Going Postal

by Don Lasseter

Veteran true crime author Don Lasseter takes an in-depth look at the series of bloody massacres committed by disgruntled postal workers all across the U.S. Including first-hand accounts by the survivors and witnesses, this fascinating book asks who's to blame as it explores this horrifying, exclusively American phenomenon that is turning post offices into ticking time bombs. Photo insert.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime

304 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1997

About the author

Don Lasseter has written five true crime books for Pinnacle plus 16 magazine articles that were reprinted in Pinnacle's anthology books about murders. In addition to being a crime writer, Mr. Lasseter is a WWII historian who frequently lectures on the subject in schools, at service clubs, and for veteran's groups. He accompanies his talks with slide packages titled "WWII, Then and Now", consisting of photos he took while actually retracing most major battles in Western Europe and in the South Pacific. Taking black and white combat photos with him, Mr. Lasseter laboriously searched for the exact spots on which the photographers stood and shot the same scenes as they look today. He accumulated over 1500 such pictures associated with various battles including the Normandy invasion, Battle of the Bulge, crossing the Rhine, taking Berlin, and other major engagements.

A native Californian, Mr. Lasseter resides in Orange County. He has served as guest lecturer in criminology classes at California State University, Fullerton. Hollywood history is Mr. Lasseter's third major interest. His personal library includes an extensive collection of movie books, and he takes pride in being able to name hundreds of old character actors whose faces are often seen in classic films. One day, Lasseter says, he will write books, both fiction and non-fiction, about the golden era of film production and the people involved.

Reviews

[Ronald Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sounds like Don Lasseter did a fine job researching the history of "Going Postal" incidents from 1983 through 1996 just before publishing this book in 1997. The number of perpetrators is excessive even for a large workforce and indicates that there are deep-seated issues in the corporate culture that no one wants to deal with until something happens.

Going postal takes you to: South Carolina, Georgia, New York, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Louisiana, California, New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois, New Jersey, and Nevada. I guess that qualifies as bouncing around the map. Nothing isolated to any particular location. Incidents happened in 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995 and 1996. Wow! If this were a song the title would be "And You Don't Stop." The numbers of employees killed in postal facilities isn't a figment of an imagination. As further noted, fostering anger is what went wrong!

Intimidation by upper management "That's the way they motivate you at work. It's a prehistoric era there, really."

The GAO issued recommendations for changes including one that suggested the USPS "Select and train managers who can serve as facilitators/counselors and who have the skills experience, and interest to treat employees with respect and dignity, positively motivate employees, recognize and reward employees for good work, promote teamwork, and deal effectively with poor performers.

Don Lasseter pointed out an interesting fact that statistics say a higher rate of taxi drivers and liquor store clerks were murdered on the job. "They didn't bother to mention that cabbies and clerks weren't being slaughtered by fellow cabbies and clerks." Statistics also say post offices don't have a high rate of homicide, but they have an exceptionally high rate of employees who kill coworkers.

As past investigators have noted. "These oversight activities repeatedly revealed an autocratic management style within the Postal Service, a style both admitted to and regretted by Anthony M. Frank... Postmaster General..."

The supervisor mentality of the past "I ate dirt for many years, now it's your turn to eat dirt" still exists today in the year 2010.

The book was very detailed and informative! It has been continued by other credible authors who have presented their own look into today's U.S. Postal Service culture. This book is a must read for past, present, and future workplace leaders. Mr. Lasseter also included more than 20 black and white photos which add a visual impact to the reading. Get your copy while you can!

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid read

If you’re interested in this subject I would suggest this book to you. I did enjoy it, some of it was, in my opinion, a little too focused on how wonderful the people of every single community this happened in were. I understand it’s a sensitive subject and it’s fine to compliment communities but it went a bit too far on some in my opinion. Otherwise this is an interesting read about a fascinating subject from a good writer, pick it up if it’s your type of thing.

[RK Byers · Rating 3 out of 5]

today’s Reddit-based conspiracy nuts, hopped up on both versions of The Manchurian Candidate, would look no further than most of these guy’s’ military background.

[Mrs. Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don Lasseter’s matter-of-fact, undramatic style is well-suited to his subject. Going Postal is about the previous century’s sudden “rash” of long-time Post Office employees’ committing mass murder at work. He does a good job of describing the killer’s prior relationships with some of the victims and the total randomness that characterized the rampages. The book has two main faults: the obvious one is its datedness. It was published in 1997, when mass murders at workplaces were genuinely novel. Since then the phenomenon has spread to venues where the shooter feels he has been mistreated somehow, or simply anyplace where there are a lot of unsuspicious people whom he presumes are enjoying their lives while he hates his. The second fault springs from the first, and it is the assumption that the behavior is linked to specific working conditions (the ‘postal’ part of going postal). Lasseter provides ample evidence that the P.O. Is a dreadful place to work … but the last quarter century has proved that it isn’t the conditions of the venue that cause the shooting, it’s the condition of the shooter. Nonetheless, the book is genuinely interesting and recommended to any true-crime fan.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this as a gift when I did work for the post office and right after I quit - someone did 'go postal' and was killed at the plant by three cops. (Always be kind to your delivery guy!)