Customer Reviews

America's Most Hated Woman: The Life and Gruesome Death of Madalyn Murray O'Hair

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a pretty good book on O'Hair's life, although, like another reviewer, I did wonder why there was so much material on her murderer, David Waters. It is likely because the author interviewed him, wanted to used the material in the book, and the information is somewhat relevant to the story. However, it is really hard to read a book about O'Hair and really get a feel for the woman.

There is a radio interview/debate between O'Hair and Walter Martin, a Baptist minister, that occured in 1968 on the Long John Nevel radio show that is very illuminating, if you care to take the time to listen to it. If you go to the Wikipedia entry on Madalyn Murray O'Hair and scroll down to the "external links" section, there is an entry labeled "Baptist minister Walter Martin vs. Atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair". Click on it, and you'll get the entire three hour radio program in MP3 format. The first hour or so is the interview, and the last two hours is the debate and call-in part of the show.

Listening to this show after reading the book really gives you a feel for the facts presented in the book. For one, O'Hair really shows herself up to be quite the publicist in spite of her claims of not caring what other people think. As the book says, she needed these "other people" as a revenue stream. In this broadcast she claims that she is married to a "Mr. Murray", that he is Roman Catholic, and that both her sons are products of that marriage. Even O'Hair knew that, in 1960's America, most people would be much more willing to accept that she was an atheist than the fact that her sons had two different fathers and that she had never married either of them. She also makes the statement that if her son Bill decided to become a Christian minister that she would accept his decision. 12 years later when this actually happened, she took the attitude that he had commited treason. As the show wears on, O'Hair's end of the debate largely consists of name-calling, bullying, and claiming that "she had read every book Mr. Martin has read twenty years ago". In short, the radio program gives life to the facts presented in the book for those too young to remember what this woman was like in person.

If you want to read a biography of O'Hair, this is probably the one to get since it is the most unbiased and least sensational of the books written on the subject.

For better and for worse, Ann Seaman's biography is now the definitive account of Madalyn O'Hair's life. Let's start with the worse.

The sensationalistic title might be confused with Jon Rappoport's hack piece. Perhaps O'Hair was America's most hated woman at one time, but Jane Fonda replaced her in the early 1970s, and various feminists and celebrities have since vied for the distinction. "Gruesome death" reveals the climax, implicitly letting reviewers do likewise.

This is yet another biography that starts at the end, with the burial of O'Hair's remains. The device has been done to death, and it never works. I hope that whoever started this trend met a gruesome death similar to O'Hair's. Authors take note; we're born, we live, and THEN we die.

O'Hair's life story is often interrupted by that of her killer David Waters. At one point, I yelled, "Whose bio IS this?" Waters certainly belongs here, but Seaman would better have waited until he entered O'Hair's life to begin his history.

O'Hair's son Bill Murray is quoted throughout this book. Like Waters, he's necessary to the plot, but his Christian agenda requires that he slag atheists, which he enjoys doing through his mother, never mind the Fifth Commandment (does he also preach "family values"?). By taking Murray's alleged "In Hoc Signo Vince" nightmare at face value, Seaman failed to recognize its origin in Eusebius' falsified Constantine biography, thus missing the irony of a Catholic propagandist turning Murray into a Baptist.

Occasional digressions promote Seaman's contention that state and church should commingle. When religion is the topic, opposing viewpoints are forbidden, but when freethought is discussed, religious replies are mandatory: with two exceptions, Seaman adheres to this mainstream dictum. The reader is left to wonder about the author's motives for writing this book.

While Seaman's writing is concise, she sometimes sacrifices clarity. Several threads are left dangling: When the Truth Seeker sued O'Hair and her attorney John Vinson under the RICO act, "Vinson quickly extricated himself, ultimately testifying against her". Two years later, after a scuttled agreement and a mistrial, Vinson was again her attorney. What happened in the meantime? Jon Murray's cellular phone reportedly went dead (meaning disconnected) on September 29, 1995, but "no one answered" it (meaning that it rang) on the following Monday. Exactly what became of the phone isn't revealed. The July 1995 American Atheist newsletter detailing David Waters' criminal history was faxed to Waters. By whom? Another disgruntled former AA employee? O'Hair herself? And with what devastating information did FBI agent Donna Cowling prompt Waters into entering a plea agreement?

Then there are the dozens of errors, including: "Lena even welcomed her daughter's recounting of DEEP THROAT one night after Madalyn had seen it in town." Lena died in 1967: DEEP THROAT premiered in 1972. That conversation didn't happen. "...in next November's U.S. Senate race, Texan Lloyd Bentsen, a conservative Republican, defeated longtime liberal incumbent Ralph Yarborough..." Bentsen was never a Republican; he defeated Yarborough in the 1970 Democratic primary. In November's general election, he defeated Republican George Bush. "David Waters was indicted on the same five counts as Karr had been." One of the counts was different: Karr wasn't charged with interstate transportation of a firearm by a convicted felon. Granted, many of the mistakes are minor, but collectively, they call the book's entire account into question.

In her favor, when Seaman sticks to O'Hair's story, her book is engaging. She comes closer than anyone to understanding O'Hair's behavior: "She learned early the value of being in control when others were not. It so marked her that she eventually sought out or created chaotic conditions so she could feel in control." "...she enjoyed outsmarting people and getting out of scrapes, and the only way to defeat her was either trickery or betrayal. She would navigate hundreds of close calls in her life, and develop an addiction to brinkmanship and even danger."

O'Hair's belligerence is also attributed to her wildly fluctuating insulin dosages; a potentially malfunctioning pituitary is mentioned, as is speculation that she may have been bipolar. Such an unstable individual shouldn't be considered a reliable advocate, yet the press made her the sole atheist representative because she was the perfect bad example.

Seaman has found more details about O'Hair's pre-fame decades than all of her prior biographers combined. One of O'Hair's jobs during World War II was to invent Allied victories for the newswires. From it, she learned a valuable lesson that later served her profitably: "The ability of those in power to manipulate the media, and to lie and get away with it, impressed her." Seaman's assertion that O'Hair "chronically lied about everything" isn't off by much.

During the McCarthy era, O'Hair's inability to hold a steady job generated resentment, which led her to communist circles. She abandoned her communist connections after her notoriety produced a healthy income.

Only two of O'Hair's dozens of lawsuits succeeded. The rest of them (aside from those that harassed former members and ex-employees) strengthened the religious opposition by establishing negative precedents. Seaman confirms that O'Hair used lawsuits primarily as publicity and fund-raising tools.

Seaman's sleuthing results in the most accurate account of the Murray O'Hairs' final days. Allegations of torture were apparently false; murder wasn't planned until one of the kidnappers lost his patience. Seaman also exposes holes in the gold thieves' story.

The book is well written, extensively researched, usually chronological, and probably the most complete and informative account of Madalyn O'Hair we'll see. I'd recommend it, but if it were a car, it would be recalled. Its publisher should cease current production, correct the errors, tie up the loose ends, replace the editorial digressions with facts, limit David Waters to the book's last third, change the beginning, and issue a new edition.

Or not - maybe such a severely flawed woman rates only flawed biographies. I hope this is the last one about O'Hair; atheists deserve better than to be continually smeared by her taint.

There aren't many who live their last days in more sensational and mysterious circumstances than Madalyn Murray O'Hair and her family. It is amazing that there hasn't been more attention, although the reason is probably due to the length of time between their disappearance and the discovery of the bodies (as well as the criminal trials). The publicity was victimized by the drawn-out nature of the series of events. The public simply doesn't have an attention span that can accommodate a five year time-frame between events.

But it's now ten years later and all of the facts that we're probably ever going to know are on the table, so it's a great time for anyone curious about the details of the life and death of this tragic family to take an interest in the case.

This is a well-researched book. The author really goes the distance in providing a deep sketch of the Murrays. I found myself detesting them and, at the same time, feeling sorry for them, particularly the children, who seemed incapable of resisting her gravitational pull, and, consequently, never had lives of their own.

My feeling is that Madalyn was never as bad as she pretended to be, but neither was she as good as her supporters thought her. She played a role to two different audiences and pulled the wool over each.

As my interest in Madalyn Murray O'Hair grew, this was the most obvious choice for a reader to learn more about the woman, myth, & legend. This book takes us through the journey from Madalyn's childhood, adolescence, and adulthood to death. The author weaves in the intricacies of Madalyn's personal life from her troubled relationship with her father, to the estrangement of her son, from her love affairs to her feminism. We learn much more about Madalyn the person than the average reader might already know about America's Most Hated Woman. That is where I give this book praise. Instead of an idol, she was a person. Instead of a hero, she was flawed. But she never stopped fighting for what she believed in, and that is what drew me to her in the first place.

Unfortunately, the book's author makes us stumble through this journey which is why I lowered my rating to only 3 stars. The worst part is following her choice of vocabulary. At times the author uses a casual, conversational style. Then within the same paragraph she will shift to using obscure multi-syllabic words that seem as if she is trying to impress us with her knowledge of the english dictionary. This doesn't just happen once or twice, it happens throughout the whole book. I am a college graduate & I had trouble understanding some of the words she used. Additionally, her phrasing is so unusual at times that I found myself having to re-read sentences just to understand her use of tense. I would not recommend this author to anyone.

While this may be the closest thing to a biography you can find on Madalyn, be cautious in that it is not the best read.

The author neglects a key to O'Hair's persona: sibling rivalry. Madalyn seems to have observed how well her brilliant brother Irvin's cocksure, belligerent attitude served him, and adopted it for her own. While Irv finally slipped into senility, Madalyn fed her persona until its hubris led to her destruction. In her unending attacks on competitors, Madalyn's real ambition comes clear: to build a nest egg for her son and granddaughter using atheism for all it was worth. Editing books issued under her imprint 1981-1991, I recall such jealous incidents as when she discovered I was using Gordon Stein's Encyclopedia of Unbelief and whisked it off home. When I said Stein had repeated to me that she would end up a footnote to the history of atheism, her flip retort was typically insincere: "They'll never do it to a better woman." In the end, learning that Robin and Garth had likely just been killed and that her time to die had arrived, she would have realized her precious dream had utterly failed. The final moments must have been bitter indeed for Madalyn O'Hair, frightened, whipped, and--her ultimate nightmare--alone. The index is sloppy: Watergate player George Gordon Liddy will be amused to find himself listed as Gordon G. Liddy. Although Richard Franklin O'Hair's release valve during his stormy marriage to Madalyn is discussed, Mary Hartay is unlisted. There is no reason Waters' companion Patti Jo Steffens is unlisted. (That she was ignorant of and uninvolved in the murders is a claim that will likely bore readers.) As an atheist, I would be content to see O'Hair slide into oblivion. But Ann Seaman has done an enormous amount of research with this well-written and ultimately successful book. I recommend it.

Madalyn is often presented as a screaming monster. However, I can recall meeting her several times
at Walter F. Kennon's Oakland home (see p. 126 of book; I was Walt's stepson). Off stage and away from
the microphone she was surprisingly nice, a smiling woman who spoke in ordinary tones and
seemed like anybody's distant cousin from Missouri. Her demonization at the hands of religious fanatics
has been so complete that it's difficult to see past the cloud of negative propaganda that still surrounds her.
In a United States that advocates and even openly praises the murder of abortion doctors, I'm not surprised
that Madalyn was killed by a simian piece of human garbage that was desperately searching for someone to hate.
When right wing fanatics put their crosshairs on a person in public life, they will always find a chimpo
sapiens who is willing to pull the trigger or wield the machete.

How interesting that another reviewer seems to believe that Madalyn was a disgrace to the atheist movement.
This seems to be the "nice person" theory of history, i.e. that people with rough edges should be ostracized.
Okay Mr. Genius, Gauguin the painter sought out 14-year-old native girls for sex even when he was covered with
running sores from his highly contagious syphilis. So let's take all Gauguin's paintings out of the museums
and burn them immediately. The same goes for Leonardo da Vinci who had a 12-year-old boyfriend (Google it
if you don't believe me). If you're willing to overlook the peculiarities of these famous artists, then why
are you giving Madalyn such a hard time when her sins were a hundred times less important?

Atheists have been the targets of endless attacks for a very long time. Exactly who in the atheist movement
was respectable in the ordinary sense? Can you name them a few of them for us? If you can't, then will
you please keep your mouth shut about Madalyn being a disgrace to atheists. I'd describe Madalyn as a
very powerful woman who was extremely rough on her enemies and even sometimes her friends.
But I'm very glad that I met Madalyn and shook her hand and listened to her lively conversation, because
this has given me a personal perspective that certain book authors don't seem to have.

Wasn't sure how I would feel about this book. But I do recommend it. I still dislike this woman,but reading about her background for the first time makes it easier to understand how she became the way she was.

Madalyn Murray O'Hair did more than just advocate Civil Rights and have a few sit-ins as her enemies trivially describe. Madalyn Murray O'Hair was definitely a researcher in every way possible. In order for Madalyn Murray O'Hair to accomplish her goals she had to research who, what, where, when, why, and how to proceed in engaging Atheist and non-Atheist audiences.

Madalyn Murray O'Hair lives in all of us Atheist and I'm honored to carry her fight into the light of day. Unlike Jesus Christ who willingly sacrificed himself upon the cross to committ martyr suicide Madalyn Murray O'Hair was literally "murdered" for what she didn't believe and the religious population of America constantly sent her death threats and even terrorized her children.

Madalyn Murray O'Hair knew that someday she was going to die and I respect her for this because she never asked for it; yet, after reading the two biographies of Madalyn Murray O'Hair by Anne Rowe Seamen and Ted Dracos I have a strong belief that Madalyn's last husband Richard O'Hair (i.e. who was a paid FBI/CIA informant) and her eldest son William Murray had something to do with her death. Isn't it odd that William Murray is now all-of-a-sudden friends with George W. Bush (i.e. Illuminati brotherhood member)? Even David Waters admitted to Danny Frys' brother Bob Fry that he was sent by people "worse than the Mafia" [End Quote]. Who could be more worse than the Mafia except the Catholic Vatican Church, or the CIA?

Remember! The Secret Government has sponsored hit squads in the past. This isn't a new theory that I've created; yet, it's based off the testimony of David Waters. Arnold Via, an Atheist and close friend of Madalyn Murray O'Hair, remarked:

"My theory is, they were kidnapped and are being held prisoner somewhere in this country . Off the wall, I claim the Vatican did it...the Vatican or the CIA. Someone with enough clout to cover it up." [Via, Arnold. "The Case of the Headless, Handless Corpse". Dallas Observer News, February 18th 1999]

Why didn't David Waters when apprehended by law enforcement officials implicate his associates (i.e. The Vatican/FBI)? Well, I don't know! I haven't read any court trial transcripts to know what David Waters said. Nevertheless, David Waters could have been "bluffing" to Bob Fry about him being sent by people "worse than the Mafia" [End Quote]. In order to strike "fear" into the heart of Bob Fry David Waters could have easily preyed upon his emotional state. Lona Manning, freelance writer and researcher, remarks that:

"There were whispers that perhaps the Christian and government persecutions that O'Hair had complained of for years had turned out to be more sinister than anyone imagined. "If you think we are being paranoid," opined a Canadian atheist newsletter, "the religious and government harassment suffered personally by this founding family of American Atheism is well recorded, along with FBI and CIA infiltration of their organizations." O'Hair herself told Life magazine back in 1963 that it would only take one crazy person to end her life: "These death threats are no picnic...I think sooner or later some night some nut is going to get a message from Jesus Christ and I'm going to have had it. But as long as I'm still round I'm going to keep on being a squeaking wheel." When the Murray-O'Hairs disappeared, they left several projects hanging. They had planned to picket the Pope when he visited New York City. They had just ordered a new printing press. Was this proof that they had been abducted, or was it all part of an elaborate scheme to distract their board and employees while they disappeared? Were they just pretending to carry on with business as usual while spiriting money out of the country and quietly packing away their chief asset, a large library of atheist literature? As a bewildered Ellen Johnson put it: "the Murray-O'Hairs left behind the entire contents of the office building, one car, all their personal belongings, their pets, their own bank accounts (i.e. which they have not touched) and the remainder of the office bank accounts and trust fund moneys. This is hard to reconcile with the idea that they were robbing the till so they could escape to Shangri-La." [Manning, Lona. "The Murder of Madalyn Murray O'Hair: America's Most Hated Woman". [...], Crime Magazine; September 23 2003]

Paul Williams in his book The Vatican Exposed documents the history of the Vatican church...how they are engaged in criminal enterprises with government organizations and criminal organizations such as the Mafia. They hire their own financiers, accountants, and control their own money supply. This is what Madalyn Murray O'Hair publicly tried to expose. Madalyn Murray O'Hair was murdered by the Secret Government who used certain individuals (i.e. Richard O'Hair, David Waters, or maybe her eldest son William Murray).

Richard O'Hair was married to Madalyn Murray O'Hair and he admitted to being formerly employed by the FBI/CIA to work as an informant. David Waters wasn't an orthodox believer in any sense; yet, he was a believer. Killing for revenge is a common theme in the Bible. There was even a law that allowed for a relative to go out and kill someone who accidentally killed their relative. They were even given the noble title "Revenger of Blood." (i.e. Numbers 35:19, Deuteronomy 19:6, Joshua 20:3-9).

It's clear that David Waters had a religious mindset because the reason he murdered Madalyn Murray O'Hair was out of "revenge". Madalyn Murray O'Hair wrote an article about David Waters criminal past (i.e. which was true by the way); so, his ego got upset and decided to take out Madalyn Murray O'Hair. David Waters girlfriend, Patti Joe Stevens, acknowledges how David Waters wanted to "pull off her toe nails with pliers" [End Quote]. Where do we find the concept of "revenge"? In the Bible!

Madalyn Murray O'Hair was an Atheist in the worst time of America that one could express themselves. She was a woman loved by few and hated by many; yet, there will always be a place in my heart, mind, and body for Madalyn Murrary O'Hair. Madalyn Murray O'Hair is like a godmother to me! It pisses me off when theists make offensive remarks attacking her when they wouldn't careless to acquaint themselves with her Atheist journey and the many accomplishments she sought to plan for Atheist (i.e. The O'Haire Plan).

Awesome book and highly recommended. Even with a Women's Studies degree, I had NEVER heard of this woman. Granted, she worked for an unpopular cause, but her courage and madness to pursue such extreme civil rights can serve as inspiration for us all. (Minus the weird family dynamics, of course.) This book includes her life, her work for the atheist movement, and her murder by an organization insider.

Madalyn Murray-O'Hair may not have been an easy woman to understand. Her forceful, often intolerant-seeming personality did not make a good case for herself in the media. Indeed, this book, (one of two having been published) proves how difficult it has been to reassess Mrs. O'Hair's legacy. Whether right or wrong, it is hard to pin-point just exactly where Mrs. O'Hair stopped being an idealist, someone who truly wanted to change society and right some of the wrongs she saw in American culture, and where personal opportunism and megalomania began. One thing is clear: Mrs. O'Hair had ideals! From what I've read about her (and I have most of her published books), she was ahead of her times; her intellect was eclectic, but her interpretations of ideas and current affairs often bordered on the brilliant. Unfortunately, her personality, accentuated by a bad public image, plus her personal life (her son, William Murray, went on to write a tell- all-Christian book) all worked, I think, against the message she tried to communicate.

Most leaders of the freethought movement have been relegated to a side note in history. Ironically, Mrs. O'Hair remains the best known atheist in the world.

As a biography, this book provides a much needed gap about the life of an American historical figure, especially her earlier life. Perhaps, American Atheists should publish a biography about their Founding Matriarch, a biography that will continue to further the dialogue about Mrs. O'Hair's legacy in American life and culture?