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Hurricane: The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter by James S. Hirsch
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Published January 1, 1850
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About the author
James S. Hirsch
18 books24 followersJames S. Hirsch is an American journalist and author who has written about sports, race, and American culture. He was a reporter for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and his first book was the best-selling Hurricane: The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter.
Hirsch has also written Riot and Remembrance: The Tulsa Race War and Its Legacy, Two Souls Indivisible: The Friendship That Saved Two POWs in Vietnam, and Cheating Destiny: Living with Diabetes. His biography of Willie Mays, released in February 2010, describes how the Negro leagues phenom became an instant sensation with the New York Giants in the 1950s, was the headliner in Major League Baseball's expansion to California, and played an important but underappreciated role in the civil rights movement.[1]
Hirsch, a graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism and the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, lives in the Boston area.
Bibliography
Hirsch has also written Riot and Remembrance: The Tulsa Race War and Its Legacy, Two Souls Indivisible: The Friendship That Saved Two POWs in Vietnam, and Cheating Destiny: Living with Diabetes. His biography of Willie Mays, released in February 2010, describes how the Negro leagues phenom became an instant sensation with the New York Giants in the 1950s, was the headliner in Major League Baseball's expansion to California, and played an important but underappreciated role in the civil rights movement.[1]
Hirsch, a graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism and the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, lives in the Boston area.
Bibliography
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 25, 2024
AN EXCELLENT ACCOUNT OF THE BOXER’S UNJUST IMPRISONMENT, ETC.
James S. Hirsch is an American journalist and author who was a reporter for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
He wrote in the first chapter of this 2000 book, “While the prison sought total control of its inmates, Carter defied the institution at every turn. He did not wear its clothes, eat in its mess hall, work its jobs, or participate in any organized activity. He refused to meet with prison psychiatrists, attend parole hearings, or carry his prison identification card. His rationale was simple: he was an innocent man; therefore, he would not be treated like a criminal. His defiance earned him several trips to a subterranean vault known as ‘the hole,’ where inmates were held in solitary confinement. He was also once banished to a state psychiatric hospital, where the criminally insane and other incorrigibles were disciplined.” (Pg. 4)
Of Carter’s boxing days, he notes, “Hedonistic excess was hardly uncommon in the boxing world; nonetheless, it was not widely known that Carter was an alcoholic during his career. Some thought Carter drank to make up for his dry years in prison: between 1957 and 1961, Carter had been sentenced to Trenton State Prison for assault and robbery… vodka was Carter’s drink of choice… He was not a binge drinker but a slow, relentless sipper, and he could drink a fifth of vodka in a single night. Carter stayed clear of the bottle, mostly, when in training, but when he was out of camp, he kept at least one bottle of 100-proof Smirnoff’s in his car.” (Pg. 21)
He says, “Carter also lacked discipline. During training, he would get bored at night, sneak out of camp, and go to Trenton or another town to meet women and carouse. He ever drank in front of his trainers, but [a trainer] thought he knew when Carter had been tipping the bottle… ‘Rubin was a Mike Tyson with heart… But drinking was the bane of his career.’ Carter, asked about that assessment, agreed.” (Pg. 84)
He recounts that in an interview with sports journalist Milton Gross, “Carter raged against white cops’ occupying black neighborhoods… and he exhorted blacks to defend themselves, even if it meant fighting to their death…. Carter told the writer: ‘We used to get up and put our guns in our pockets like you put your walled in your pocket. Then we go out in the streets and start shooting—anybody, everybody. We used to shoot folks…. Shoot at people. Sometimes just to shoot at ‘em, sometimes to him ‘em, sometimes to kill ‘em’… This was sheer bluster on Carter’s part---no one had ever accused him of shooting anyone---but it was how he tried to rattle his boxing opponents and shake up white journalists.” (Pg. 24-25)
After being arrested, Carter took a polygraph test, and the examiner concluded, “‘He didn’t participate in these crimes, but he may know who was involved.’ … Sixteen hours after they had been stopped by the police, Carter and Artis were released from the police station… The following day… Assistant County Prosecutor Vincent E. Hull told [a newspaper] that Carter had never been a suspect… Eleven days later… [a police officer] testified that both men passed their lie detector tests and that neither man fit the description of the gunmen… On October 15, `966, Carter was picked up by the police and charged with the Lafayette bar murders.” (Pg. 38)
When Carter was being admitted into prison, he told the guards, “I’m willing to stay here until I can get out. But I’m not doing anything for you. I’m not working for you. I’m not eating your food, I’m not wearing your clothes, and I’m not shaving my goatee. You just tell me where to go, and I’ll go… The one thing I will not tolerate at all is for anybody to ever put their hands on me. Because if anyone does, you’re going to have to kill me. Because if you don’t, I’m going to kill YOU. So that’s that. We’re straight now.” He adds, “Few things in prison were more foolish than disobeying a guard, but threatening to kill the chief deputy was certainly one of them.” (Pg. 90-91)
During a checkup at the prison hospital, the doctor found a detached retina in his right eye. Surgery was performed, but “When his eyepatch was removed… the operation that was supposed to save his right eye had, in fact taken the eye. Although the doctor claimed he was handicapped by the prison facilities, Carter always believed that the original diagnosis was phony and that the prison intentionally took his right eye to make hum vulnerable to attack… And it meant, if freed, he would not be able to resume his boxing career, his only means of making a living.” (Pg. 95)
While in prison, “Tom Snyder arrived for an appearance on the Tomorrow show. ‘I have not been rehabilitated because I have not committed a crime,’ Carter told the silver-haired host. ‘I was making $100,000 a year at the time. Why should I stick up a bar for pennies?’” (Pg. 117)
He points out, “While George Lois and a handful of whites ran the Hurricane Trust Fund… a black activist named Carolyn Kelley… was recommended to Carter to start up the New Jersey Defense Committee. Carter had been concerned about the dearth of black supporters. Kelley remedied that through a New Jersey petition drive… and other publicity efforts… But hostilities emerged between Carter’s white and black supporters over money, publicity, and control.” (Pg. 130)
After Carter was released, he lived at a Toronto commune run by his supporter Lisa Peters---later to become his second wife. Then “Bob Dylan came to New York for a concert at Madison Square Garden, and Carter and several of the Canadians went to hear him. While Dylan had avoided Carter’s effort to reach him after the second trial, Carter held no grudges. He knew that Dylan, more than anyone else, had made his case a national and international case, and he wanted to thank him.” (Pg. 291)
He adds, “Meanwhile, Rubin and Lisa continued their uneasy dance… Carter knew that if he had a falling out with the empress, he could lose the support of the entire empire. He still needed the Canadians to help him in his legal battles. He also had not money and no place to go.” (Pg. 298) He adds, “But Carter’s drinking was also a serious matter. His alcoholism had effectively been dormant for prison… While Carter could not drink in front of the Canadians, he binged when he was beyond their view.” (Pg. 319)
He continues, “Rubin Carter had learned how to cry, to suffer, and to live again. But he still had one more prison to overcome---alcohol. His years in the commune kept his drinking under control, but once he was on his own, the demons returned… more destructively then every… The alcohol took its toll. He missed business appointments, and his speech was slurred. Sober, Carter had testified persuasively before the U.S. Congress… and had spoken at Harvard and Yale Law Schools. When drinking, however, he was just another drunk… He was alone, and he was broke. Then---yet again---he went blind.” (Pg. 328) He adds that Carter was finally persuaded to check into a detox center, “where he stayed for several weeks. Carter hasn’t had a drink since…” (Pg. 330)
He concludes, “Nowadays, Carter’s lifestyle bears little resemblance to that of yesteryear. When he travels… [he] stays out of bars and prefers coffee in his room. At home, he no longer keeps any guns; he thinks they’re dangerous. He no longer follows boxing because he believes the sport is barbaric. Gardening is his greatest passion. Carter has sacrificed and suffered to reach this point, but, vindicated of all criminal allegations, liberated from the Canadians, free of booze, he has found his peace.” (Pg. 330)
This is a frank, and excellent account of Rubin Carter’s life. that will be “must reading” for anyone who wants to know more about him.
James S. Hirsch is an American journalist and author who was a reporter for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
He wrote in the first chapter of this 2000 book, “While the prison sought total control of its inmates, Carter defied the institution at every turn. He did not wear its clothes, eat in its mess hall, work its jobs, or participate in any organized activity. He refused to meet with prison psychiatrists, attend parole hearings, or carry his prison identification card. His rationale was simple: he was an innocent man; therefore, he would not be treated like a criminal. His defiance earned him several trips to a subterranean vault known as ‘the hole,’ where inmates were held in solitary confinement. He was also once banished to a state psychiatric hospital, where the criminally insane and other incorrigibles were disciplined.” (Pg. 4)
Of Carter’s boxing days, he notes, “Hedonistic excess was hardly uncommon in the boxing world; nonetheless, it was not widely known that Carter was an alcoholic during his career. Some thought Carter drank to make up for his dry years in prison: between 1957 and 1961, Carter had been sentenced to Trenton State Prison for assault and robbery… vodka was Carter’s drink of choice… He was not a binge drinker but a slow, relentless sipper, and he could drink a fifth of vodka in a single night. Carter stayed clear of the bottle, mostly, when in training, but when he was out of camp, he kept at least one bottle of 100-proof Smirnoff’s in his car.” (Pg. 21)
He says, “Carter also lacked discipline. During training, he would get bored at night, sneak out of camp, and go to Trenton or another town to meet women and carouse. He ever drank in front of his trainers, but [a trainer] thought he knew when Carter had been tipping the bottle… ‘Rubin was a Mike Tyson with heart… But drinking was the bane of his career.’ Carter, asked about that assessment, agreed.” (Pg. 84)
He recounts that in an interview with sports journalist Milton Gross, “Carter raged against white cops’ occupying black neighborhoods… and he exhorted blacks to defend themselves, even if it meant fighting to their death…. Carter told the writer: ‘We used to get up and put our guns in our pockets like you put your walled in your pocket. Then we go out in the streets and start shooting—anybody, everybody. We used to shoot folks…. Shoot at people. Sometimes just to shoot at ‘em, sometimes to him ‘em, sometimes to kill ‘em’… This was sheer bluster on Carter’s part---no one had ever accused him of shooting anyone---but it was how he tried to rattle his boxing opponents and shake up white journalists.” (Pg. 24-25)
After being arrested, Carter took a polygraph test, and the examiner concluded, “‘He didn’t participate in these crimes, but he may know who was involved.’ … Sixteen hours after they had been stopped by the police, Carter and Artis were released from the police station… The following day… Assistant County Prosecutor Vincent E. Hull told [a newspaper] that Carter had never been a suspect… Eleven days later… [a police officer] testified that both men passed their lie detector tests and that neither man fit the description of the gunmen… On October 15, `966, Carter was picked up by the police and charged with the Lafayette bar murders.” (Pg. 38)
When Carter was being admitted into prison, he told the guards, “I’m willing to stay here until I can get out. But I’m not doing anything for you. I’m not working for you. I’m not eating your food, I’m not wearing your clothes, and I’m not shaving my goatee. You just tell me where to go, and I’ll go… The one thing I will not tolerate at all is for anybody to ever put their hands on me. Because if anyone does, you’re going to have to kill me. Because if you don’t, I’m going to kill YOU. So that’s that. We’re straight now.” He adds, “Few things in prison were more foolish than disobeying a guard, but threatening to kill the chief deputy was certainly one of them.” (Pg. 90-91)
During a checkup at the prison hospital, the doctor found a detached retina in his right eye. Surgery was performed, but “When his eyepatch was removed… the operation that was supposed to save his right eye had, in fact taken the eye. Although the doctor claimed he was handicapped by the prison facilities, Carter always believed that the original diagnosis was phony and that the prison intentionally took his right eye to make hum vulnerable to attack… And it meant, if freed, he would not be able to resume his boxing career, his only means of making a living.” (Pg. 95)
While in prison, “Tom Snyder arrived for an appearance on the Tomorrow show. ‘I have not been rehabilitated because I have not committed a crime,’ Carter told the silver-haired host. ‘I was making $100,000 a year at the time. Why should I stick up a bar for pennies?’” (Pg. 117)
He points out, “While George Lois and a handful of whites ran the Hurricane Trust Fund… a black activist named Carolyn Kelley… was recommended to Carter to start up the New Jersey Defense Committee. Carter had been concerned about the dearth of black supporters. Kelley remedied that through a New Jersey petition drive… and other publicity efforts… But hostilities emerged between Carter’s white and black supporters over money, publicity, and control.” (Pg. 130)
After Carter was released, he lived at a Toronto commune run by his supporter Lisa Peters---later to become his second wife. Then “Bob Dylan came to New York for a concert at Madison Square Garden, and Carter and several of the Canadians went to hear him. While Dylan had avoided Carter’s effort to reach him after the second trial, Carter held no grudges. He knew that Dylan, more than anyone else, had made his case a national and international case, and he wanted to thank him.” (Pg. 291)
He adds, “Meanwhile, Rubin and Lisa continued their uneasy dance… Carter knew that if he had a falling out with the empress, he could lose the support of the entire empire. He still needed the Canadians to help him in his legal battles. He also had not money and no place to go.” (Pg. 298) He adds, “But Carter’s drinking was also a serious matter. His alcoholism had effectively been dormant for prison… While Carter could not drink in front of the Canadians, he binged when he was beyond their view.” (Pg. 319)
He continues, “Rubin Carter had learned how to cry, to suffer, and to live again. But he still had one more prison to overcome---alcohol. His years in the commune kept his drinking under control, but once he was on his own, the demons returned… more destructively then every… The alcohol took its toll. He missed business appointments, and his speech was slurred. Sober, Carter had testified persuasively before the U.S. Congress… and had spoken at Harvard and Yale Law Schools. When drinking, however, he was just another drunk… He was alone, and he was broke. Then---yet again---he went blind.” (Pg. 328) He adds that Carter was finally persuaded to check into a detox center, “where he stayed for several weeks. Carter hasn’t had a drink since…” (Pg. 330)
He concludes, “Nowadays, Carter’s lifestyle bears little resemblance to that of yesteryear. When he travels… [he] stays out of bars and prefers coffee in his room. At home, he no longer keeps any guns; he thinks they’re dangerous. He no longer follows boxing because he believes the sport is barbaric. Gardening is his greatest passion. Carter has sacrificed and suffered to reach this point, but, vindicated of all criminal allegations, liberated from the Canadians, free of booze, he has found his peace.” (Pg. 330)
This is a frank, and excellent account of Rubin Carter’s life. that will be “must reading” for anyone who wants to know more about him.
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