CRIMINAL RECORDS

Murder is too good for him. Stealing his vintage vinyl will make him kill himself.

It’s like a nightmare in the form of a paperback cover. Ripped off vinyl? Gives us shivers. This sneaky piece was painted by John Fernie for HarperCollins Canada’s 1951 edition of Dead Lion. The authors are John and Emery Bonett—the front misspells their last name, but it’s correct on the rear. It wasn’t real anyway. The two were actually John H. A. Coulson and Felicity Winifred Carter. The book is about the death of a real bastard named Cyprian Druse, who’s a London critic and intellectual. Police say the death was an accident—a heavy window fell on Druse’s neck as he was looking out of his apartment. His nephew Simon arrives for the aftermath and, with the help of Professor Mandrake, proceeds to piece together the life and death of the relative he hardly knew, soon suspecting murder. The records come into it as motive: Druse had recorded various paramours on his home phonograph equipment and derived amusement from playing the discs at dinner parties as a demonstration of his power over women. This was a pretty good book, for the most part. We may read this pair again.

Canada, HarperCollins, White Circle Pocket Editions, John Bonett, Emery Bonett, John H. A. Coulson, Felicity Winifred Carter, John Fernie, cover art, literature

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

February 18

1954—First Church of Scientology Established

The first Scientology church, based on the writings of science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, is established in Los Angeles, California. Since then, the city has become home to the largest concentration of Scientologists in the world, and its ranks include high-profile adherents such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta.

February 17

1933—Blaine Act Passes

The Blaine Act, a congressional bill sponsored by Wisconsin senator John J. Blaine, is passed by the U.S. Senate and officially repeals the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution, aka the Volstead Act, aka Prohibition. The repeal is formally adopted as the 21st Amendment to the Constitution on December 5, 1933.

February 17

1947—Voice of America Begins Broadcasting into U.S.S.R.

The state radio channel known as Voice of America and controlled by the U.S. State Department, begins broadcasting into the Soviet Union in Russian with the intent of countering Soviet radio programming directed against American leaders and policies. The Soviet Union responds by initiating electronic jamming of VOA broadcasts.

February 16

1937—Carothers Patents Nylon

Wallace H. Carothers, an American chemist, inventor and the leader of organic chemistry at DuPont Corporation, receives a patent for a silk substitute fabric called nylon. Carothers was a depressive who for years carried a cyanide capsule on a watch chain in case he wanted to commit suicide, but his genius helped produce other polymers such as neoprene and polyester. He eventually did take cyanideâ€”not in pill form, but dissolved in lemon juiceâ€”resulting in his death in late 1937.

February 15

1933—Franklin Roosevelt Survives Assassination Attempt

In Miami, Florida, Giuseppe Zangara attempts to shoot President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, but is restrained by a crowd and, in the course of firing five wild shots, hits five people, including Chicago, Illinois Mayor Anton J. Cermak, who dies of his wounds three weeks later. Zangara is quickly tried and sentenced to eighty years in jail for attempted murder, but is later convicted of murder when Cermak dies. Zangara is sentenced to death and executed in Florida’s electric chair.