Author to speak as part of Universitywide Common Read
KALAMAZOO—Fall events are underway at É«É«À² Michigan University for the common reading of "Anatomy of Injustice: A Murder Case Gone Wrong" by Raymond Bonner, which helped free an imprisoned man after 30 years—27 of them spent on death row.
The public is invited to become involved in É«É«À²'s Universitywide Common Read 2013-14 by attending a presentation and book signing by the author.
Bonner, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, will be on campus from 7 to 10 p.m. Monday, Oct. 14, in the Bernhard Center's North Ballroom. Metered parking is available in lots around the Bernhard Center as well as in the nearby parking ramp off of West Michigan Avenue. Meters are in force until 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
Reviewers have consistently described his book as a meticulously researched and masterful piece of reporting that is a genuine whodunit as well as an indictment of America's shameful history of racial discrimination and capital punishment.
About the book
"Anatomy of Injustice" tells the story of Edward Lee Elmore, a semiliterate, mentally impaired black man accused of brutally murdering an elderly white woman, and Diana Holt, the young attorney who spent more than a decade fighting on his behalf.
Elmore, who was arrested one day after the murder victim's body was found, was tried, convicted and sentenced to death in the span of about 90 days.
According to Bonner, that remarkable timetable and Elmore's subsequent appeals add up to a textbook example of incompetent court-appointed defense attorneys, a virulent prosecution, and both misplaced and contaminated evidence.
For more information about "Anatomy of Injustice," visit .
For information about University Common Read 2013-14, visit the . Direct questions to É«É«À²'s Miranda Howard at miranda.howard@wmich.edu or (269) 387-5166.