Nominated for the William Soroyan International Prize for Writing
"The Past Is Never Dead"
The Trial of James Ford Seale and Mississippi’s Struggle for Redemption
From Basic Civitas, a Member of the Perseus Books Group, for more information go to
www.perseusbooksgroup.com
From Edgar Award Winner
Harry N. MacLean
In 1964, at the beginning of a hot Mississippi summer, Klansman James Ford Seale was involved in the kidnapping and murder of two young black men. He and fellow Klansmen chained the youths to iron weights and dumped them alive into the Mississippi River. Not until January 2007 was Seale finally brought to justice, in what might be called the ultimate cold case.
In The Past Is Never Dead bestselling author Harry MacLean follows the twists and turns of a trial that took forty-three years to come to pass. Through the unfolding drama we see past the stereotypes about Mississippi, finding a culture far different from, and in many ways better than, its endemic racism and bloody history would suggest.
At the heart of The Past Is Never Dead is a gripping legal battle over Seale’s fate, putting to the test Mississippi’s struggle for redemption, and questioning whether it is indeed ever possible to overcome the past.
"Lawyer MacLean (In Broad Daylight) recounts the story with momentum, clear legal explanations and stirring empathy for each character—from Charles Moore's grieving brother, Thomas, to Charles Edwards, a Klansman and the key to Seale's conviction. Most masterful is his treatment of Seale himself. Without ever telling the story from Seale's point of view, but instead describing how the defendant is seen through the eyes of others, MacLean accomplishes the tricky task of giving a monster pathos of his own."
– Publisher Weekly
"It is a book that reminds those of us in the north that even though the south has its devils to deal with, the issues of race may be more nuanced and perhaps even more honest in the south than in the north."
– Huffington Post
Though MacLean lives in Colorado, he reveals a deep knowledge of our history, not just in facts and figures but in the moral and emotional implications of being the state that carries the nation's water when it comes to racial injustice. MacLean's writing is unambiguous and clear, entertaining and fast-paced
– Jackson Free Press
25th Anniversary Edition
Includes a complete update from the author with new information
on the killing and the investigation.
"In Broad Daylight"
Edgar Award Winner
Harry N. MacLean
For twenty years, Ken Rex McElroy terrorized the citizens of northwest Missouri without conscience or remorse. On July 10, 1981, McElroy was shot to death on the main street of the small town of Skidmore, as he sat in his pick-up. Forty-five people watched, yet no one was ever indicted for the murder.
Harry MacLean won an Edgar Award for In Broad Daylight, first published in 1989. The book tells the story of McElroy’s reign of terror, the murder itself, and the town’s conspiracy of silence as to the identity of the killers. The book was reissued in 2007 with an epilogue containing new information on the killing and the investigation.
“Gripping…excellent and disturbing…a fine and richly rewarding book.”
– The Washington Post Book World
