We know when you retire somewhere in there is that true crime blockbuster just waiting to come to fruition, followed by that netflix deal!
If so you might want to pick up a few tips here
Sarah Weinman’s latest book, Scoundrel: The True Story of the Murderer Who Charmed His Way to Fame and Freedom, now out in paperback, tells the story of Edgar Smith, who in 1957 killed 15-year-old Victoria Zielinski and was sentenced to death for it. From death row in New Jersey, Smith maintained his innocence, eventually winning the attention of renowned conservative William F. Buckley. Smith convinced both Buckley and Knopf editor Sophie Wilkins—through whom he published a book about his “wrongful” conviction—to help him win his freedom.
Alex Mar’s new book, Seventy Times Seven: A True Story of Murder and Mercy, out this week, tells the story of a 1985 murder in Gary, Indiana, committed by 15-year-old Paula Cooper. Despite her age, Paula was then sentenced to death for the crime. A few months later, her victim’s grandson, Bill Pelke, decided to publicly forgive Paula and campaign to spare her life—and the story exploded in scope from there, stretching from the steel mills of Indiana to the halls of the Vatican.
Weinman and Mar recently sat down to talk about finding the stories at the heart of each of their books, how our criminal justice system is built around storytelling, and the slippery definition of “justice.”
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Alex Mar and Sarah Weinman Discuss True Crime and Criminal Justice Storytelling
