Poison Penmanship: The Gentle Art of Muckraking by Jessica Mitford Read Free Book Online
Authors: Jessica Mitford
(7/30/57) headlined “Messinger’s Poetic Rambling Indicates He’s Sexual Psychopath, Inspector Says”.
“(The recording) turned out to be a one-hour pot pourri of poetry by Kahlil Gibran, author of ‘The Prophet’; various works by Messinger himself ... and an Anarchistic essay in which the ex-convict suspect said ‘it is half-witted living when we allow our way to be blocked by some silly inhibition’.
“This last effort generated far more interest among police than anything else. It said in part,
“ ‘If a thing is worth desiring, planning for, and reaching out for, why is it denied us because of some small voice in our traitorous inhibited character or consciousness?’ ...
“In conclusion, he said: ‘If a man does not fail himself—if he lives up to his own rules—he can do no wrong. Let him fail to live up to his own due respect and he will earn the destruction or injury which will surely come to him ...
“Inspector Frank Gibeau, while conceding he was no literary critic, said yesterday the ‘alibi’ tape recording made by Allan Messinger ‘clearly indicates he is a sexual psychopath and sadist’.
“And he said he believed Messinger, whose voice rose to a vibrating emotional pitch toward the end of the tape, may have become so excited while recording that he left home and immediately set out for trouble”.
A contrasting estimate of the poems was also reported. A University of California extension course instructor had jotted on the margin of a typed copy of one of the poems: “Excellent and beautiful. Technical control and emotional restraint make this a real poem. You have real ability. Keep writing!”
The Chronicle (7/30/57) reported “An essay on justice struck police inspectors as revealing. It said in part that the ‘Golden Rule allows more leeway than any law that has been written since’ ... Police were sure they spotted a Freudian slip in one of the strange stories. The central character is a man named Cabot and after the story had rambled on for a while, Messinger mispronounced the name, ‘Abbott’ ”.
Police were quoted as saying Messinger should be in jail for the poems alone, to which he retorted that if Edgar Allen Poe were alive today, Inspector Gibeau would no doubt have him behind bars!
These excerpts represent only a very tiny sampling of press coverage of this part of the case. Most papers devoted an entire page to the poems and to interpretations derived therefrom of Messinger’s personality.
Again, an alert reader might have remembered, amid the thunderous chorus that accompanied release of the poems, a note of contradiction heard a few days previously.
Walter Stone, Chief of the State Division of Adult Paroles, had said that frequent and intensive psychiatric examination of Messinger had revealed “some personality problems, but no evidence whatsoever of any sadistic drive. It just wasn’t there ...” ( Chronicle , 7/27/57)
Police were less inclined to let the press in on their progress in cracking Messinger’s alibi for the night of the crime. However they reported that Messinger admitted lying in accounting for part of that night. His statement that he had been alone in his room had been contradicted by an ex-convict who claimed to have been with him before 8 p.m. and after 1 a.m.
Actually at this point the police had a very thin case. No physical evidence linking Messinger with the crime had been found. No manacles. No adhesive tape. No wristwatch. Police criminologists, subjecting Messinger’s clothing and sweepings from his room to microscopic examination, had turned up nothing.
True, a knife had been found in Messinger’s room, which “officers inferred belonged to Messinger and ... was the one used in Golden Gate Park”. ( Chronicle , 7/27/57) True, FAILURE to find any scissors in his room was “considered significant” by police, who commented “they may have been thrown away”. ( Examiner , 7/26/57)
True, a quantity of
“(The recording) turned out to be a one-hour pot pourri of poetry by Kahlil Gibran, author of ‘The Prophet’; various works by Messinger himself ... and an Anarchistic essay in which the ex-convict suspect said ‘it is half-witted living when we allow our way to be blocked by some silly inhibition’.
“This last effort generated far more interest among police than anything else. It said in part,
“ ‘If a thing is worth desiring, planning for, and reaching out for, why is it denied us because of some small voice in our traitorous inhibited character or consciousness?’ ...
“In conclusion, he said: ‘If a man does not fail himself—if he lives up to his own rules—he can do no wrong. Let him fail to live up to his own due respect and he will earn the destruction or injury which will surely come to him ...
“Inspector Frank Gibeau, while conceding he was no literary critic, said yesterday the ‘alibi’ tape recording made by Allan Messinger ‘clearly indicates he is a sexual psychopath and sadist’.
“And he said he believed Messinger, whose voice rose to a vibrating emotional pitch toward the end of the tape, may have become so excited while recording that he left home and immediately set out for trouble”.
A contrasting estimate of the poems was also reported. A University of California extension course instructor had jotted on the margin of a typed copy of one of the poems: “Excellent and beautiful. Technical control and emotional restraint make this a real poem. You have real ability. Keep writing!”
The Chronicle (7/30/57) reported “An essay on justice struck police inspectors as revealing. It said in part that the ‘Golden Rule allows more leeway than any law that has been written since’ ... Police were sure they spotted a Freudian slip in one of the strange stories. The central character is a man named Cabot and after the story had rambled on for a while, Messinger mispronounced the name, ‘Abbott’ ”.
Police were quoted as saying Messinger should be in jail for the poems alone, to which he retorted that if Edgar Allen Poe were alive today, Inspector Gibeau would no doubt have him behind bars!
These excerpts represent only a very tiny sampling of press coverage of this part of the case. Most papers devoted an entire page to the poems and to interpretations derived therefrom of Messinger’s personality.
Again, an alert reader might have remembered, amid the thunderous chorus that accompanied release of the poems, a note of contradiction heard a few days previously.
Walter Stone, Chief of the State Division of Adult Paroles, had said that frequent and intensive psychiatric examination of Messinger had revealed “some personality problems, but no evidence whatsoever of any sadistic drive. It just wasn’t there ...” ( Chronicle , 7/27/57)
Police were less inclined to let the press in on their progress in cracking Messinger’s alibi for the night of the crime. However they reported that Messinger admitted lying in accounting for part of that night. His statement that he had been alone in his room had been contradicted by an ex-convict who claimed to have been with him before 8 p.m. and after 1 a.m.
Actually at this point the police had a very thin case. No physical evidence linking Messinger with the crime had been found. No manacles. No adhesive tape. No wristwatch. Police criminologists, subjecting Messinger’s clothing and sweepings from his room to microscopic examination, had turned up nothing.
True, a knife had been found in Messinger’s room, which “officers inferred belonged to Messinger and ... was the one used in Golden Gate Park”. ( Chronicle , 7/27/57) True, FAILURE to find any scissors in his room was “considered significant” by police, who commented “they may have been thrown away”. ( Examiner , 7/26/57)
True, a quantity of
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