The Rebel Outlaw: Jose Wales was book by Forrest Carter, a new york times best selling author. Later the book appeared under the title "Gone to Texas" and was made into the movie starring Clint Eastwood.
The really twisted part that later melted minds in Hollywood and New York when his past became known after his death in 1979.… Forrest Carter was a pseudonym used by Asa Carter, who was the speech writer for George Wallace and responsible for most of Wallace's most notable/notorious speeches.
As a child growing up in Alabama in the 60's I was very aware of George Wallace. As often happens... life seems to be full of contradictions. At least to me, I saw contradictions everywhere...
Of note about George Wallace... I was often in the homes of black neighbors as a child. Almost all of them had a framed picture of George Wallace in their living room. I remember this well because even as a child I found this confusing and to this day I don't know why. I’d also heard of Asa Carter's violent side.
The following is a direct quote from an article on the PBS.org website... The entire article is actually interesting if you're a history buff like me, link below.
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George Wallace: Settin' the Woods on Fire | Article
George Wallace and His Circle
Asa Carter
Determined to "outnigger" the opposition in his 1962 bid for governor, George Wallace turned to the politics of race with a new fiery speechwriter, Asa Carter. Carter, a right-wing radio announcer and founder of his own Ku Klux Klan organization, was a man with a dark, troubling past. "He had a long history of violence, in fact, it’s not an exaggeration to call him something of a kind of psychopath," says Wallace biographer Dan Carter. Asa Carter had shot two men in a dispute over money just a few years before joining Wallace’s campaign, and his Klan group shared his volatile temperament. "In one eighteen-month period," recounts Dan Carter in his George Wallace biography, "his followers joined in the stoning of Autherine Lucy on the University of Alabama campus, assaulted black singer Nat King Cole on a Birmingham stage, beat Birmingham civil rights activist Fred Shuttlesworth and stabbed his wife, and, in what was billed as a warning to potential black ‘trouble-makers,’ castrated a randomly-chosen, slightly retarded black handyman."
Political observers noted a new punch in Wallace’s stump speeches during the ‘62 campaign, and Carter was credited for the change. "[Asa Carter] was this little quiet guy who always looked like he needed a shave," remembers Alabama journalist Wayne Greenhaw. "He was a hell of a writer. I mean, he knew how to put words together."
With Wallace’s victory in 1962, Carter was charged with writing a memorable inaugural speech and he leapt at the chance to make history. "He worked on that thing for two or three weeks," says Dan Carter, "holed up in a hotel room, as one of his friends said, chain-smoking one cigarette after another. And when he got through, he came to see George Wallace. He handed him the speech. And he took his finger and pointed to one line. And he said, 'Read it -- segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever -- that's the line people are gonna remember,' he said."...
...In a remarkable turnaround, Asa Carter remade his image in his later life, moving to Texas and becoming a writer under the pseudonym Forrest Carter. As Forrest Carter, he had a string of successes including "The Rebel Outlaw: Jose Wales" which became a Hollywood movie starring Clint Eastwood. He also penned the "New York Times" bestseller "The Education of Little Tree," a fictitious account of his childhood as a Native American orphan. Oddly, this "true story" became a favorite among the liberal-minded people he had despised throughout his life. Carter died in 1979 before his double identity reached national attention...
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/wallace-george-wallace-and-his-circle/
The really twisted part that later melted minds in Hollywood and New York when his past became known after his death in 1979.… Forrest Carter was a pseudonym used by Asa Carter, who was the speech writer for George Wallace and responsible for most of Wallace's most notable/notorious speeches.
As a child growing up in Alabama in the 60's I was very aware of George Wallace. As often happens... life seems to be full of contradictions. At least to me, I saw contradictions everywhere...
Of note about George Wallace... I was often in the homes of black neighbors as a child. Almost all of them had a framed picture of George Wallace in their living room. I remember this well because even as a child I found this confusing and to this day I don't know why. I’d also heard of Asa Carter's violent side.
The following is a direct quote from an article on the PBS.org website... The entire article is actually interesting if you're a history buff like me, link below.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
George Wallace: Settin' the Woods on Fire | Article
George Wallace and His Circle
Asa Carter
Determined to "outnigger" the opposition in his 1962 bid for governor, George Wallace turned to the politics of race with a new fiery speechwriter, Asa Carter. Carter, a right-wing radio announcer and founder of his own Ku Klux Klan organization, was a man with a dark, troubling past. "He had a long history of violence, in fact, it’s not an exaggeration to call him something of a kind of psychopath," says Wallace biographer Dan Carter. Asa Carter had shot two men in a dispute over money just a few years before joining Wallace’s campaign, and his Klan group shared his volatile temperament. "In one eighteen-month period," recounts Dan Carter in his George Wallace biography, "his followers joined in the stoning of Autherine Lucy on the University of Alabama campus, assaulted black singer Nat King Cole on a Birmingham stage, beat Birmingham civil rights activist Fred Shuttlesworth and stabbed his wife, and, in what was billed as a warning to potential black ‘trouble-makers,’ castrated a randomly-chosen, slightly retarded black handyman."
Political observers noted a new punch in Wallace’s stump speeches during the ‘62 campaign, and Carter was credited for the change. "[Asa Carter] was this little quiet guy who always looked like he needed a shave," remembers Alabama journalist Wayne Greenhaw. "He was a hell of a writer. I mean, he knew how to put words together."
With Wallace’s victory in 1962, Carter was charged with writing a memorable inaugural speech and he leapt at the chance to make history. "He worked on that thing for two or three weeks," says Dan Carter, "holed up in a hotel room, as one of his friends said, chain-smoking one cigarette after another. And when he got through, he came to see George Wallace. He handed him the speech. And he took his finger and pointed to one line. And he said, 'Read it -- segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever -- that's the line people are gonna remember,' he said."...
...In a remarkable turnaround, Asa Carter remade his image in his later life, moving to Texas and becoming a writer under the pseudonym Forrest Carter. As Forrest Carter, he had a string of successes including "The Rebel Outlaw: Jose Wales" which became a Hollywood movie starring Clint Eastwood. He also penned the "New York Times" bestseller "The Education of Little Tree," a fictitious account of his childhood as a Native American orphan. Oddly, this "true story" became a favorite among the liberal-minded people he had despised throughout his life. Carter died in 1979 before his double identity reached national attention...
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/wallace-george-wallace-and-his-circle/
) I know my dad didn't like him though.
