Barry Graham's Blog, page 119

The Poisoned Pen Bookstore Welcomes Racism, but Not Dissent

A future “literary event” at The Poisoned Pen?

The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale has long been one of my favorite bookstores. I did signings of both The Wrong Thing and When It All Comes Down to Dust there…

Sadly, I won’t be doing any more.

Last week, in protest of the racist remarks made by author Brad Thor and his fans, I approached Thor with a biography of a Nazi and asked him to sign it. To read the story of what happened, click here.

The next day, I posted the blog and p...

Mentally-Retarded Man Executed in Texas Today

Marvin Wilson had an I.Q. of 61. At 54, he could not use a telephone book or match his socks. He sucked his thumb. He would fasten his belt so tight that it would cut off his circulation.

Today he was killed by the State of Texas.

Arizona D.O.C. Director Charles Ryan Has Not Responded to My Questions About His Authority to Censor Prisoners' Last Words

Two killers: Charles Ryan and Daniel Wayne Cook

As the Arizona Department of Corrections prepares to kill Daniel Wayne Cook tomorrow, I wonder if his last words will be censored at the whim of Director Charles Ryan.

On July 2, I emailed Ryan the following questions:

Do you have the legal authority to decide what is offensive? If so, what criteria do you apply?
Do you have the legal authority to decide what is intended to offend? If so, what method do you use to determine a person’s intentions?
Doe...

Exclusive: Notes from Daniel Wayne Cook, Who Will Be Killed on Wednesday

Unless the U.S. Supreme Court issues a stay of execution (unlikely, I think, though his lawyers have presented a strong case), Daniel Wayne Cook will be killed in Florence, AZ, on Wednesday.

Michael Kiefer has a meticulously-reported article about the case in the Arizona Republic. Reading it, I was struck by the similarities between what was done to Cook as a child and what he did to his victims.

I obtained some notes made by Cook himself,evidence from various trials and transcripts that highli...

New Poem

the fish out of water

is no longer a fish

A Good Day for Kimber Lanning

There are few public figures for whom I have as much respect as I have for Kimber Lanning, the Phoenix entrepreneur, musician, activist and arts impresario, founder of Stinkweeds and Modified. Her generosity and community spirit are the stuff of local legend.

Today a man came into Stinkweeds and asked her, “Are you Kimber?”

“Yeah.”

“Hey, I just want to thank you. I was in prison for seven years and you are the only one in this whole damn town who took the time to wr...

Jan Brewer's Flunkies on the AZ Clemency Board Vote to Kill Daniel Wayne Cook

Today, four members of the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency - Jesse Hernandez, Brian Livingston, Ellen Kirschbaum and Melvin Thomas, voted unanimously (4-0) to kill Daniel Wayne Cook next Wednesday. This was no surprise to anyone; last year, as I reported, a mostly-different lineup voted to kill him, even though one of the ones who voted that way, Jack Lasota, admitted that Cook was now “a much better man” than the one who had been sentenced to death for a double-murder. The U....

Brad Thor and His Fans - Imperfect Nazis?

Last night I happened to wander into a book-signing by Glenn Beck’s favorite novelist, the racist, Muslim-hating Brad Thor.

The place was packed. I haven’t seen so many white supremacists in one place since I witnessed a Ku Klux Klan rally in Tennessee.

I thought about asking him to sign a copy of Mein Kampf, but the store didn’t have it, so I grabbed a copy of The Perfect Nazi, a biography of an S.S. member by his grandson, and then got in line...

What Motivates People Like Jonah Lehrer To Lie?

Jonah Lehrer has resigned from The New Yorker after being caught lying about sources for the “quotes” from Bob Dylan he fabricated and published in a book.

Aside from the moral wrong of betraying the readers’ trust, I wonder what motivates people like Lehrer, and Stephen Glass, Jayson Blair et al to do this. Unless they have a compulsion to lie, making lying its own reward, I don’t understand what they think they’re gaining by it, since they seem to work harder to...

Colorizing Kirk Douglas Heightens the Melodrama

Yesterday I watched the filmChampion, (1949), a boxing noir/melodrama starring Kirk Douglas. It was shot in black and white, but the version I found on Netflix had been colorized. When I saw the color, I almost turned it off, but I didn’t, and was glad.

The unnatural-looking colors actually enhanced and heightened the tone of the film, with Douglas’s over-the-top rendering of narcissism (almost comparable to that of Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard) and cartoonish boxing scenes....