Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. And the International Hunt for His Assassin

CHAPTER 36

THE MAN FURTHEST DOWN

⁵⁷³ For three and a half miles: My depiction of King's funeral in Atlanta is drawn primarily from newspaper coverage in the Atlanta Constitution and the New York Times that appeared on April 10, 1968. I also relied on photographs and other displays at the King Center in Atlanta. Finally, I consulted memoirs of participants, including Young, Easy Burden, pp. 477-78; Abernathy, And the Walls Came Tumbling Down, pp. 460-65; Coretta Scott King, My Life with Martin Luther King Jr., pp. 329-36; Martin Luther King Sr., Daddy King, pp. 190-91; and Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, p. 203. I benefited from Risen's vivid account in Nation on Fire, pp. 205-13.

⁵⁷⁴ had suggested that King arranged: See Risen, Nation on Fire, p. 208.

⁵⁷⁵ "leaning toward each other": Newsweek, April 22, 1968.

⁵⁷⁶ "There was a powerful mood": Ibid.

⁵⁷⁷ "I believed in your father": A letter I viewed in January 2009 from a collection of correspondence on exhibit at the King National Historic Site in Atlanta.

⁵⁷⁸ "if they catch the guy": Ibid.

⁵⁷⁹ "There were many fingers": Time, March 21, 1969.

⁵⁸⁰ Galt was in his room on Ossington Avenue: My account of what Galt did in his room on April 9 is primarily drawn from newspaper and magazine interviews with the landlady, Mrs. Feliksa Szpakowski. See especially O'Neil, "Ray, Sirhan--What Possessed Them?"

⁵⁸¹ nightclub called the Silver Dollar: Ibid.

⁵⁸² "time to play detective": Ray, Who Killed Martin Luther King? p. 99.

⁵⁸³ "Yes, hello": My account of the telephone conversation between Ray and Bridgman is derived both from Ray's own recollection in his memoirs and from Toronto police interviews with Bridgman in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Files, Hughes Collection.

⁵⁸⁴ Paisley's place of work: This passage is drawn primarily from the FD-302 report of the interview that Shanahan and Barrett conducted with Paisley on April 9, 1968.

⁵⁸⁵ "If you are going to do something illegal": James Earl Ray statement to investigators, House Select Committee on Assassinations, Appendix Reports, vol. 9, p. 430.

⁵⁸⁶ "I make bold to assert": King eulogy by Benjamin Mays, quoted in the Atlanta Constitution, April 10, 1968, p. 1.