Speaking Ill of the Dead: Jerks in New Mexico History

Speaking Ill of the Dead: Jerks in New Mexico History features nineteen short profiles of notorious bad guys, perpetrators of mischief, visionary if misunderstood thinkers, and other colorful antiheroes from the history of the Land of Enchantment. It reveals the dark side of some well-known and even revered characters from New Mexicos past—both part-time Jerks and others who were Jerks through and through.

They include:

• Pancho Villa—the notorious Mexican revolutionary who led the last foreign invasion of the continental United States

• Paula Angel—a jilted lover whose murder conviction earned her the notoriety of being the only woman ever executed in New Mexico

• Bronco Bill Walters—the murderous train robber who hid his loot so well that he never found it . . . nor has anyone else

Each volume in this series features approximately fifteen short biographies of notorious bad guys, perpetrators of mischief, visionary if misunderstood thinkers, and other colorful antiheroes from the history of a given state. The villainous, the misguided, and the misunderstood all get their due in these entertaining yet informing books.

Sam Lowe was born on the plains of North Dakota, where he began his newspaper career as a delivery boy for the Kensal Times. He migrated to "warm and snowless" Arizona in 1969, where he has written for a variety of newspapers, establishing "The Lowe Road" series, featuring unusual people, places, and things across Arizona. Compilations of his work have appeared in book form. Named Humor Columnist of the Year by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, Lowe continues "The Lowe Road" for the Arizona Republic, as well as contributing stories to Arizona Highways, Arizona Highroads, and other state publications. He is also the author of GPP's You Know You're in Arizona. Sam Lowe lives in Phoenix.