King Con: The Bizarre Adventures of the Jazz Age’s Greatest Impostor

368 Pages·2018·19.32 MB·English

by  Paul Willetts

Copyright © 2018 by Paul Willetts All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Crown, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin
Random House LLC, New York.
crownpublishing.com
CROWN and the Crown colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
All quotations from the Lucullus V. McWhorter Papers, Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections by
kind permission of Washington State University Libraries.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 9780451495815
Ebook ISBN 9780451495839
Cover design by Elena Giavaldi Cover photograph by The National Archives Image Library, UK
v5.3.2
ep
In memory of Robert Hastings (1966–2017) and Chris Stephenson (1939–2017),
two charming, witty, and much-missed friends.
Through others we become ourselves.
L. S. Vygotsky
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
A Note on Sources
PART I
The Fake’s Progress
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Photo Insert 1
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
PART II
Continental Grift
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Photo Insert 2
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Epilogue
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Acknowledgments
A NOTE ON SOURCES
King Con is entirely a work of nonfiction, made possible by the
surprisingly extensive paper trail that its main character left behind. It
draws upon a vast array of historic newspapers, letters, and other
archival material, cited in the notes. All quoted speech comes from
these sources, which provide glimpses into people’s thoughts and
feelings. The notes also include occasional background information
about the story.
PART I
The Fake’s Progress