This vivid account effectively captures the many reinventions of a daring grifter.
A debut biography chronicles the life and exploits of a consummate American con man.
On Nov. 16, 1959, a National Airlines plane plunged into the Gulf of Mexico, killing all 42 people onboard. One of the ticketed passengers was Dr. Robert Vernon Spears, a well-known Dallas naturopath. But as Logan recounts in his absorbing book about Spears’ adventures, a medical career was another in a long line of self-inventions for a consummate con man, who, it turned out, never boarded the ill-fated Flight 967. Spears “could play any role,” the author writes. In fact, he was so good at “playing these parts, he could have had financial rewards aplenty—if he had chosen to play like everyone else. Or if he had been better at not getting caught.” Spears hasn’t achieved the notoriety of such celebrated American grifters as Frank “Catch Me If You Can” Abagnale, Charles Ponzi, or Joseph “Yellow Kid” Weil. But he committed his first crime, a forgery, at age 16, and—often in cahoots with close friend William Allen Taylor—roamed the country in search of “marks,” taking money from “the fat cats who could afford it. Or big businesses that would barely notice.” “He’s the conman’s grandma, a real smooth article,” one associate said of him. Making extensive use of public records, Logan uncovers a veritable gold mine of grift and deftly traces Spears’ post–World War II transformation into a naturopath. With a forged medical degree, he became head of the Texas Association of Naturopathic Physicians before a corruption scandal thrust him into the even murkier world of backroom abortions. In July 1959, Spears was arrested in Los Angeles for performing a motel-room abortion. But in perhaps his most audacious con, he reinvented himself as a dead man when Flight 967 crashed. The book suffers from a dearth of information about Spears’ formative years, with the author suggesting only that the criminal was inspired by poverty and a “yearning for escape.” But Spears’ picaresque journey makes for compelling reading and, Logan asserts, may even “inform us about...the ways in which conmen become leaders, whether that involves presidency of a medical guild or a nation state.”
This vivid account effectively captures the many reinventions of a daring grifter.Pub Date: Nov. 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-578-55834-9
Page Count: 362
Publisher: Glass Spider Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 23, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.
The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.Pub Date: July 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
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Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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