A Case for Solomon

Winner – Louisiana Literary Award!

Admin — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 08:45:21 +0000

The Louisiana Literary Award Committee of the Louisiana Library Association is charged with promoting interest in books related to Louisiana, encouraging their publication, and keeping librarians informed on the release of such books. To that end, each year the committee selects a noteworthy book as the recipient of the Louisiana Literary Award. In order to be considered, a book’s subject must be related to Louisiana, and it must be published in the year prior to receiving the award. The committee evaluates books on the basis of their merit, treatment of Louisiana life, interpretation of Louisiana heritage, and possible value to the permanent record of the state. This year’s winner is A Case for Solomon: Bobby Dunbar and the Kidnapping that Haunted a Nation by Tal McThenia and Margaret Dunbar Cutright published by The Free Press. The book chronicles the story of Bobby Dunbar, a four-year-old boy who went missing from a Louisiana campsite in 1912. The ensuing search for the boy, the media frenzy, and the court battle that pitted a set of respectable middle-class parents against a single mother raised questions about identity, class, and the proper role of the media when covering sensational events that are still pertinent today. Some of the extensive documentation was based on a scrapbook in the possession of author Cutright, who is a granddaughter of Bobby Dunbar.

February 1, 2013

Top 10 NO/LA Books of 2012 – Times-Picayune

Admin — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 08:48:41 +0000

“This deft account of a 1920s Louisiana child kidnapping case, traces the victim’s disappearance and rescue, and details what a subsequent trial revealed about his identity and the social order of the era. Our reviewer called it ‘a thoroughly researched and detailed work of history that lets its mystery unfold with the restraint and craft of a detective story.’”

See the whole list here. We’re honored to be in such talented company.

Windy City Dispatch

Admin — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 00:00:56 +0000

Following a fantastic reading at the all-new City Lit Books in Chicago (their first-ever event), A Case for Solomon made the news again: in the Chicago Tribune and on Pyscho Babble TV!

On the Radio

Admin — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 17:24:32 +0000

This week, This American Life is re-airing “The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar,” with some incredible updates at the end of the broadcast. Listen and/or download it here. Other recent radio interviews include:

“The Reading Life” with Susan Larson, WWNO New Orleans;

“The Sound of Books” with Fred Kasten, WWNO New Orleans;

“Write on! Radio” with Steve McEllistrem, KFAI Minneapolis (airs Tuesday, October 23, 7 pm Central, listen online, or you can listen online for 2 weeks after broadcast via the archive);

The Diane Rehm Show

Praise from Vanity Fair and Macleans

Admin — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 20:08:00 +0000

Our North Carolina tour was a big success, and next week it’s on to Louisiana and Mississippi!

In the meantime, two terrific new reviews in two short days, from Vanity Fair’s “Just My Type” and Macleans’ “Must Reads This Labour Day Long Weekend.” Check them out!

Authors on NPR’s The Diane Rehm Show

Admin — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 00:32:44 +0000

After an incredible jam-packed launch party and reading at Half King in NYC, we drove through the night to Washington, DC and had a lively hour with the indomitable Diane Rehm. She probed us on one of the book’s most universal questions: How could a mother not recognize her own child? And she stopped our hearts with a reading of William Walters’ letter, just after his arrest, to Percy Dunbar. Listen to the interview and check out some archival material from the book, here.

Book tour dates published

Admin — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 21:36:50 +0000

Our latest book tour dates have been added to the events section.

100 Years ago: New section is live

Admin — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 21:36:04 +0000

To mark the centennial anniversary of the story, we’ve just uploaded the first post in our special archive that chronicles events as they happened, one hundred years ago. All the original material is from our research for the book, A Case For Solomon.

The case as it happened

Admin — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 20:36:32 +0000

In the ‘100 Years Ago‘ section we will be posting news reports of the case, as they were printed – one century ago, almost to the day. The articles are culled from the vast body of research we conducted for A Case for Solomon.

He is guilty—very guilty

Admin — Mon, 20 Apr 1914 18:15:29 +0000

William C. Walters, alleged kidnapper

Bobbie Dunbar has identified himself. After an absence of eight months, after brutal treatment had given away to love and tenderness, after his mind had resumed its way, the little fellow identified himself as fully and completely as it is possible for a human being to do. People may lie; witnesses may perjure themselves, but a child of such tender years recalling incidents of his former life, temporarily blotted out by cruelty and unkindness, is to my mind proof of such a convincing character that upon it I would convict Walters.

He is guilty—very guilty—and I hope the jury will so adjudge.

JUDGE GILBERT L. DUPRE

(New Orleans Daily States, reprinted in Alexandria Town Talk, April 20, 1914)