Mara Leveritt

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mara Leveritt is an American investigative reporter and author best known for examining the interaction of politics and criminal justice in certain serious crimes.[1][2] Her book The Boys on the Tracks,[3] about the unsolved murders of two teenage boys, has been called "a wrecking-ball tale of tragedy, malfeasance, and machine politics"[4] and "one of the most important examples of investigative journalism in modern Arkansas history."[5]

Devil's Knot,[6] the case of teenagers known as the West Memphis Three who were convicted of murdering three young boys, was "a riveting portrait of a down-at-the-heels, socially conservative rural town with more than its share of corruption and violence"[7] and "an indictment of a culture and legal system that failed to protect children as defendants or victims."[8][9] Publishers Weekly called her book Dark Spell[10] a "powerful look at how the wrong agenda can thoroughly undermine the justice system."[11]

Awards[]

Leveritt has been inducted into the Arkansas Writers' Hall of Fame[12] and awarded Arkansas's Booker Worthen Literary Prize (twice),[13] a Laman Writer's Fellowship,[14] Arkansas's Porter Prize,[15] and an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.[16]

References[]

  1. ^ Rosenberg, Jacob. "She worked one of the real cases behind "True Detective." She says we still haven't learned its lessons".
  2. ^ https://www.pryorcenter.uark.edu/project.php?thisProject=1
  3. ^ Leveritt, Mara. The Boys on the Tracks, St Martin's Press, 1999. ISBN 0-312-19841-8.
  4. ^ "THE BOYS ON THE TRACKS | Kirkus Reviews" – via www.kirkusreviews.com.
  5. ^ "Encyclopedia of Arkansas". Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
  6. ^ Devil's Knot, Simon & Schuster, 2002, ISBN 978-0-7434-1759-4
  7. ^ "Nonfiction Book Review: DEVIL'S KNOT: The True Story of the West Memphis Three by Mara Leveritt, Author . Atria $24 (432p) ISBN 978-0-7434-1759-4". PublishersWeekly.com.
  8. ^ Charles, Harry (Oct 15, 2002), "Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three." Library Journal, Vol 127 Issue 17, p 85, 1p.
  9. ^ Jordan, Tina; MacDonald, Ross (July 26, 2019). "50 States of True Crime (Published 2019)". The New York Times.
  10. ^ Dark Spell: Surviving the Sentence, Bird Call Press, 2014. ISBN 1499175752
  11. ^ "Nonfiction Book Review: Dark Spell: Surviving the Sentence by Mara Leveritt, with Jason Baldwin. Bird Call Press, $20 trade paper (290p) ISBN 978-1-4991-7575-2".
  12. ^ "Encyclopedia of Arkansas". Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
  13. ^ "Encyclopedia of Arkansas". Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
  14. ^ "Meet the Laman fellowship winners". Arkansas Online. October 7, 2014.
  15. ^ "Encyclopedia of Arkansas". Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
  16. ^ Brantley, Max (May 18, 2014). "Make that Dr. Mara Leveritt. UALR honors a famous grad".
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