In the Pines, by Grace Elizabeth Hale

A Lynching, A Lie, A Reckoning.

Get all the news you need by listening to WBZ NewsRadio 1030 on the free #iHeartRadio app! Or ask Alexa to play WBZ NewsRadio on #iHeartRadio.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to the WBZ book Club.I'm Jordan Rich. A tough subject,
but one that Grace Elizabeth Hale writesabout beautifully. It's called in the Pines,
a lynching, a lie, anda reckoning. The author is a
University of Virginia professor, and hergrandfather served as sheriff at Mississipp's Jefferson Davis
County in nineteen forty seven, wherehe and others carried out the extra judicial
killing of a black man, aman named Vercy Johnson, who was just

(00:21):
accused of raping a white woman.A great lie was told then, and
a family legend grew out of itthat the author's grandfather held off the lynch
mob and had nothing to do withthe murder. Not true. She exposes
the lie in an attempt to quotelay the groundwork for a repair, to
acknowledge and apologize to those who wereso terribly harmed, making Versey Johnson himself
the centerpiece of this historical tale.The research is deep and offers readers a

(00:44):
better understanding of Jim Crow and itsdirect impact on the population. A hard
story to tell by the author,but a correction of history and a chance
to make amends. In the Pines, A lynching, a lie, A
reckoning by Grace Elizabeth Hale, TheBook Club. WZ Boston's news radio