When Sin Bears Fruit
February 5, 2017

Stas Kulesh
Laird Hunt has written what is really three stories wrapped around each other. The first is something that really happened: A famous lynching in Marion, Indiana in the summer of 1930. The second is the story of the song, “Strange Fruit,” which was inspired by that lynching. And the third is a new novel, which begins on that terrible day. It’s called “The Evening Road.” In this piece, Hunt tells us how he came to write it.
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James Cameron
Mr. Cameron became a fixture in Milwaukee where he established the Black Holocaust Museum. He told his story as often as he could. Maybe the only man to have survived a lynching.
Evening Road
Thank you for this excellent interview. I grew up in Marion, Ind. but found out about these events as an adult. This horrible history was buried. I posted this link to other Marion friends on Facebook today for their reactions. Quite fascinating - some knew of these events. Those with power in Marion chose to avoid, rather than confront, the topic, which some see as the root of the racial tensions that flared up in the late 1960s in Marion. I know from personal experience that crosses were burned in 1979 during the reelection of Marion's Jewish mayor (my brother). I was glad to see that Marion's public library has a copy of the book on order. I think the collective amnesia following these horrific events is fascinating, and terrifying. Thanks for this great segment!