunch of big words that she probably didn’t understand. He concluded she was putting on an act but he “didn’t know why, unless she was trying to convince herself how smart she was.” It’s a strange story, but not as strange as the ones from the Chicago witnesses. It’s hard to avoid the inference that ES’s own murder was connected with her obsession with the Degnan murder. Only, that would be an inconvenient truth since the killer was by then supposedly safely behind bars, and perhaps that’s why we haven’t heard more about this angle to the case. -LW
Addendum: The Los Angeles Examiner quote is from an article entitled “Self-Admitted Dahlia Slayer Changes Mind” in the January 30, 1947 edition of the paper. -LW
When is your next book signing?
Linda J: Nothing scheduled as of now. I Am holding off doing talks/powerpoint presentations for now as I’m trying to put together a film documentary and hope to see it pitched to studios in the near future. I will post here and on Facebook/LinkedIn any future events. Regards, Steve