Knowing Mickey Spillane

www.etlewis.com                     donlewis@sccoast.net             

While most young people won’t recognize the name, Mickey Spillane, many will know of his famous character, Mike Hammer, private eye.

Mickey was an American icon and, contrary to his rough, tough image, a modest, pleasant, kind, and generous man.

He lived to be 88 years old and died in 2006. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and New Jersey. He was a fighter pilot during WWII, but never had the opportunity to serve in a combat zone. He was a flight instructor for young upcoming fighter pilots.

I met and came to know Mickey several months before his death in July of ’06. A mutual friend approached him and told him that one of the women he worked with was married to a former criminal prosecutor and was now a writer of crime novels. Mickey said he always enjoyed talking with former law enforcement types, especially writers. Subsequently, we met at a restaurant in Murrells Inlet, about six miles from my home.

Mickey and I spent over three hours sitting there talking about all the things we had in common. We both had played a little football. He was a pilot; I had been a student pilot, though was never licensed. He was a parachutist, as was I. He was a writer, and though not in his class, so am I.

At the end of our meeting he invited me to visit him at his home at any time. I visited him several times and we talked about writing and the things we liked. He was a fierce patriot.

We often sat in the office in his house. It was a medium sized room with floor to ceiling bookshelves all around. On his desk sat an old Corona typewriter, the one he used to write all of his novels. No computer, no word processor, just that old Corona.

He lived in the same place, in Murrells Inlet for 54 years. His house was on stilts near the water. I noticed that under his house sat a car covered with a tarp. I asked him about it and he told me that while he was in Hollywood consulting on a film being made of one of his novels, he was approached by John Wayne, who was dissatisfied with a screenplay he was working on. He asked Mickey if he would be willing to tweak it some and Mickey readily agreed. Giving the finished product back to Wayne several days later, he was offered pay for his work. Mickey refused.

Walking out of his home one morning shortly after his return, he saw a brand new white Jaguar ragtop with a red ribbon wrapped around it with a note attached from John Wayne thanking him for the help he gave on the screenplay. He told me he drove it one time and then parked it under his house.

Mickey told me that he had sold over 147 million books and didn’t really enjoy writing all that much. I recently read on the Internet that the number was actually 225 million. I can’t explain the difference, but he told me 147. Either way, that’s a lot of books … and a lot of money.

I asked him one day, “Mickey, what was the shortest time it ever took you to write a book?” He replied that it was nine days and he did that several times. Nine days? Hell, it takes me that long to come up with a title.

Very near the date of his death he learned that he had pancreatic cancer. He spent some time in the hospital and when he came home, I went to see him. He was lying on a divan in his office covered with a blanket. He looked bad. He actually apologized to me for not being able to go out to sit on the porch. Here’s a guy dying of cancer and apologizing to me. After about half an hour I realized that he was tired, so I excused myself saying that I’d be back when he was feeling better.

The following week my wife and I were down at the Inlet Square Mall. I bought a get well card, and a small gift--one of those porcelain figurines with an eagle flying over a mountain draped with the American flag.

When I met up with my wife to leave, she was wearing a long face. I asked her what was wrong and she said, “I have bad news. Mickey died this morning.” It was a sad day for me, as I’m sure it was for everyone who knew him.

I kept the gift and it still sits on top of one of my bookcases. One other possession I hold dear is the photo taken of the two of us sitting at a table in the restaurant where we first met. I put it on my website. He looks old, but almost anyone who knows how he looked in his earlier years would recognize him.

He was a terrific guy. We were friends, and I believe given more time, we would have become good friends. I won’t forget him.

www.etlewis.com                                        donlewis@sccoast.net

Criminal Defense Lawyers: Good Guys or Bad Guys?

www.etlewis.com                                       donlewis@sccoast.net

The most asked question posed to criminal defense attorneys is, “How can you represent a person you know is guilty?” At one time or another you’ve either asked that question to or about a lawyer, or have at least wondered about it.

Some lawyers take the question as an insult, but I never looked at it that way; I think it’s a legitimate question. So, having been both a prosecutor (17 years) and a defense attorney (14 years), let me take a shot at answering it.

Assuming you understand that the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees every person charged with a criminal offense the right to the “Assistance of Counsel for his defense,” you’ll understand the right of the criminal defense attorney to exist.

Obviously, the decision to represent the accused is a choice made by the attorney, and some choose not to do that; that’s their right. But before you condemn lawyers who do represent the criminally charged, stop and think for a minute about how our Criminal Justice system works. Criminal trials aren’t shows put on for the public’s amusement. They are very serious efforts to resolve the question of whether or not sufficient admissible evidence has been presented during a trial to prove the defendant guilty Beyond a Reasonable Doubt.

Once he has taken the case, what are the defense attorney’s responsibilities to his client? The uninformed say the attorney’s job is to get his client off. That’s not true. His or her job is not to protect the client from the consequences of a wrongdoing, but rather to protect his right to a fair trial. In other words, it is to insure that if the client is found guilty, it is the result of the presentation of legally admissible evidence accepted by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. So, you see, it’s not the defense attorney’s job to seek justice; that’s the job of the prosecutor.

What would motivate an attorney to take on the stressful task of representing those charged with a crime? The first thought most have is that money is the forbidden fruit that draws the interest, and that belief has some merit; after all, defense attorneys generally make significantly more money than do prosecutors. But usually there is more to it. When you accept a case, your client has put his future in your hands and if you fail, he doesn’t lose money as in a civil case, he loses time out of his life.

Though we’ve already said that the job of seeking justice is entirely in the hands of the prosecutor, it actually works both ways. Justice doesn’t always require a conviction. Many people charged are not guilty, and in those cases justice demands an acquittal. Often that takes the considerable efforts of a competent attorney. That’s one compelling reason why some go into the field. Few feelings are greater than seeing an innocent client vindicated.

Still wonder why they do it? Have you ever been, or had a friend or family member, accused of a crime? Your first inclination is not to wonder where your friend or brother will serve his time. No, guilty or not, your first inclination is to get or recommend him to the best Criminal Defense Attorney in town. You know it’s true. If you were charged with a crime, wouldn’t you want the best attorney you could hire to defend you? Don’t say no – it’s not nice to lie.

Some ask if it isn’t the antics of defense attorneys that contribute to putting criminals back on the street and add to the growing crime problem. No, the “antics” of the defense attorneys are both created and limited by court rulings. Much of the guilt for the growth in violent crime falls on the TV and movie-going public. It is we who support the increase in violence and gore on our small and large screens. I’ve been to more murder scenes than I care to count and have been to almost as many autopsies, but I’m at a point where I can’t even watch much of what I see on CSI and other similar  shows. The casual way in which murder is treated, and the graphic manner in which wounds are portrayed are, to me, very disturbing.

Under our system of justice the defendant really isn’t on trial; it’s the evidence against him that’s on trial. The Court instructs the jury that the defendant has no responsibility to offer any evidence or testimony on his own behalf, and that, if the defendant chooses not to offer any evidence or testimony, the jury may not draw any adverse inference from that against the defendant. It’s what separates us from most other systems in the world.

Does the law sometimes allow the guilty to slip through the system without punishment? Absolutely, and that’s the down side of our system. In a perfect world the guilty would be found so, and the innocent, vindicated. But we don’t live in a perfect world. So that must mean that our Criminal Justice System isn’t perfect either. Of course it isn’t perfect, but it’s good enough to make our system the best in the world, and if you can think of a better one, let’s hear it.

Since retiring from my law practice, I’ve been writing crime novels and illustrating the strengths and weaknesses in our system of justice. I find it not only fun to do but it also gives me a great deal of satisfaction.

Please pass the link to this blog on to others in your social media world.

www.etlewis.com                                                   donlewis@sccoast.net

Your Mom; The Gold We Take For Granted

www.etlewis.com                                    donlewis@sccoast.net

Mother’s Day is just around the corner, but what does that really mean to us? Oh, we buy the cards, and say, “Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.” It’s become pretty much of a ritual; “Oh, don’t forget Mother’s Day. Be sure you get your mother a card,” Dad tells the kids. We dutifully obey and it goes on almost automatically the same way, year after year. Maybe we take mom out to dinner or even buy her some flowers, and all of that is nice, and she appreciates it. But when was the last time you really thought about what your mother does, and how much she means to you?

Do you have a magic drawer at home; one that is always full of clean clothes? You never even consider how they got there; the clothes were always there, as if by magic. Have you ever really thanked your mom for making sure you always had clean clothes ready to wear? Probably not; I mean that’s mom’s job, isn’t it?

Remember when you came down to breakfast before going off to school in the morning? There was your lunch box, already packed with a sandwich and maybe bag of chips, and often a little surprise, some goodie that you weren’t expecting. When you returned home after school on those days did you ever remember to thank your mom for putting that little surprise in your lunch box? Probably not; you’ve already forgotten about it.

Was your mom always there to tend to your scraped up knee or elbow when you came home after falling off your bike or sliding into home plate? Chances are she probably was.

She defended you when your name was under attack; she supported you in every fruitful endeavor you ever attempted. She was always your biggest cheerleader, and when the whole world seemed against you, she was there to encourage you.

How about the working mom? When I was a kid in the 40s and 50s, most moms stayed at home; they were called housewives. Over the years, things have changed and mothers have had to leave the home to go to work to help support the family, and usually did so of their own volition. 

Even though she may not have been at home all day, she wasn’t forgiven the duties she had as a mother. She still had to wash and iron the clothes; clean the house, make the beds, prepare the evening meals and clean up afterwards. She’d go to the store to shop for food and other household necessities. She took time to attend periodic meetings at school to meet with your teachers, and performed a million other tasks around the house that moms do without complaint. They do it because they love you so much that they would give up their own lives without hesitation to protect yours. Don’t take my word for it; pick up the newspaper, it happens every day.

Make this a special Mother’s Day. Go ahead and give her that card she looks for every year, and even some flowers if you can afford it. But sometime on that day pull her aside and don’t be embarrassed to tell her exactly what’s in your heart and not just that you love her, but how much you love her and why. Then watch her reaction; it’s one you’ll never forget

If you haven’t done it yet, do it this Mother’s Day. You will not only make her day, you’ll make her whole life. Mark my words; if you don’t ever do it, you’ll regret it forever.

My mom died in 2006 and, God love her, she lived to be 99 years old. I told her fairly often that I loved her, and I did, but I never really sat her down and told her how very much she meant to me, how her support and encouragement over the years were so important to my success in life. I regret not telling her that she was my strength throughout my life. Maybe it’s not too late for you. Nothing, NOTHING is more important to a parent, especially a mother, than knowing that her children love, honor and respect her and are truly grateful for all she has done for them, and how much it has meant to them to have her never-ending support and love.

Mom, if you can hear me now, you know how much you meant to me. I’m sorry I didn’t give you the thrill of hearing that while you were with me.

Please pass this along to everyone you know so that they never have to say “I’m sorry …”

www.etlewis.com                                                      donlewis@sccoast.net