Sarah Weinman - The Real Lolita - The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel That Scandalized the World

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).