Ask the Author: Eve Karlin
Answered Questions (6)
Eve Karlin
I’m not sure that it is a matter of inspiration so much as consistency. Sit down at the computer each and every day with faith that one’s goals (and dreams) will be realized.
Eve Karlin
Publicizing CITY OF LIARS AND THIEVES!
Eve Karlin
Don’t follow trends. Be honest. Be persistent!
Eve Karlin
The best thing about being a writer is being immersed in a project and being inspired by others. When I am completely absorbed, everything seems relevant.
Eve Karlin
This answer contains spoilers…
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Eve Karlin
I was reading Ron Chernow’s biography on Alexander Hamilton when I came across the Manhattan Well tragedy. Only four pages were devoted to Levi Weeks’ trial, and most of those focused on Hamilton’s oratory skill and his rivalry with Burr, but I was riveted.
I began exploring Elma Sands’ murder and was fascinated to discover that remnants of the two hundred year old crime still exist. Jogging in Central Park, pondering the murder, I found myself nearly eye-to-eye with a statue of Hamilton that stands east of the Great Lawn. A glance at a ten dollar bill reveals his ongoing influence. Today’s New York Post is known for its clever headlines (“Headless Body in Topless Bar,” “Weiner’s Rise and Fall”), but the newspaper was founded in 1801 (under the name the New York Evening Post) by Alexander Hamilton, and its first editor was William Coleman, Hamilton’s protégé and court reporter during Levi Weeks’ trial. He later wrote one of three trial transcripts available.
Aaron Burr’s legacy is slightly more ambiguous. Elma Sands’ frozen body was discovered floating in the so-called Manhattan Well, one of a series dug by the Manhattan Water Company, an illegitimate company founded by Burr under the guise of bringing fresh water to a parched city. Through an underhanded political scheme, the Manhattan Water Company would quickly become the Manhattan Bank, then Chase Manhattan, and now J.P. Morgan Chase (a merging of the institutions founded by Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, bringing them together—against their will, perhaps!—once again). Chase’s glowing octagonal logo hovering so prominently over city streets represents a cross section of the wooden pipes meant to transport water for the Manhattan Water Company—pipes leading to the well where Elma drowned.
Most significantly, I learned that the Manhattan Well where Elma drowned was still standing in the basement of a New York restaurant. What’s more, twenty years earlier, I had lived steps away from the crime scene. I did not know Elma’s name nor about the well, but I had been 22-years-old, the same age Elma was when she was murdered. I couldn’t help but feel a connection to this young woman caught in the crossfire of our nation’s most powerful men.
I began exploring Elma Sands’ murder and was fascinated to discover that remnants of the two hundred year old crime still exist. Jogging in Central Park, pondering the murder, I found myself nearly eye-to-eye with a statue of Hamilton that stands east of the Great Lawn. A glance at a ten dollar bill reveals his ongoing influence. Today’s New York Post is known for its clever headlines (“Headless Body in Topless Bar,” “Weiner’s Rise and Fall”), but the newspaper was founded in 1801 (under the name the New York Evening Post) by Alexander Hamilton, and its first editor was William Coleman, Hamilton’s protégé and court reporter during Levi Weeks’ trial. He later wrote one of three trial transcripts available.
Aaron Burr’s legacy is slightly more ambiguous. Elma Sands’ frozen body was discovered floating in the so-called Manhattan Well, one of a series dug by the Manhattan Water Company, an illegitimate company founded by Burr under the guise of bringing fresh water to a parched city. Through an underhanded political scheme, the Manhattan Water Company would quickly become the Manhattan Bank, then Chase Manhattan, and now J.P. Morgan Chase (a merging of the institutions founded by Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, bringing them together—against their will, perhaps!—once again). Chase’s glowing octagonal logo hovering so prominently over city streets represents a cross section of the wooden pipes meant to transport water for the Manhattan Water Company—pipes leading to the well where Elma drowned.
Most significantly, I learned that the Manhattan Well where Elma drowned was still standing in the basement of a New York restaurant. What’s more, twenty years earlier, I had lived steps away from the crime scene. I did not know Elma’s name nor about the well, but I had been 22-years-old, the same age Elma was when she was murdered. I couldn’t help but feel a connection to this young woman caught in the crossfire of our nation’s most powerful men.
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