CATSKILL EAGLE
Delacorte Press
1985
In the detective business, Spenser sometimes had to bend the law. Other times,
he broke it. But he lived by his own inviolate rules. He didn't kill unless he had to. He
helped a friend in trouble. And he loved just one woman - even though she was the one he'd just lost.
So when Susan's desperate letter arrived, Spenser didn't think twice. His best friend Hawk faced a life
sentance in a california jail. And Susan had gotten herself into even bigger trouble. Now Spenser had
to free them both...even if it meant breaking his own rules to do it.
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SPENSARIUM'S APHORISMS AND ALLUSIONS
"Never knew somebody knew more stuff that didn't matter."
Hawk to Spenser in Chapter 29 of Taming a Seahose
Dedication
For Joan
The Title: A Catskill Eagle
From Moby Dick
by Herman Melville
And there is a Catskill eagle in some souls that can alike dive down into the blackest gorges,and soar out of
them and become invisible in the sunny spaces. And even if he flies forever within the gorge, that gorge is
within the mountain, so that even in his lowest swoop, is still higher than the other birds upon the plain, even
though they soar."
Click here for more on "Moby Dick"
Click here for "Moby Dick" on Audio Cassette
Click here for "Moby Dick" on Audio CD
Chapter 1
"That's like beating up Huey Long's kid in his home parish in Louisiana in 1935."
United States Senator Huey Long was called a dictator and a fascist after gaining almost
complete control of all branches of Louisiana's government in 1935.
Many feared that he would become president and model the nation on Louisiana after he
announced his intentions for the presidency in August of that year.
On Sunday, September 8, 1935, Huey Long came to the capitol building he helped build in Baton Rouge to attend
a special meeting of the state legislature. Walking down the corridor of the Capitol Building, Long
is thought to have been greeted by Judge Benjamin Pavy's son-in-law, Dr. Carl Weiss.
Then, as reported by witnesses, Weiss shot Long in the abdomen. Long stumbled down the corridor while
Weiss was immediately shot and killed by Long's bodyguards. All told, 30 bullet wounds were found in
front of Weiss' body, 29 in the back, and 2 in the head.
Jimmie O'Connor found the Long in an isolated stairwell. He was rushed to Our Lady of the Lake
Sanitarium. Long reportedly whispered "I wonder why he shot me," to O'Connor.
When he was informed of his assailant, Huey shook his head, saying, "I don't know him."
Dr. Arthur Vidrine, the physician attending Long, discovered that the bullet, from a .22 caliber
pistol, had entered the upper right portion of his abdomen and emerged from the back.
Huey Long sent for two of the finest surgeons in the area to operate on him, but they were delayed
in traffic and Couldn't make it to the hospital in time. Dr. Vidrine performed the two hour operation
The surgeon arriving later were shocked to find that Vidrine hadn't performed a simple procedure to
test for blood in urine. This test would have shown that the kidney had also been injured by the
bullet. They would need to perform another surgery to fix this, but Long was too weak to handle
another operation. It was a matter of time. On his death bed, he was said to have pleaded,
"God, don't let me die! I have so much to do!" At 4:06 a.m., on September 10, Huey Long died.
His widow, Rose, completed his Senate term.
Chapter 3
"I started to mumble the starting line-up for the impossible dream team Red Sox of '67"
1b: George Scott
2b: Mike Andrews, Jerry Adair
ss: Rico Petrocelli
3b: Joe Foy, Dalton Jones
c: Russ Gibson, Elston Howard, Mike Ryan
of: Ken Harrelson, Reggie Smith, Carl Yastrzemski, Norm Siebern, Jose Tartabull, George Thomas
p: Jim Lonborg, Jose Santiago, Lee Stange
Chapter 3
"Where was O.J. when you needed him?"
OJ Simpson filmed a series of Hertz Rent-a-car commercials in the mid 70's that
featured him doing a sprint through the airport jumping luggage.
Chapter 3
"Hey, Rastus."
Sigmund Lubin produced the SAMBO series of all-black comedies. These films, produced between
1909 and 1911, were so successful that Lubin created a second similar series, the RASTUS films.
Both series were filled with slapstick and the antics of a comic black man who "knows his place"
and gets beaten up by laughing whites.
Chapter 4
"Any other jigaboo's down there..."
A racial slur that was one commonly used used among lighter-skinned African-Americans to refer
to those of very dark complexion. It was a featured expression in the 1975 movie "Cooley High."
Chapter 4
"Bongo, bongo, bongo I don't want to leave the congo
Oh no no no no no !"
Lyrics from the Danny Kaye song "Bongo, Bongo, Bongo" performed wit the Andrews Sisters.
Click here for the complete lyrics
Chapter 4
"Actually half of a paradiddle, because I only had one shoe."
A paradiddle is a drumming pattern that is also often used as an exercise.
There are countless paradiddles, but the basic - or single - paradiddle is
played on the snare drum (or any other drum) as follows: Right Left Right Right or
L R L L (or of course R L R R.) Tappers' own versions of these rhythms are called
"Paddle and Rolls." Not coincidentally, both rhythms and names sound almost identical
in tap and in drumming.
Spenser's Libations
Steinlager (Ch 1)
Coffee (Ch 3)
Coffee (Ch 3)
Irish Whiskey on the Rocks (Ch 4)
Mt. Gay Rum on the Rocks (Hawk Ch 4)
Rolling Rock Pale Ale (Ch 5)
Irish Whiskey on the Rocks (Ch 7)
Beer (Ch 7)
Old India Pale Ale (Ch 13)
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