A Hell of a Meal at Dean's

Dinner and Acknowledgments 

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr.'s southern roots, last Tuesday Dean laid on an evening of southern-style cooking that rivaled any other meal he's prepared for us. After a starter of "Memphis treats" (courtesy of Dick Cohn), Dean served up pulled pork, black-eyed peas, collard greens, and corn bread, followed by an apple crumble dessert. The clamor for seconds was proof that Dean exceeded his already-high standards. If it weren't for Dean's vintage 30.06--the same model used to kill King--we might have walked out with all of his leftovers. [Ed. note:  a tasteless reference, to be sure, but see below graphic.]  We might also have absconded with Stan's classic 1934 roadster, since it was blocking Dean's driveway!

Dean sighting his Remington Gamemaster

Stan's 1934 Ford

Our Review and Discussion of Hellhound on His Trail by Hampton Sides

While the focus of Sides' story is the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.--which, as Doug noted, occurs exactly at the midpoint of the book--the reader is treated to a split narrative leading up to that fateful moment.  In alternating chapters, we learn about King and his controversial arrival in Memphis and James Earl Ray's circuitous journey from "Jeff City" to the Lorraine Motel. After the shooting, the pace quickens as the nation's law enforcement apparatus (including, as Tom noted, 3,000 FBI agents!) spends the next two months identifying and tracking Ray while the country convulses and the civil rights movement grieves.

Despite the lack of conclusive answers to questions that still linger for the conspiracy-minded (Did Ray act alone? Was the FBI complicit?), we all enjoyed and felt enriched by Sides' meticulously-researched account of King's assassination and the ensuing manhunt, especially as so many details were new to us.  As I noted, most of us were too young to appreciate the events at the time yet too old for those events to find their way into our school curricula.  And others pointed out that Ray's actions were usually (and rightfully) a mere footnote in the broader history of King, the SCLC, and the civil rights struggles of the 1960's.

While the first half of the book came in for criticism (George called it choppy; Paul called it filler), the latter half vindicated our (and Sides') efforts.  Larry likened the story's arc to that of The Feather Thief, where after the climax the author entertains the reader with a well-researched thesis on how the crime was committed.  In this case, Sides convinced most of us that there was no conspiracy afoot and that, as Roy put it, a "total misfit loner" did indeed shoot King, while he was under constant police surveillance, and then eluded national and international authorities for months as he tried to make his way to Rhodesia.

Our Rating of Hellhound on His Trail

Sides doesn't simply tread old ground with his account of Ray's movements and motivations; he pulls gems from an exhaustive record to offer the reader more insight on an unlikely assassin.  From Ray's $200 nose job (Terry's favorite) to his prison escape in a bread box (Dean's) to his aborted jewelry store heist in London's Paddington neighborhood (a stone's throw from my old flat!), Sides shares vignettes that entertain and inform.  For that, he lands in our current Top Ten with an 8.2 rating.

Next Up:  Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling

Roy presented us with an unusually eclectic list of titles, including (gulp!) Homer's The Odyssey, Strayed's Wild, Martel's Life of Pi, Torday's Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, and Kipling's Captains Courageous.  Kipling eked out a win over Torday, so in December we'll see if a 15-year old railroad scion stranded at sea piques our interest as much as King and Ray did this month.