Today is the birthday of John Dillinger, the famous bank robber, born in Indianapolis in 1903. Dillinger was as famous for his daring escapes as he was for robbing banks. In March 1934 he escaped from a heavily guarded jail in Crown Point, Indiana, using a revolver carved out of soap and stealing the sheriff's new Ford automobile. Six months earlier he was sprung from a jail in Ohio by gang members posing as officers of the court. It was during the summer of 1934 that J. Edgar Hoover named him Public Enemy #1.
Because Depression-era Americans resented bankers, Dillinger was perceived as hero, a modern-day Robin Hood. He cultivated this persona by posing for newspaper photographers, but he was no philanthropist. Nor was he self-invented; newspapers and radio glorified him but Hollywood had already created the role of armed antihero. Dillinger represented the shift from folklore to popular media. The way he leapt over teller's windows during robberies was borrowed from gangsters he'd seen in the movies. In July 1934 he was gunned down by G-Men after seeing a gangster movie at Chicago's Biograph Theater. He was 31.
John Dillinger appears three times in A Book of Ages.
Showing posts with label bank robber. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bank robber. Show all posts
Monday, June 22, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Washington Irving, Jesse James, Graham Greene
Washington Irving, America's first literary celebrity, was born on this day in 1783. He was also the godfather of the New York Knicks. He was 37 when he published Rip Van Winkle and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. He appears on page 137 of A Book of Ages.
Bank robber Jesse James was murdered on this day in 1882, which was either a bloody shame or served him right, depending which legends you believe. He was hanging up a picture at the time. Mr. James appears in A Book of Ages at ages 15, 29 and 34. He is often confused with Billy the Kid. Also, occasionally, with Henry James; the two were not related.
Graham Greene died on this day in 1991. Novelist, Catholic, spy, adulterer. He never won the Nobel Prize for literature, but would probably have had conflicted feelings about it if he had; he did about everything else. He appears at ages 15, 20, 29, 35, 36, 42 and 86 in A Book of Ages. A life filled with ironic anecdotes.
Bank robber Jesse James was murdered on this day in 1882, which was either a bloody shame or served him right, depending which legends you believe. He was hanging up a picture at the time. Mr. James appears in A Book of Ages at ages 15, 29 and 34. He is often confused with Billy the Kid. Also, occasionally, with Henry James; the two were not related.
Graham Greene died on this day in 1991. Novelist, Catholic, spy, adulterer. He never won the Nobel Prize for literature, but would probably have had conflicted feelings about it if he had; he did about everything else. He appears at ages 15, 20, 29, 35, 36, 42 and 86 in A Book of Ages. A life filled with ironic anecdotes.
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