Synopses & Reviews
As the woman who won a longshot, landmark Supreme Court case to ban prayer in public schools--and also the fraudulent millionaire murdered for her money--Madalyn Murray O'Hair was one of the most powerful personalities of the twentieth century. Drawing on thousands of pages of court records, countless interviews, and never-before-released documents, investigative reporter Ted Dracos now shares the complete account of O'Hair's life--a reality that is truly stranger than fiction. With impeccable research, "Ungodly traces the events of this famous atheist, including her public skirmishes with the law and her remarkable legal maneuverings. Yet readers will learn that O'Hair's private life was as bizarre as her public life. For example, her husband had been paid to marry her--by J. Edgar Hoover. Dracos also explains in detail the murder of O'Hair, which was committed by a genius ex-con who hoped to pocket millions in one of the most complex and cunning schemes in American criminal history. Driven, fearless, and combative, O'Hair led one of the most unforgettable--and almost unbelievable--lives in American history. A seamless blend of biography and murder mystery, "Ungodly is a chilling portrait of a woman living in a complex time.
About the Author
Ted Dracos has had a wide-ranging career in media and communications. He began as a contributing writer/photojournalist for the Seattle Weekly. As an investigative television journalist, he has worked extensively in the area of social policy -- scientific, medical, and judicial -- for network affiliates in San Antonio, San Diego, and Minneapolis. He has also worked as a writer, producer, and consultant for ABC's 20/20, Fox's America's Most Wanted, and Orion Telepictures' Crimewatch. His work has been featured in Condé Nast's Self magazine and the American Journalism Review, among other publications. As an adjunct professor of broadcast journalism, he was a member of the faculty at Incarnate Word University in San Antonio. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, he lives in Concan, Texas.
Table of Contents
Contents
1. The Secret Place
2. The Making of an Atheist Amazon
3. Jihad!
4. Celebrity, Money, and Cultural Combat
5. Pup's Death
6. Victory on High: Madalyn at the Supreme Court
7. The Battle of Baltimore
8. The Fugitive and Scourge of the Islands
9. The Reverend Christos Logos
10. Mexican Fiasco
11. Texas and Freedom
12. The Atheist Empire and Gulag
13. The Family Dysfunctional
14. The Disastrous Final Offensive
15. David Waters
16. The Killer Inside
17. From the Brink to the Abyss
18. The Vanishing
19. The Mystery
20. Prospects -- New and Ominous
21. The October 2 Epiphany
22. The Feds
23. Brought to Bay
24. Trial in Absentia
25. The Deal Is Done
26. Endings
Author's Note
Acknowledgments
Index