The Jack Ruby trial revisited : the diary of jury foreman Max Causey /

This is a book for people whose curiosity about President Kennedy's assassination approaches the fanatical. Max Causey, the foreman of the jury that convicted Jack Ruby of murdering Lee Harvey Oswald, kept a diary during the trial and wrote a memoir a year or two later. Now Causey's nephew, John Mark Dempsey, has edited the diary and the memoir and has appended an excerpt from the trial transcript, letters Causey received soon after the trial, three newspaper articles about Causey, and transcripts of Dempsey's recent interviews with four other members of the jury. The editor warns readers not to expect "splashy revelations," and in fact this reviewer did not find any. In the diary Causey wrote that it was "not my intent to disclose any questions or facts pertinent to the case." The memoir is more substantial, thanks largely to Dempsey's annotations, but still has little new to say about Kennedy, Oswald, or even Ruby. Principally this book is Dempsey's tribute to his uncle, who did a competent, conscientious job as jury foreman but received criticisms that the jury reached its verdict too quickly or should not have sentenced Ruby to death. Specialists in the field. J. A. Hijiya; University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Adult/High School-Causey, a 35-year-old administrative engineer, maintained a diary during the trial and wrote a memoir two years later. The editor of this volume, his nephew and a journalism professor, presents the diary and memoir, together with trial transcripts, newspaper articles, letters written in reaction to the verdict, and recent interviews with four surviving jurors. The collection sustains interest on many levels: as an insider's look at one of the nation's most famous trials; as an account of the surprisingly swift deliberations; as a consideration of how the hubris of attorney Melvin Belli worked against his client; and as a sampling of the enormous range of reactions the verdict engendered. Teens will probably recognize the names Kennedy and Oswald, perhaps even Ruby, and might pick up the book as another slant on that infamous episode in our history. However, once they start reading, they will be drawn into a fascinating account of what it is like to be on a jury, especially a sequestered one in a major trial. The editor does a fine job of piecing the story together, adding explanatory material with a light but appropriate touch.-Robert Saunderson, Berkeley Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.