The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel That Scandalized the World

Notes

This book is based extensively on primary sources wherever available, including court documents and transcripts, prison records, legislative records, and testimony. I am grateful for the assistance of the New Jersey State Archives in Trenton, New Jersey; the Camden County Historical Society in Camden, New Jersey; the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis, Maryland; the Baltimore City Archives in Baltimore, Maryland; the City Archives and the Free Library of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Our Lady of Victory Center, Bishop Dunne Catholic School, and the Diocesan Archives in Dallas, Texas; and the National Archives offices in Leavenworth, Kansas; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and San Francisco, California.

When court documents were unavailable or lost, I relied on newspaper accounts, most notably the Camden Courier-Post and the Philadelphia Inquirer, which had the most comprehensive stories about Sally Horner’s abduction, rescue, and death between 1948 and 1952.

I conducted dozens of interviews for the book, including several conversations with Sally’s niece, Diana Chiemingo; one telephone conversation with Diana’s father, Al Panaro, in 2014; two telephone conversations with Carol Taylor, in 2016 and 2017; and two conversations with “Madeline La Salle,” in 2014. Other invaluable sources with firsthand memories of principal characters included “Rachel Janisch” and “Vanessa Janisch”; Fred Cohen and Peggy Braveman; Tom Pfeil; and Emma DiRenzo.

For the Nabokov sections, I relied on files, clippings, note cards, and letters deposited at the Library of Congress as well as at the Berg Collection, New York Public Library. Grateful acknowledgment for permission to access the Berg Collection is given to the Wylie Agency, on behalf of the Nabokov Estate, and to Isaac Gewirtz, Lyndsi Barnes, Joshua McKeon, and Mary Catherine Kinniburgh for their assistance and advice.

I also drew from the earlier work of Brian Boyd, Stacy Schiff, Andrew Field, Alexander Dolinin, and other Nabokov scholars. Schiff also generously shared her time, and advice, in a telephone conversation in April 2017, while Boyd was similarly helpful in an email exchange that same month. A telephone conversation with Walter Minton, in addition to earlier and later quotes, proved helpful with respect to the publication process of Lolita in the United States.

For additional historical context on Camden, I relied on Camden After the Fall: Decline and Renewal in a Post-American City by Howard Gillette (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006) and the Local History: Camden website maintained by Phil Cohen at http://www.dvrbs.com.

Berg: Vladimir Nabokov Archives, Berg Collection, New York Public Library, New York, NY

LOC: Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov Archives, Library of Congress, Washington, DC

NJSA: New Jersey State Archives, Trenton, NJ

VNAY: Brian Boyd, Vladimir Nabokov: The American Years (Princeton University Press, 1991)

Unless noted otherwise, all interviews were with the author.

no “little deadly demon”: Lolita, p. 15.

It happened to the writer Mikita Brottman: Mikita Brottman, The Maximum Security Book Club: Reading Literature in a Men’s Prison, pp. 196–197.

“I hate tampering with the precious lives”: Nabokov, Lectures on Russian Literature, p. 138.

“It is strange, the morbid inclination”: Nabokov, Nikolai Gogol, p. 40.

three increasingly tendentious biographies: The level of acrimony in Andrew Field’s VN (1986) compared with Nabokov: His Life in Art (1967) and Nabokov: His Life in Part (1977) is astonishing; the falling-out between biographer and subject would make an excellent play.

A two-part definitive study: Boyd’s Vladimir Nabokov: The Russian Years (1990) and VNAY (1991).

Stacy Schiff’s 1999 portrayal: Schiff, Véra (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov).

lifted its fifty-year restriction: Finding Aid, Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov Papers, Manuscript Division, LOC.

an earlier Nabokov story, “Spring in Fialta”: The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov, p. 413.

Sally Horner walked into the Woolworth’s: “Camden Girl Saved from Kidnapper in Calif,” Camden Courier-Post, March 22,1950, p. A1.

on a March afternoon in 1948: From Camden County prosecutor Mitchell Cohen’s remarks at an April 2, 1950, court hearing, reported by the Courier-Post on April 3, p. AI.

A slender, hawk-faced man: Associated Press, March 22, 1950, taken from the Lima (Ohio) News, p. 5.

A scar sliced his cheek: Draft registration card, January 1944.

suicide of her alcoholic husband: Death certificate of Russell Horner, March 24,1943.

Her homeroom teacher, Sarah Hanlin: Philadelphia Inquirer, March 23,1950, p. 3.

Emma DiRenzo, one of Sally’s classmates: Interview with Emma DiRenzo, November 13, 2017.

The telephone rang: Camden Courier-Post, March 23,1950.

Ella let her concerns slide: United Press, Salt Lake Tribune, August 6,1948, p. 5.

Robert and Jean Pfeffer were newlyweds: This section draws almost entirely from two newspaper reports that quoted Robert Pfeffer at length: Camden Courier-Post, March 24, 1950, p. 2; and Philadelphia Inquirer, March 24,1950, p. 3.

Ella was relieved: Camden Evening Courier, August 6, 1948, p. I.

Detective Joseph Schultz: Courier-News, Bridgewater, NJ, August 6, 1948, p. 15.

the lodging house: The 203 Pacific Avenue address came from the 1940 census; La Salle was known to return to addresses where he had lived in the past.

“He didn’t take any of his or the girl’s clothes”: Philadelphia Inquirer, March 23,1950, p. I.

Marshall Thompson led the search: Camden Courier-Post, March 23, 1950, p. I.

only six months before he’d abducted Sally: Mitchell Cohen’s court statement, April 2, 1950.

The year 1948 was a pivotal one: This chapter largely draws upon VNAY, pp. 129–135, as well as letters reprinted in Nabokov, Selected Letters: 1940–1977.

Nabokov had also traveled: Itemized road trip summaries available at “Lolita, USA,” compiled by Dieter E. Zimmer, http://www.d-e-zimmer.de/LolitaUSA/LoUSNab.htm.

“lovely, trustful, dreamy, enormous country”: Lolita, p. 176.

“Beyond the tilled plain”: Ibid., p. 152.

marriage to Véra was once again stable: VNAY, p. 129.

had been ill: Letter from Vladimir Nabokov to Katharine White, May 30, 1948.

“quiet summer in green surroundings”: VNAY, p. 131.

“wrinkled-dwarf Cambridge flatlet”: Ibid.

“ends with a feeling of hopelessness”: Ibid.

Nabokov appreciated Wilson’s gift: Letter from Vladimir Nabokov to Edmund Wilson, June 10, 1948, Dear Bunny, Dear Volodya: The Nabokov-Wilson Letters, 1940–1971, ed. Simon Karlinsky, p. 178.

“I was always interested in psychology”: Field, VN: The Life and Art of Vladimir Nabokov, p. 212.

Her legal name: Sally Horner’s birth certificate, issued by the State of New Jersey Department of Health, April 18, 1937, obtained from the Department of Health office in May 2017.

When the subject came up: Interview with Diana Chiemingo, August 2014, and again in July 2017.

William Ralph Swain: Susan Panaro’s birth certificate listing Swain as her father, State of New Jersey Department of Health, No vember 1926, obtained from the Department of Health office in May 2017.

One subject they all fretted about: Interview with Diana Chiemingo, July 2016.

That’s where Ella met Russell Horner: Asbury Park Press, December 9, 1935, p. 9, and June 9, 1936, p. 7.

As for Russell Junior: Social Security application, February 1937.

Susan remembered the beatings: Interviews with Al Panaro and Diana Chiemingo, August 2014.

She took Susan and Sally to Camden: Camden telephone directory, 1946.

Russell became itinerant: Interview with Al Panaro, 2014.

He lost his driver’s license: “‘Short Cut’ Costs Autoist License,” Philadelphia Inquirer, March 27, 1942, p. 27.

By the beginning of 1943: Asbury Park Press, March 26, 1943, p. 2.

Later, when it became necessary: Camden Courier-Post, March 22, 1950, p. I.

Her mother, Susannah: Obituary for Susannah Goff, Trenton Times, October 31, 1939; obituary for Job Goff, Asbury Park Press, January 12, 1943.

Susan, by now sixteen: Interview with Diana Chiemingo, July 2016; interview with Al Panaro, August 2014.

she and Al wed in Florence: Marriage certificate, NJSA.

Robert and Jean Pfeffer: Philadelphia Inquirer, March 24, 1950, p. 3.

At first Marshall Thompson worked: Joseph S. Wells, “Sleuth Closes Books on Tireless Search,” Camden Courier-Post, March 22, 1950, p. 9.

He had been promoted to detective: “Marshall Thompson,” DVRBS.com, http://www.dvrbs.com/people/CamdenPeopleMarsliallThompson.htm, accessed January 16, 2018.

“local pugilists”: Camden Courier-Post, January 2, 1928.

His musical ability was called out: Camden Courier-Post, November 3, 1939.

“quantity of sugar and cream”: Camden Courier-Post, March 22, 1950, p. 9.

“Of the nineteen fictions”: Martin Amis, “Divine Levity,” Times Literary Supplement, December 23, 2011.

suggested a more likely culprit: Roper, Nabokov in America, p. 150.

“an ape in the Jardin des Plantes”: Nabokov, “On a Book Entitled Lolita,” Anchor Review, 1957 (subsequently reprinted in the Putnam edition of Lolita and every edition since).

Nabokov supplementing his writing income: Beam, The Feud, p. 16.

The short story includes: “A Nursery Tale,” reprinted in The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov, pp. 161–172.

features the so-called demonic effect: “Lilith,” Poems and Problems (McGraw-Hill, 1969), reprinted in Selected Poems (Knopf, 2012), p. 84.

A paragraph in Dar: Nabokov, The Gift, pp. 176–177.

When Germany declared war: VNAY, p. 13.

“laid up with a severe attack”: Nabokov, “On a Book Entitled Lolita.”

“How can I come to terms”: Nabokov, The Enchanter, p. I.

“comparable to the one afforded”: Simon Karlinsky, “Nabokov’s Life and Lolita’s Death,” Washington Post, December 14, 1986.

As he later explained: Interview with Nabokov by Alfred Appel, Wisconsin Studies in Contemporary Literature 8 (1967).

Henry Lanz was a Stanford professor: VNAY, p. 33; Roper, Nabokov in America, p. 140.

Nabokov, however, denied it: Field, Nabokov: His Life in Part, p. 235.

A likely birth date: La Salle’s age was reported variably between fifty-two and fifty-six in 1950; his death certificate lists his birth date as May 27, 1896, and his Social Security application in 1944 lists May 27, 1895.

Frank Patterson and Nora LaPlante: Names listed on 1943 prison intake form, NJSA. Different parental names, as well as hometowns, appeared on La Salle’s Social Security application.

He said he served… prison has no record: Prison intake form, 1943; conversations with Greg Bognich, archivist, National Archives, Kansas City, KS.

every time he changed aliases: “Police Record of Girl’s Abductor,” Camden Courier-Post, March 22, 1950, p. I.

It is as Fogg that a sharper picture: News Journal (Wilmington, Delaware), August 3, 1937, p. 24.

He met her at a carnival: Philadelphia Inquirer, August 3, 1937, p. 3.

Which they did: Cecil County marriage license of Dorothy May Dare and Frank La Salle, July 31, 1937, obtained from the Maryland State Archives.

Dorothy’s father… was livid: Philadelphia Inquirer, August 4, 1937, p. 2.

“He told me the truth”: Philadelphia Inquirer, August 3, 1937.

The next morning, La Salle appeared: Philadelphia Inquirer, August 4, 1937.

La Salle was fined fifty dollars: Philadelphia Inquirer, August 12, 1937, p. 2.

arrested La Salle on bigamy charges: Camden Courier-Post, March 22,1950, p. I.

Dorothy sued Frank for desertion: Ibid.

Three Camden police officers: Camden Courier-Post, March 25, 1950, p. 6.

The five girls: Names taken from Dorothy Dare’s divorce petition against Frank La Salle, La Salle v. La Salle, Superior Court of New Jersey, 151-246-W127-796 (1944).

Sergeant Wilkie swore out a warrant: Camden Courier-Post, March 25,1950, p. 6.

La Salle pleaded not guilty: Court docket, NJSA.

Dorothy and Madeline had moved: Interview with “Madeline La Salle,” August 2014; La Salle v. La Salle, Superior Court of New Jersey.

La Salle was paroled: Camden Courier-Post, March 22, 1950, p. I; prison intake form, 1950, NJSA; draft registration card, June 29, 1944; Social Security application, June 28,1944.

a forged $110 check: Camden Courier-Post, March 22, 1950.

La Salle returned to Trenton State Prison: Ibid.; prison intake form, 1946, NJSA.

She’d found work as a seamstress: Philadelphia Inquirer, December 10, 1948, p. I.

The case had taken on added urgency: March 17, 1949, indictment date mentioned in subsequent reports by the Philadelphia Inquirer and Camden Courier-Post, March 22, 1950.

Dorothy Forstein’s disappearance: “Kidnapping Story Spurs Search for Wife of Forstein,” Philadelphia Inquirer, October 23, 1949, p. I.

The Friday night after Dorothy vanished: “Reward Offered for Clue to Wife,” Camden Courier-Post, November 17, 1949, p. 24.

Dorothy was declared legally dead: “Lost Wife Ruled Dead,” Philadelphia Inquirer, October 15, 1957, p. 23.

Ella had difficulty sleeping: “A Tree Grows, a Lonely Mother Waits,” Philadelphia Inquirer, December 10, 1948, p. 1.

Mitchell Cohen was appointed: Obituary of Mitchell Cohen, NewYork Times, January 10, 1991.

did not have enough major crime: Gillette, Camden After the Fall,p. 25.

state party’s de facto leader: Camden Courier-Post, November 7, 1950, p. 3.

many jobs he held in law enforcement: Obituary of Mitchell Cohen, Philadelphia Inquirer, January 10, 1991.

In his bespoke suits: Interview with Fredric Cohen, November 2017.

He’d met Herman Levin: Camden Courier-Post, June 1, 1956, p. 2.

Cohen also became a theatrical producer: Ibid.; also “Music Fair Opens to 1500,” Camden Courier-Post, June 4, 1957, p. 1.

early in his tenure: “Make Up in Court,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 24, 1938, p. 19.

the murder of Wanda Dworecki: Account draws from coverage in the Camden Courier-Post and the Philadelphia Inquirer, as well as State of New Jersey v. Dworecki, January II, 1940, and Daniel Allen Hearn, Legal Executions in New Jersey: A Comprehensive Registry (Mc-Farland, 2005), pp. 376–377.

Shewchuk was paroled in 1959: “Pastor Put to Death in 1940,” Camden Courier-Post, July 11, 2000, p. 6.

the death of twenty-three-year-old Margaret McDade: Account draws from coverage in the Camden Courier-Post and wire reports from the Associated Press, United Press, International News Service, and more.

Howard Auld did not die: “Auld Dies Tonight as Final Pleas of Mercy Are Denied,” Camden Courier-Post, March 27, 1951, p. 1.

six-year-old June Robles: Obituary of June Robles, New York Times, October 31, 2017, supplied the bulk of details for this section.

Stan visited her parents: See Christine McGuire and Carla Norton, Perfect Victim (Arbor House/Morrow, 1988), for a complete account of the Colleen Stan case.

Dugard’s eighteen-year bond: See Jaycee Dugard, A Stolen Life (2011); Elizabeth Smart, My Story (2013); and Amanda Berry and Gina Dejesus, Hope (2015), for further information on these cases.

had taken a taxicab: Mitchell Cohen statement, as reported by the Camden Courier-Post, April 3,1950.

Sally later said: Camden Courier-Post, March 22, 1950, p. 1.

around West Franklin Street: Several addresses on this street were listed in an affidavit included with State of New Jersey v. Frank La Salle, A-7-54 (1954).

rape became a regular occurrence: Camden Courier-Post, March 22, 1950, p. 1.

To enroll Sally at Saint Ann’s: Affidavit included with State of New Jersey v. Frank La Salle, A-7-54 (1954).

Sally got used to the new name: Philadelphia Inquirer, March 23, 1950, p. 1.

Breakfast in hand: “GEM F: On the Road to Hell,” from Mary Reardon, Catholic Schools Then and Now (Badger Books, 2004), offered a contemporaneous account of an elementary school student in the 1940s that proved helpful in imagining a typical day for Sally Horner during this time frame.

Camden believed in its own prosperity: Gillette, Camden After the Fall, p. 38.

At eight o’clock that morning: This account of the Howard Unruh massacre is drawn from several sources, including Seymour Shu-bin, “Camden’s One-Man Massacre,” Tragedy-of-the-Month, December 1949; Meyer Berger, “Veteran Kills 12 in Mad Rampage on Camden Street,” New York Times, September 7, 1949; “…He Left a Trail of Death,” Camden Courier-Post, September 7,1974; Patrick Sauer, “The Story of the First Mass Murder in U.S. History,” Smithsonian.com, October 14, 2015.

For Marshall Thompson: “Marshall Thompson,” DVRBS.com.

Ferry had just finished: “John J. Ferry,” DVRBS.com, http://www.dvrbs.com/people/CamdenPeople-JohnFerryJr.htm.

“When the other cops started arriving”: Camden Courier-Post, September 7, 1974. Reproduced at http://www.dvrbs.com/people/CamdenPeople-HowardUnruh.htm.

Cohen walked over to the police station: Ibid.

He died in 2009… the last survivor: Obituary of Howard Unruh, New York Times, October 19, 2009; obituary of Charles Cohen, Camden Courier-Post, September 9, 2009.

Nabokov finished the 1948–1949 academic year: This account of Vladimir Nabokov’s whereabouts in the summer of 1949 is almost entirely drawn from VNAY, pp. 136–144.

“coach in French and fondle in Humbertish”: Lolita, p. 35.

“white-frame horror”: Ibid.

“You’re a detestable, abominable, criminal fraud”: Ibid., p. 96.

The journey from Baltimore to Dallas: Calculated via Google Maps.

However they traveled: Affidavit of Nelrose Pfeil, included with State of New Jersey v. La Salle, A-7-54 (1954).

The park was designed like a horseshoe: Interview with Tom Pfeil, November 2017.

La Salle had changed their names again: Philadelphia Inquirer, March 23, 1950.

The trailer park was owned: Interview with Tom Pfeil, November 2017.

He also enrolled Sally: Reproduction of a report card included with State of New Jersey v. La Salle, A-7-54 (1954).

Our Lady of Good Counsel no longer exists: See “Our Lady of Good Counsel, Oak Cliff,” https://flashbackdallas.com/2017/10/01/our-lady-of-good-counsel-oak-cliff-1901-1961/.

Her neighbors thought Sally: Affidavits from Nelrose Pfeil, Maude Smillie, Josephine Kagamaster, included with State of New Jersey v. La Salle, A-7-54 (1954).

She’d suffered an appendicitis attack: Camden Courier-Post, March 23, 1950.

Ruth Janisch and her family: Interviews with “Vanessa Janisch,” 2015 and 2016, and “Rachel Janisch,” May 2017.

her second husband, Everett Findley: Marriage license of Ruth Douglass and Everett Findley, 1936.

She met husband number three: The 1940 census recorded Ruth, Findley, and Janisch all residing at the same home.

George and Ruth ran off: Marriage license, October 24,1940.

“He never let Sally”: Camden Courier-Post, March 27, 1950, p. 1.

El Cortez Motor Inn: Philadelphia Inquirer, March 22, 1950, p. 1; corroborated by a 1960 listing of motor courts obtained at the California Room, San Jose Public Library, July 2017.

Police in uniform shorts: “We’ll Take the High Road,” American Road Buildings Association, 1957, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnrqUHF5bH8.

The friend told Sally: Camden Courier-Post, March 22, 1950, p. 1; Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, April 2, 1950.

On the morning of March 21: Camden Courier-Post, March 22, 1950, p. 1; Philadelphia Inquirer, March 22,1950, p. 2; and other newspaper accounts.

Her brother-in-law, Al Panaro: Interview with Al Panaro, August 2014.

Hornbuckle had been elected: Howard Hornbuckle scrapbook, pp. 85–86, California Room, San Jose Public Library; Clerk-Recorder’s Office, Santa Clara County Archives, Santa Clara, CA.

“Please get me away from here”: Philadelphia Inquirer, March 22, 1950.

She started at the beginning: Camden Courier-Post, March 22, 1950.

Ella Horner was overjoyed: Ibid.; also Central New Jersey Home News, March 22, 1950, p. 8.

Later that day: “Sally’s Mother ‘Relieved,’ Admits She Was ‘Foolish,’” Camden Courier-Post, March 22, 1950, p. 1.

“machina telephonica and its sudden god”: Lolita, p. 205.

“all a-jitter lest delay”: Ibid., p. no.

“Give me some dimes and nickels”: Ibid., p. 141.

“At the hotel we had separate rooms”: Ibid., p. 142.

La Salle was charged: The White-Slave Traffic Act, or the Mann Act, is a U.S. federal law, passed June 25, 1910 (ch. 395, 36 Stat. 825; codified as amended at 18 U.S.C. §§ 2421–2424).

On the morning of March 22: Camden Courier-Post, March 23, 1950.

Commissioner Marshall Hall presided: “Sex Criminal Held as Girl Makes Charges Against Him,” San Bernardino County Sun, March 23, 1950, p. 1.

When police officers attempted: “La Salle Held Under Mann Act,” Morning News (Wilmington, Delaware), March 24, 1950, p. 1.

Even if he raised the full $10,000 bond: Camden Courier-Post, March 24,1950, p. 1.

Back in Camden: Taken from Sally’s statement reported by the Camden Courier-Post, March 22, 1950, p. 1.

A Camden grand jury: Camden Courier-Post, March 24, 1950, p. 1; Philadelphia Inquirer, March 24, 1950, p. 1.

Cohen, Dube, and Thompson flew: “Cohen Flies to Calif, to Return La Salle on Kidnap Charge,” Camden Courier-Post, March 27, 1950, p. 1.

On Thursday, Sally was released: “Sally Meets Mother Again After 21 Mos.,” Camden Courier-Post, April 1, 1950, p. 1.

Ella waited at the airport: “Sally’s Mother Waited a Long Time to Hold Kidnaped Daughter Again,” Camden Courier-Post, April 1, 1950, p. 2.

Frank La Salle wasn’t allowed: Camden Courier-Post, March 30, 1950, p. 1.

The solution was to transport La Salle: “Kidnap Victim Will Fly Home Tomorrow,” Oakland Tribune, March 30, 1950, p. 51.

Mitchell Cohen was at the train station: Camden Courier-Post, March 31, 1950, p. 1.

La Salle, Detective Thompson, and Detective Dube: Philadelphia Inquirer, March 30, 1950, p. 2.

City of San Francisco: Extrapolated from sample train timetable, Union Pacific Railroad Company, Omaha, NE, Union Pacific Railroad Time Tables, April 1948, The Cooper Collection of US Railroad History.

New York–bound General: Times corroborated at American-Rails.com, https://www.american-rails.com/gnrl.html.

the trio of men: Camden Courier-Post, March 31, 1950, p. 1.

Mitchell Cohen told the press later on Sunday: Camden Courier-Post, April 2, 1950, p. 1.

Cohen arrived at the jail: “La Salle Given 30 Years,” Camden Courier-Post, April 3, 1950, p. 1.

Judge Palese asked Cohen: Quoted text taken from State v. Frank La Salle, 19 N.J. Super. 510 (1952).

Because Frank La Salle pleaded guilty: Camden Courier-Post, April 4, 1950, p. 1.

Vladimir Nabokov spent the morning: VNAY, pp. 146–147.

“I have followed your example”: Letter from Nabokov to Katharine White, March 24, 1950, reprinted from Selected Letters: 1940–1977, p. 98.

But as Nabokov told James Laughlin: Letter from Nabokov to James Laughlin, April 27, 1950, ibid., p. 99.

described in their diary: Diary entry, November 17, 1958.

Robert Roper… was certainly convinced: Email to the author, August 25, 2016.

“will be given a choice”: Lolita, p. 151.

“Only the other day we read”: Ibid., p. 150.

Nabokov scholar Alexander Dolinin: “Whatever Happened to Sally Horner?,” Times Literary Supplement, September 9, 2005.

“the stealthy thought”: Lolita, p. 204.

“When she went away she was a little girl”: Camden Courier-Post, April 1, 1950, p. 2.

a family outing to the Philadelphia Zoo: Film clip provided by Diana Chiemingo, with permission.

“She has a definite ambition”: Philadelphia Inquirer, March 29, 1950, p. 3.

Ella opted for a compromise: Interview with Al Panaro, August 2014.

“they looked at her as a total whore”: Interview with Carol Taylor, August 2017.

“She had a little bit of a rough time”: Interview with Emma DiRenzo, November 2017.

Sally found refuge in the outdoors: Interview with Al Panaro, August 2014.

Vladimir and Véra left Ithaca: This chapter is largely drawn from VNAY, pp. 200–206; see also “Nabokov’s Summer Trips to the West” at http://www.d-e-zimmer.de/LolitaUSA/LoUSNab.htm.

“Silly situation… to be smitten”: Page-a-Day Diary, 1951, Berg.

The Nabokovs changed their itinerary: VNAY, pp. 217–221.

Carol Taylor no longer remembers: Interviews with Carol Taylor, December 2016 and August 2017.

Edward John Baker drove down: Vineland Daily Journal, August 20, 1952, p. 1.

He died in 2014: Obituary of Edward Baker, Vineland Daily Journal, July 28, 2014.

“She impressed me as a darn nice girl”: Vineland Daily Journal, August 20,1952, p. 1.

Ed Baker pulled onto the highway: “Crash at Shore Kills Girl Kidnap Victim,” Camden Courier-Post, August 18,1952, p. 1; “Victim of 1948 Kidnaping Killed,” Morning News (Wilmington, Delaware), August 19,1952, p. 1.

The trip from Wildwood to Vineland: Vineland Daily Journal, August 20,1952, p. 1.

Just after midnight on Monday: Wildwood Leader, August 21, 1952, p. 4; ‘W’bine Crews at 4-Vehicle Crash Scene,” Cape May County Gazette, August 21,1952, p. 1.

The death certificate: Unredacted copy of Sally Horner’s death certificate obtained from NJSA.

The damage to her face: Interview with Al Panaro, August 2014.

Carol Starts was woken up: Interview with Carol Taylor, December 2016.

Vladimir Nabokov opened up a newspaper: Geographic location from VNAY, pp. 217–219.

The handwritten card reads as follows: Reproduced from LOC.

As Alexander Dolinin explained: Dolinin, “Whatever Happened to Sally Horner?”

“a golden-skinned, brown-haired nymphet”: Lolita, p. 288.

Rather, he writes: Dolinin, “Whatever Happened to Sally Horner?”

how much damage he has caused: Lolita, p. 285.

Véra’s diary note: Page-a-Day Diary, 1958, Berg.

“charming brat lifted from an ordinary existence”: Letter to Nabokov from Stella Estes, quoted in VNAY, p. 236.

why Nabokov himself ranked Lolita: Page-a-Day Diary, September 17,1958.

a front-page interview with Edward Baker: “Vineland Youth, Bewildered by Publicity, Describes Sally Horner as ‘Darn Nice Girl,’” Vineland Daily Journal, August 21, 1952, p. 1.

After he was treated: Camden Courier-Post, August 18, 1952, p. 1; “Driver Held at Shore in Horner Girl’s Death,” Camden Courier-Post, August 20,1952, p. 11.

not Baker’s first car accident: Vineland Daily Journal, July 24, 1951, p. 2.

Sally Horner’s funeral: “Private Burial Held for Sally Horner,” Camden Courier-Post, August 22, 1952, p. 4.

Emleys Hill Cemetery in Cream Ridge: See https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11035529.

For Carol Starts, the funeral was awful: Interviews with Carol Taylor, December 2016 and August 2017.

Frank La Salle made his presence known: Interview with Al Panaro, August 2014.

The first court hearing: “Vineland Youth Freed in $1000 Bond Following Fatal Crash Near Shore,” Vineland Daily Journal, August 19, 1952, p. 1; “One Fined in Fatal Crash,” Cape May County Gazette, August 28, 1952, p. 4; September session, Cape May County Court (Criminal), September 3, 1952, pp. 19–21.

The most serious charge: The State v. Edward J. Baker, Indictment No. 283, New Jersey Superior Court, Cape May County, September 3, 1952.

The following week: September session, Cape May County Court (Criminal), September 10, 1952, pp. 25–26; “2 Plead Not Guilty in Girl’s Death,” Camden Courier-Post, September 12, 1952, p. 10; “Motorist Held in Death of Two,” Morning News (Wilmington, Delaware), September 15,1952, p. 12.

Carol was called to testify: Interview with Carol Taylor, August 2017.

Judge Tenenbaum threw out the charge: January session, Cape May County Court (Criminal), January 15, 1953, p. 63.

He faced a cluster of civil actions: “Civil Trials Set to Begin Before Jury,” Cape May County Gazette, May 14, 1953, p. 1; “$115,800 Damage Suits Settled Out of Court,” Camden Courier-Post, May 22, 1953, p. 15.

The byzantine nature of the lawsuits: “Fatal Accident Suits Resume After Mistrial,” Cape May County Gazette, May 21, 1953, p. 1.

A new hearing lasted two days: Camden Courier-Post, May 22, 1953, p. 15; “Consolidated Trial Suits Settled,” Cape May County Gazette, May 28, 1953, p. 2.

Written beside his name: Minutes, Cape May County Court (Criminal), June 30, 1954, p. 213.

a writ of habeas corpus: United States District Court for the State of New Jersey, C 679-50, “In the Matter of the Application of Frank La Salle for a Writ of Habeas Corpus,” December 14, 1950.

Hughes was so incensed by La Salle’s lies: “Kidnaper Seeking His Release from N.J. State Prison,” Camden Courier-Post, September 21, 1951, p. 1.

He kept on, in a lengthy series: State of New Jersey v. La Salle, Superior Court of New Jersey, A-7-54 (1955).

Tom Pfeil denied she’d ever said: Interview with Tom Pfeil, June 2017.

his mother’s supposed statement: State of New Jersey v. La Salle, Superior Court of New Jersey, A-7-54 (1955).

Frank La Salle also wrote letters: Interview with “Vanessa Janisch,” May 2017.

Her mother, Dorothy: Obituary, Camden Courier-Post, August 2011.

Madeline did not learn any details: Interview with “Madeline,” August 2014.

He appealed his sentence: State of New Jersey v. Frank La Salle, Superior Court of New Jersey, A-343-51 (1961).

He died of arteriosclerosis: Death certificate, State of New Jersey Department of Public Health.

another sensational crime: “Charge Is Due Today in ‘Perfect Murder,’” New York Times, September 2, 1952, p. 17.

this case got an entire paragraph: Lolita, p. 287.

The G. Edward Grammer case: Case summary is derived from State v. George Edward Grammer (Transcripts), George E. Grammer, 1952, Box 1 No. 3544 [MSA T 496-67, 0/2/2/39], as well as subsequent appeals, including Grammer v. State (1953) and Grammer v. Maryland (1954). The entire case file is deposited at the Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, MD.

openly critical of mystery novels: Catherine Theimer Nepomnyaschy, “Revising Nabokov Revising the Detective Novel: Vladimir, Agatha, and the Terms of Engagement,” The Proceedings of the International Nabokov Conference, March 24–27, 2010, Kyoto, Japan. Available at http://www.columbia.edu/cu/creative/epub/harriman/2015/fall/nabakov_and_the_detective_novel.pdf.

called out Dostoevsky as a hack: Nabokov, Lectures on Russian Literature, p. 109—while this line is the opinion of the author, Nabokov’s judgment “Let us always remember that basically Dostoeveski [sic] is a writer of mystery stories” is meant to be pejorative.

As Véra told their close friend Morris Bishop: Schiff, Véra (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov), p. 232.

stabbing murders of Dr. Melvin Nimer and his wife: Nabokov almost certainly read “Prosecutor Says Boy, 8, Confesses Killing Parents; Boy Said to Admit Killing Parents,” New York Times, September 11, 1958, p. 1.

police detectives still claiming as recently as 2007: “Nimer Now” (video), Staten Island Advance, February 11, 2007, http://blog.silive.com/advancevideo/2007/02/nimer_now_458.html.

venture west one more time: VNAY, pp. 223–226.

Vladimir Nabokov wrote a note: Page-a-Day Diary, 1953, Berg.

“a novel I would be able to finish”: Letter from Nabokov to Edmund Wilson, June 15, 1951.

“crumpling each old manuscript sheet”: VNAY, p. 225.

“enormous, mysterious, heartbreaking novel”: Letter from Nabokov to Katharine White, September 29, 1953.

when Nabokov wrote to Edmund Wilson: Letter from Nabokov to Edmund Wilson, 1947.

The first time was in the fall of 1948: Schiff, Véra (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov), p. 166.

“Véra came to the rescue”: Roper, Nabokov in America, p. 149.

“one day in 1950”: Interview with Nabokov by Herbert Gold, Paris Review 41 (Fall 1957), reprinted in Nabokov, Strong Opinions, p. 105.

Lolita was ready to be submitted: VNAY, pp. 255–267.

Edmund Wilson read half: Letter from Edmund Wilson to Nabokov, November 30, 1954.

grew “negative and perplexed”: Letter from Mary McCarthy to Nabokov, November 30, 1954.

Wilson’s present wife, Elena: Letter from Elena Wilson to Nabokov, November 30, 1954.

parody piece in the New Yorker: Dorothy Parker, “Lolita,” New Yorker, August 27, 1955, p. 32.

Nabokov joked to Edmund Wilson: Letter from Nabokov to Edmund Wilson, February 19, 1955.

founder and publisher of Olympia Press: Account is drawn in large part from John De St. Jorre, Venus Bound: The Erotic Voyage of the Olympia Press and Its Writers.

submitted Lolita to Girodias: VNAY, p. 265.

As Nabokov later recalled: “Lolita and Mr. Girodias,” Evergreen Review 45 (1967), reprinted in Nabokov, Strong Opinions.

Nabokov received a letter from Walter Minton: Letter to Nabokov from Walter Minton, August 30, 1957, reprinted in Selected Letters: 1940–1977, pp. 224–225.

had succeeded his father, Melville: “Walter Minton on the House ‘Lolita’ Built,” New Yorker, January 8, 2018.

“I thought Nabokov had”: “The Lolita Case,” Time, November 17, 1958.

he had all but given up: Letter from Nabokov to Walter Minton, December 23, 1957.

Lolita had been banned in France: VNAY, pp. 310–315.

Minton’s letter augured a change: Letter from Nabokov to Walter Minton, September 7, 1957; letter from Véra Nabokov to Minton, September 19, 1957; De St. Jorre, Venus Bound, p. 144.

‘“Don’t ever open your mouth’”: Undated interview with Walter Minton by John De St. Jorre, quoted in Venus Bound. When I spoke to Minton in August 2017, he brought up the legality of Lolita’s copyright status without prompting: “I still wonder about that damn copyright.”

As Minton explained: Inference from Nabokov letters to Walter Minton, January–February 1958.

Vladimir and Véra Nabokov left Ithaca: VNAY, pp. 362–364.

“Vladimir was a tremendous success”: Page-a-Day Diary, August 1958, Berg.

Minton sent the following telegram: Reprinted in Selected Letters: 1940–1977, p. 257.

Elizabeth Janeway’s rave review: “The Tragedy of Man Driven by Desire,” New York Times Book Review, August 17, 1958.

The reorder number from retailers: VNAY, p. 365.

“ought to have happened thirty years ago”: Letter from Nabokov to Elena Sikorski, September 6, 1958.

The indefinite leave of 1958: VNAY, p. 378.

Peter Welding was a young freelance reporter: Obituary of Peter Welding, New York Times, November 23, 1995.

Welding remembered reading of Sally’s plight: “Lolita Has a Secret, Shhh!,” Nugget, vol. 8, no. 5, November 1963.

a New York Post reporter named Alan Levin: Obituary of Alan Levin, New York Times, February 17, 2006.

The Nabokovs subscribed: Manuscript box, miscellaneous clippings, 1960–1965, Berg.

Schiff… strongly advised against reading: Interview with Stacy Schiff, April 2017.

Decades after Ruth Janisch: Account is largely drawn from interviews with “Rachel Janisch,” May 2017, and “Vanessa Janisch,” March 2015, March 2016, and May 2017.

Ella had connected with a new partner: 1951 Camden telephone directory records both residing at 944 Linden Street.

made their union legal: California marriage records, 1965, retrieved through Ancestry.com.

Five years later, Burkett was dead: Death certificate, State of California Department of Public Health, 1970.

Diana didn’t learn the truth: Interview with Diana Chiemingo, August 2014.

Ella settled back in New Egypt: Obituary of Ella Horner, 1998, Ancestry.com.

Susan died in 2012, and Al passed away: Obituary of Susan Panaro, Burlington County Times, August 5, 2012; obituary of Al Panaro, KoschekandPorterFuneralHome.com, February 25, 2016.

“Did you say that Sally Horner”: Interview with Carol Taylor, December 2016; email from Robin Lee Hambleton, November 2017.

Edward Baker got on with his life: Obituary of Edward Baker, Vineland Daily Journal, July 28, 2014.

On the afternoon of Wednesday, May 17: Vineland Daily Journal, May 18, 2007.

The two Camden police detectives: “Wilfred L. Dube,” DVRBS.com, http://www.dvrbs.com/people/CamdenPeople-WilfredLDube.htm; “Marshall Thompson,” DVRBS.com.

Howard Hornbuckle served one more term: Obituary of Howard Hornbuckle, Petaluma (California) Argus-Courier, May 9, 1962, p. 4.

Mitchell Cohen’s health suffered: Camden Courier-Post, August 30, 1950, p. 1.

including… the 1955 execution: Camden Courier-Post, May 4, 1955, p 1.

Then came his next career move: Obituary of Mitchell Cohen, Camden Courier-Post, January 1991.

Palese eventually acquiesced: Obituary of Rocco Palese, Camden Courier-Post, February 27, 1987, p. 19.

Cohen served three years: Obituary of Mitchell Cohen, Asbury Park Press, January 9, 1991, p. 8.

Véra Nabokov continued: Page-a-Day Diary, 1958, Berg.

went out to dinner at Cafe Chambord: The account largely draws from Véra Nabokov’s November 26, 1958, entry in ibid.

unduly preoccupied with a Time magazine article: “The Lolita Case,” Time, November 17, 1958.

unbylined but written by… Joyce Haber: Haber worked at Time as a researcher and reporter from 1958 through 1966. While Minton did not comment on whether he had a relationship with Haber, a former colleague recognized the writing as Haber’s.

Comedians turned Lolita into late-night fodder: VNAY, p. 375.

Another bizarre stunt: Ibid., pp. 415–416.

“by nature I am no dramatist”: Preface to Lolita: A Screenplay, p. ix.

changed his mind about adapting Lolita: Letter from Nabokov to Morris Bishop, Selected Letters: 1940–1977, p. 309.

“a graceful ingenue but not my idea”: Nabokov, “On a Book Entitled Lolita,” Novels, 1955–1962, p. 672.

“I didn’t have to play Lolita”: Interview in the New York Times, 1971.

European newspapers: Manuscript box, miscellaneous clippings, 1960, Berg.

“a first-rate film with magnificent actors”: VNAY, p. 466.

gave his approval for the musical: Ibid., p. 583.

“I think he’s crude”: Interview with Nabokov by Robert Hughes, WNET, September 2, 1965, reprinted in Nabokov, Strong Opinions.

The irritation is evident: Interview with Nabokov, BBC, July 1962, reprinted in Nabokov, Strong Opinions, p. 15.

He denied Humbert Humbert: Paris Review, “The Art of Fiction No. 40,” 1967.

After one stern denial: BBC interview, reprinted in Strong Opinions, p. 17.

“with crooning sounds and fancy endearments”: Nabokov, Speak, Memory, p. 49.

“The desperate truth of Lolita’s story”: Nafisi, Reading Lolita in Tehran, p. 33.