Stephanie Burt Williams

Wicked Charlotte: the Sordid Side of the Queen City Stephanie Burt Williams

Description for Sales People: 1. While there are some older, familiar topics here (the gold rush in Charlotte, bootlegging, etc.) there are also several more recent stories that people may actually remember and be immediately interested in (football star Rae Carruth). 2. There's a cool article (the Appendix) from a 1950s magazine that highlights some of the sinister side of Charlotte back in the day. I thought this was really cool, as it's a firsthand source and has a different feel (very stylized writing) from the rest of the book. Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [93]-95). Publisher Marketing: Bootleggers, swindlers, gold miners and serial killers--Charlotte has courted them all. The Queen City is renowned for its skyline, sports teams and dizzying growth, but just below its smooth, polished exterior lies a dark past full of crime and myriad misdeeds. This second history of Charlotte has been concealed and often denied by those who retell the city's story, and by those who have lived it. Until now. In Wicked Charlotte, discover the tale of the Chicago gangsters who invaded the city looking to pull a heist to fund sinister maneuverings in their boss's criminal trial. Learn how a golden nugget found in a nearby creek changed Charlotte from a trading crossroads into a rough-and-tumble town full of fortune seekers bent on finding a quick dollar and instant riches. And read about the details of the death of one of Charlotte's most gifted writers, W. J. Cash, who met his end in a seedy hotel room in Mexico. This raucous book sheds light on these incidents and many more, revealing a side of Charlotte's history that few will recognize. The sordid events described here took place on familiar streets and in well-known neighborhoods, but rarely have the stories passed beyond the circles of those who lived them. Charlotte has played host to a multitude of villainous characters and has seen scores of unsavory deeds played out on its shadowy streets. Wicked Charlotte brings it all to the forefront, as never before.

Contributor Bio:  Williams, Stephanie Burt Stephanie Burt Williams, a professor of Southern Literature at Belmont Abbey College, admits she is a rarity in her city of newcomers--she's a fourth-generation Charlottean.