People longing for the good old days of platform shoes and mirror balls might reflect on how weirdly violent the 1970s really were.
In his new book, "American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst," Jeffrey Toobin mentions, by way of introduction, that there were 1,962 actual and attempted bombings in the U.S. in 1972.
The next year there were 1,955. In 1974 there were 2,044 bombings, with 24 killed. “When you think about what a single bomb means in 2016, the idea of 1,000 is almost inconceivable,” said Toobin. “It’s just indicative of how crazy the country was.”
The terrorism was just one ingredient in a violent, poisonous stew, said Toobin, who comes to Atlanta Nov. 19 to discuss his new book.
"It wasn't just the bombings," said Toobin, during a recent telephone conversation, "it was also Watergate, the energy crisis, and in the Bay Area you had these serial killers, the Zebra murders, the Zodiac Killer. It all puts the Hearst kidnapping in context. It was aberrational, but it wasn't that aberrational."
Nonetheless, one of the most spectacular images handed down from that era of extremity was a machine-gun-wielding Patty Hearst, posed in front of the seven-headed serpent of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a kidnapped multi-millionairess who has just joined her captors, the murderous radical left.
America, it appeared, had lost its mind.
Toobin, the author of "The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson," is a premier chronicler of the courts, and he takes special interest in the Hearst trial. He will discuss the verdict — and her extraordinary presidential pardon — during an appearance at the Book Festival of the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, which takes place Nov. 5-20.
While the concept of the Stockholm Syndrome had yet to enter the American consciousness, Hearst’s defenders tried vainly to prove that her many crimes committed after the kidnapping were under duress.
In the course of his reporting, Toobin had access to a cache of documents that he purchased from Bill Harris, one of the few surviving members of the SLA, who had hoped at one time to write a book about his experiences. (Hearst would not speak with Toobin.)
“I went into this just basically out of curiosity,” said Toobin. “As I learned what happened and did my reporting, it became apparent to me that Patty Hearst committed a hell of a lot of crimes. I knew, like most people, that she robbed the one bank. But I had no idea that she robbed two other banks and participated in all these bombings, and shot up a street in Los Angeles.”
In fact one of the scenes that Toobin recounts with restrained humor occurs months after her kidnapping, when her fellow SLA members, Harris and his wife Emily, are tackled by an ambitious clerk at a sporting goods store, after Bill tries to shoplift a bandolier.
Hearst, waiting on the street behind the wheel of their van, sees the ruckus on the sidewalk in front of the store. To rescue her companions, she grabs a sub-machine gun, aims it out the window, and fires off 30 rounds in the direction of the store, shattering the plate glass window. Amazingly, she kills no one.
“So much of the SLA story is practically comic because of how crazy and inept they were,” said Toobin, “but the comedy should never make you forget the death of these two people.”
The first of those two victims was Marcus Foster, the African-American superintendent of Oakland schools, who SLA leader Donald “Cinque” DeFreeze had determined, with idiot logic, was an enemy of the people.
DeFreeze’s tiny revolutionary cadre gunned down Foster in November 1973 as he left a school board meeting.
The second death was Myrna Opsahl, a customer killed during an SLA robbery of the Crocker National Bank in Carmichael. This crime occurred 10 weeks after the kidnapping. By this time, Hearst was a tested member of the SLA team. She waited, again, behind the wheel of the get-away van, a carbine cradled in her arms.
On this occasion, and at every other subsequent opportunity, Hearst chose to stay with her captors and further their cause. While all of her crimes were committed after she was violently kidnapped, blindfolded and stuffed in a closet, Toobin concludes that Hearst had wholeheartedly joined the SLA cause, itching for a chance to kill some “pigs.”
A year and a half later, after she was arrested and charged with bank robbery, Hearst went through another change of heart, and turned back into the daughter of privilege, testifying against her colleagues and her boyfriend and seeking the best deal possible. “In the closet, she became a revolutionary; in the jail cell, she became a Hearst,” writes Toobin.
After Jimmy Carter commuted Hearst’s sentence in 1979, she was pardoned by Bill Clinton on the last day of his presidency, Jan. 20, 2001. She went on to appear in a few wacky John Waters movies and to raise dogs. Her shih tzu, Rocket, took first place in the toy category at the Westminster Kennel Club show in 2015.
What Toobin can’t explain is why an heiress would decide, if only momentarily, to abandon the life of a millionaire and fight a half-baked revolution. “It was a bizarre decision to make, but it was a time when a lot of middle class kids made bizarre decisions,” he said.
The lesson for contemporary readers: It is difficult to predict where the seeds of fanaticism will sprout, whether we’re looking at jihadists or home-grown revolutionaries.
“There are millions of people exposed to the same experiences as the terrorists are,” said Toobin. “Millions do not become terrorists, but some do. Then as now, it’s hard to know what will flip the switch.”
EVENT PREVIEW
Book Festival of the MJCCA.
Nov. 5-20. Ticket prices vary. Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody. 678-812-3981, www.atlantajcc.org.
MUST-SEE AUTHORS AT THE BOOK FESTIVAL
Kenny Loggins. Loggins, the laid-back '70s musiciain turned movie soundtrack hit machine, gives an acoustic performance and chats about "Footloose," a children's book based on his monster single. 8:15 p.m., Nov. 5, $33, $28 members, $75 premier; all tickets include a copy of the book. Premier tickets include priority seating and VIP signing line.
Shep Gordon. The manager, agent and producer talks about "They Call Me Supermensch," his memoir of working with Alice Cooper, Bette Davis, Sylvester Stallone, Salvador Dali, Luther Vandross, Teddy Pendergrass and many others. In conversation with Kenny Leon. 8 p.m., Nov. 12; a documentary on Gordon, "Supermensch," will be screened at 6:30 p.m. $24, $18 members; ticket includes author talk and film.
Harriet Levin Millan. Millan discusses "How Fast Can you Run," about the Lost Boys of Sudan. Appearing with Millan is Michael Majok Kuch, one of the Sudanese boys, now a young man. Millan will be interviewed by Derreck Kayongo, CEO of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. 3:30 p.m., Nov. 20. Free.
Peter Bergen. A CNN security analyst, Bergen examines the threat of homegrown terrorism in "United States of Jihad." 7:30 p.m., Nov. 10; $24, $18 members.
Robert Wittman. "The Devil's Diary" looks at the genesis of the Holocaust in the recently rediscovered diary of Alfred Rosenberg, a top aide to Hitler. Wittman will appear with Brian Curtis, author of "Fields of Battles." Noon, Nov. 6; $15, $10 members.
Alice Hoffman. The author of "The Dovekeepers" will speak about "Faithful: A Novel" on a night dedicated to book clubs, with special group rates and an opportunity for members of clubs to sit together: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 14, $18, $13 members.
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