"A Crime That's So Unjust!" Chris Crowe Tells About the Death of Emmett Till

ALAN Review, Spring 2003 by Blasingame, Jim

The details of the Emmett Till case, of course, are singularly horrifying. Here's a boy, barely 14 years old, the only child of a widow, who ends up kidnapped, tortured, and murdered for being rude to a white woman. The blatant racism during the trial was incomprehensible to me, and the cocky pride his murderers had for "doing their duty" was simply stunnine. It was hard for me to believe that there really are people like that. Anyway, being immersed in this story for the years I spent researching and writing about this case kept me in a perpetual dark cloud of sadness. I have to admit, that when I finally finished both books, I felt a ton of relief, not just because the projects were done but because I could finally emerge from all the dark stuff I'd been dealing with for so very long.

For me, one of the most painful aspects of Emmett's story was his tragic death. I have four children of my own, and I can barely imagine the agony Emmett's mother endured when she learned what had happened to her only child. In the course of my research, I had the opportunity to have two long phone interviews with his mother, Mamie Till Mobley, and she was a remarkable, noble woman. If I had been her, I'm afraid I would have been festering with hate about the whole thing, but she had this regal charm about her, very gracious, very smart, very objective. When I was talking with her, I felt a sort of awe - here I was, a nobody white guy talking with the woman who was a big part of the civil rights movement, a woman who has shared speaking engagements with Rosa Parks. Mrs. Mobley was polite and kind and so very open. It was clear that she still mourned the death of her son, but also that she had forgiven his killers. What a magnificent woman! Those conversations with her were the high points of my work on these books.

JB: How did you ever find the time to write these two books? You have a full schedule as a professor at BYU, you were president of the ALAN at the time, you have a family, and many other obligations; I'm sure. Do you have a time management secret?

CC: I don't have any secrets about getting writing done. In fact, I usually feel like I'm an unorganized, undisciplined slacker. The research was interesting and seemingly never ending, and I realized at one point I was using research as an excuse to avoid writing. Anyway, I didn't set any writing speed records. I started research on the novel way back in 1997 and started writing in earnest the following year. I had other writing projects going on at the same time - and, of course, all the stuff that comes with teaching at a university - so I had plenty of distractions. My best writing period came when I'd go to a carrel in the library every morning and work on the novel for one or two or three hours. That daily rhythm helped me finish the first draft, and I still do my best writing when I can work on it daily. Though the university provides lots of work that takes me away from writing, it also offers support and much more flexibility than I had when I was a high school teacher. That flexibility and support really helps my writing. Here's what I know about writing - and about most things in life: we make time to do what we really want to do.