Email Just Can't Compete With Heartfelt 'Letters Of Note'
Alabama Attorney General's 1976 Letter Told KKK Off In 3 Short Words
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Telling Off The KKK In Three Words
Few people knew about Bill Baxley's letter to the KKK's Edward Fields — until the Klan published it. Chronicle Books hide caption
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Out Of The Lockerbie Bombing, A Bond And A 'Letter Of Note'
5 min 15 sec
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Bill Baxley, who served as Alabama's attorney general between 1971 and 1979, is well-known for reopening the investigation of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, a hate crime that killed four African-American girls in Birmingham in 1963.
Baxley's efforts, which ultimately led to a conviction, attracted the ire of white supremacists — including Edward Fields, the "grand dragon" of The New Order of Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.
In response to a threatening letter from Fields, Baxley famously sent a curt response containing some colorful language. He'd rather not read the line aloud today, he says, but adds, "well, that's the way I felt, then and now."
Finding Solace In Words From Scotland
Frank Ciulla lost his father, S. Frank Ciulla, in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. His body was found several miles from the crash on a farm owned by Margaret and Hugh Connell, which the Ciulla family visited in 1992.
"It was a strange mix of feeling such love and warmth from the Connells and finding out the details of how my father was found," Frank Ciulla remembers. "It was an odd, odd time, as much of our time since then has been."
Several months after their visit, the Ciullas received a letter from the Connells expressing their affection for the family. Much of it reads like a poem: "It's the 'not knowing' that can bring so much pain and bewilderment. We all have imaginations that can run riot in us, and I'm sure that your dear souls must have had untold agonies wondering and worrying."
Though the letter is still difficult for Frank to read, it's the "rawness of emotion" from the Connells, he says, that stays with him today.
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Frank Ciulla's father died in the Lockerbie bombing in 1988. Cuilla visited Minsca, the farm where his father's body was found, four years later. Courtesy of Frank Ciulla and family hide caption
itoggle caption Courtesy of Frank Ciulla and family
Frank Ciulla's father died in the Lockerbie bombing in 1988. Cuilla visited Minsca, the farm where his father's body was found, four years later.
Courtesy of Frank Ciulla and family
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