Harry N. MacLean's Blog, page 10
April 11, 2013
March 30, 2013
The Story That Never Ends
Most of you know that a few weeks ago we released as an e-book “The Story Behind In Broad Daylight.” This tells the story of researching and writing In Broad Daylight, and it also contains photos of several characters in the book, including Trena and Del Clement, the only man ever identified as Ken McElroy’s killer. This is a good piece for anyone interested in the researching and writing of true crime stories.
Next week we will be putting up on the website and Facebook a fairly clean version...
January 23, 2013
In Broad Daylight movie advertisement
This advertisement for the movie “In Broad Daylight” was placed in newspapers around the country. Friend Patti Hawkins found in on the inside cover of her book and sent it along for posting. In this age of “The Bully,” it’s hard to imagine a more menacing figure than this. I recall that on the set of the movie Denehey was so taken with the role that he made people nervous and they stayed out of his way. He died his hair black, wore black contact lenses, and carried a shotgun in the crook of h...
January 8, 2013
“The Story Behind ‘In Broad Daylight’” is finally here
“The Story Behind ‘In Broad Daylight’” is finally here. It’s now available on Amazon Kindle (also on Apple devices through a Kindle app). The true crime short is 64 pages long and has 9 pages of photos, some of which have not been published before. I tell how I came to write “In Broad Daylight” and the many obstacles I encountered in researching the story. The book discusses the moral dilemmas involved in taking a life outside the law, and also updates the story of the town and the main chara...
January 6, 2013
Disgruntled antagonist flagging reviews
It seems I’ve recently acquired an enemy. Someone has been getting positive reviews deleted from Amazon, spamming my followers on twitter, and engaging in other harmful activity in the social media world. I’ve an idea or two who is behind it, and am looking into it, but would also ask that any of you who have written reviews to check and see if they’re still up.
I’ve also received a couple of nasty blog posts from a disgruntled friend of Del Clement, which I’ve decided not to post because they...
November 9, 2012
The Pathology of a Bully—Inside the mind of Ken Rex McElroy.
In my first post, I talked about a bully as someone who relentlessly picks on or harasses another person who has less power or social status. I pointed out that McElroy mastered the art of bullying, not only individuals but entire communities. In this article, I would like to take a look at Ken McElroy’s psychopathology: Was he mentally ill? Was he a psychopath?
There has not been much written on the pathology or clinical description of bullies. Some writers say that bullies are basically inse...
October 28, 2012
The Killer and the Sex Offender: A Visit to Skidmore.
On every visit to Skidmore I learn something new about the place. Even after all these years, I see something I’ve never seen before, or somebody tells me something I’ve not heard before. Last weekend, my almost-annual visit to Skidmore, was no different.
The year before we were marking the 30th anniversary of the killing of Ken Rex McElroy. This year I wanted to spend time with Margaret Goslee, who just turned 93, and visit other friends in the area.
Things seemed pretty much as usual: Kirby...
October 16, 2012
Visit to Skidmore — Books signed
Over the years many people have expressed a desire to have their copies of In Broad Daylight signed. I’ll be in Skidmore this Saturday, and if you would like one signed you can meet me in front of the old library on the main street, around noon
Related posts:
Skidmore–In Decline
Skidmore – Forever the Town that Killed Ken Rex McElroy
Visit To Aurora.
October 5, 2012
Ken Rex McElroy — The Ultimate Bully?
October has been proclaimed Bullying Prevention Month. It seems appropriate, therefore, to take a look at the person who might be described as the ultimate bully, Ken Rex McElroy. I wrote about McElroy in the book “In Broad Daylight,” but in brief Ken McElroy was a hog farmer who lived outside of Skidmore, Missouri, a small farming community. Over a twenty-year period, he bullied people, communities and the entire legal system. He was a master of the art. He bluffed and stared people down, an...
September 22, 2012
Richard McFadin–Ken McElroy’s Lawyer–Died in May
I just learned that Richard or “Gene” McFadin died last May. Here is a link to his obituary. http://tiny.cc/odu1kw. McFadin was Ken McElroy’s lawyer, and used to claim that he had gotten his client off more than twenty times. McFadin was reputed to be a “mob lawyer” in Kansas City. He never denied the connection to me. McFadin used every trick in the book to get McElroy acquitted on the many charges against him, and he took great satisfaction in his successes. McFadin claimed that McElroy was...
