Childhood Shadows: The Hidden Story of the Black Dahlia Murder

by Mary Pacios

Electronic Distribution February 2007 Printed & Bound Distribution February 2007 This updated version of Childhood Shadows, a book first published in 1999, adds new details to a compelling account of the Black Dahlia murder-one of Hollywood's most infamous unsolved crimes. Combining personal experience as a close friend of the victim, Elizabeth Short, with in-depth research, Childhood Shadows brings a unique perspective and opens up an intriguing new area of speculation about who the killer may be. Author Mary Pacios sets the stage by recreating the neighborhood she shared with Elizabeth "Bette" Short during the years of the Great Depression and World War II. The war ends, but instead of peace, the horrendous murder of the young and beautiful Elizabeth Short send shock waves through the nation. Years later, haunted by the unsolved murder of her childhood friend, Pacios sets out to discover the true circumstances surrounding her friend's brutal death. Because of her personal relationship with the victim, Pacios gains access to officials close to the case who discuss with her unpublicized details of the murxder and their own privately held theories of who killed the woman known as the Black Dahlia. The research Pacios expects to last only a few months turns into a strange twenty-year odyssey that explodes many of the myths surrounding the victim and her murder.Appendices include photographs, official documents, synopses of the various suspects and an extensive annotated bibliography. .

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

410 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1999

About the author

Born and raised in Medford, Massachusetts, Mary Pacios has lived in various parts of the country, from California to Wyoming and parts in between. Pacios earned a BFA (1962) from the Massachusetts College of Art, Boston (Mass Art) with a major in painting and a minor in printmaking. She was the first single mother of children to be admitted to Mass Art as a freshman. The dean, who believed a woman with children belonged at home, was aghast and called Pacios into his office. He requested that she withdraw, claiming Pacios could not possibly finish the demanding program and was taking up valuable space. Pacios refused and went on to earn her BFA. However, when Pacios applied for a student loan, she was turned down because, although she was head of her household, according to the law in 1961, Pacios still needed a man’s signature on her loan application. (Her brother Robert K. Pacios graciously provided said signature.) Pacios received an MA with an individual major in Art and Social Change from California State University, Stanislaus (1977) where she studied printmaking with Martin Camarata under whose auspices she began working in the medium of relief prints. Her large linocuts subsequently received numerous prizes and awards.

An anti-war activist during the Viet Nam War, Pacios and her then-husband Cliff Humphrey were steering committee members and spokespersons for the first San Diego, California anti-war teach-in. During the late 1960s, the couple along with Betty Schwimmer and Chuck Herrick, formed the environmental organization Ecology Action. The historic organization's files are now housed in the Special Collections of the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Pacios is the author of Childhood Shadows: The Hidden Story of the Black Dahlia Murder. Dan Jackson, producer of the History Channel documentary on the Black Dahlia murder case, praised Childhood Shadows for its "journalistic integrity"; Rusty Fisher described the book as a "compelling view into the other side of a legendary true crime, that of the victim ... written by a woman who knew the victim from her childhood." Pacios donated her Elizabeth "Bette" Short / Black Dahlia research files to the Medford Historical Society in their hometown of Medford, Massachusetts.

The work of Pacios, shown extensively throughout the United States and internationally, has been acquired by: the Achenbach Foundation for the Graphic Arts of the San Francisco Museums; The Art Museum of Santa Cruz, CA; The Haggin Museum, Stockton, CA; Claremont College; El Museo del Barrio in New York City; Mystic Sea: The Museum of America and the Sea in Mystic Connecticut; California State University, Stanislaus; and the Zuckerman Museum, Atlanta, Georgia as well as by numerous private collections.
Mary Pacios, now settled in Portland, Oregon, enjoys a semi-active life, printing a couple of days a week at Portland State University, taking a nightly Tai Chi class, meeting weekly with the Park Blocks Writers group, all the while partaking of an occasional Happy Hour with friends and keeping her toes wet in the waters of social change.

Reviews

[Whitebeard Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting concept that led to this book. A famous crime involving a person who became a celebrity primarily because of being the victim of the crime. Now consider that the victim was a real person who had a life before this sad celebrity status. There were friends and neighbors who lived on the street where the victim grew up and knew her before any of this occurred. The result is as close as possible to a real story of who that individual really was and a look at the road that led to the unwelcome celebrity status even though she wanted celebrity status but of a different kind.

[Scott Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had watched the film, THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI for the first time and was just blown away by what a great movie it was. It starred Orson Welles back when he was in his youth and not overweight. He was married to co-star Rita Hayworth who he made dye her hair platinum blonde as well as cut it short. Rita Hayworth was stunning. As I did research on the film I read where Mary Pacios had written a book on THE BLACK DAHLIA and after researching the murder she came up with the theory that Orson Welles was the killer based on the ending movie scene of THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI that takes place in a fun house. I had to check out the book and read it so I did. I learned that Mary Pacios had been befriended by Elizabeth Short as a child and was very fond of her. Mary wanted to make it clear that Elizabeth "Bette" Short was not a prostitute or a wild woman but merely a beautiful young woman who was trying to make it big in Hollywood who was tragically murdered by a very sinister and dangerous person. A lot of the book tells the story of the author growing up with positive influence from Elizabeth where they lived in Massachusetts. It then deals with the murder, the various suspects, and the inability of anyone ever being convicted of the killing. Pacios does a good job of reporting the theories of other books written about the Dahlia and whom they suspect but it appears we will never know for sure who committed this atrocious act. I enjoyed the book and recommend it to others.

[Randy Ladenheim-Gil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I admit it -- I'm a true crime book nut, though I tend to only read historic stuff these days. This crime -- the murder of the Black Dahlia -- dates back to 1947. I've read/seen a lot about it in the past, though I don't think I've read any of the other books. The author grew up with the Dahlia -- Elizabeth "Bette"/Beth Short in Massachusetts. Not a particularly well-written book, though it's been written with "heart." The author's vote for the killer -- Orson Welles -- seems to me absolutely ridiculous. She would have been better off focusing on her connection with the Dahlia, her hope to vindicate her. Better to have laid off the amateur detective work. That might not have gotten her a "real" publisher -- this was self-published, and not particularly well, though I understan there's a new edition that might have been put together a bit better -- but it would have gotten me, at least, to take her more seriously. And what's this I saw online about text in this book being the same as in the John Gilmore book Severed? Now I'll probably save this book and read the other to compare!

[Lesleyanne Bathory · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book, this is my second time reading it Elizabeth's story is what peaked my interest in true crime at the age of 7, her life was to short, her death brutal, but for me her story is something special. I wish her killer was caught and justice served for Beth and her family. R.I.P Elizabeth.

[Louvaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting, drawn-out recounting of a neighbor girl's recollections of the "Black Dahlia" before she was known. Convincingly identifies Orson Welles as the killer.

[Maria Manvik · Rating 1 out of 5]

Great insight into the life of Elizabeth Short, but the theory… wtf?