Emmett Till Audio Book Set For January Release; Features Newly Told Civil
Rights Stories, Cold Case Findings, Regional 'Delta Blues' Music
Susan Klopfer lived on the grounds of Mississippi's Parchman Penitentiary for two years,
spending most days driving around the Delta and collecting civil rights stories from nearly
forgotten sources. She spoke with local people who were involved or who watched the drama
unfold from the sidelines -- like the mortician's assistant who prepared young Till's body before it
was shipped home to his mother for burial.
(PRWEB) December 15, 2009 -- Release of the first audio book of the Emmett Till story - Who Killed Emmett
Till? - is set for January 15, in time for February’s Black History month.
The story of Till, a 14-year-old Chicago boy killed in the Mississippi Delta in the summer of 1955, has
resurfaced as the FBI continues to focus on this and other cold cases from the modern civil rights movement.
“Emmett Till’s lynching sparked the modern civil rights movement. There are many people who still do not
know this important story and this audio book will help fill the gap,” Susan Klopfer, the book’s author, said.
While visiting the home of his uncle, in the small cotton town of Money, Emmett Till, his cousin, and several
other black youth went into the town’s general store. What actually happened is still disputed, Klopfer says, but
according to several versions, Till was dared by one of the other boys to flirt with white store owner’s wife,
21-year-old Carolyn Bryant.
“Some accounts state he whistled at her while others say he grabbed her hand and said ‘Bye, baby,’ as he left.
But other stories still linger, too. One woman told me that her mother said Emmett was just whistling for Bryant's
dog to come."
At about 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, August 28, Till was kidnapped from his uncle’s home and taken to a weathered
shed on a plantation in neighboring Sunflower County, where he was beaten and shot. A 70-pound cotton gin fan
was tied to his neck with barbed wire to