Bernard Crowe wasn't exactly running from the spotlight.If anything, he seemed to be checking whether the spotlight had his good side.
This transcript reveals Crowe's immediate interest in whether people contacting him were working on a book. He wanted to know who was writing it, who was investigating, and who was behind the effort to turn the Manson saga into another published story.
And when you put that together with Ed Sanders' handwritten notes from the earlier material, an even more interesting picture emerges.
According to Sanders' notes, Crowe explained that “the biz” made him testify.
That little phrase—the biz—may be one of the most revealing pieces of the entire story.
Crowe and “The Biz”
Crowe wasn't simply dealing with the aftermath of being shot or with the pressure surrounding the Manson case.According to the Sanders notes, there was something else in the equation: the entertainment business.
Crowe was looking to sell his story.
He was looking to make Hollywood connections.
And in order to make those possibilities a reality, testifying could become part of the package.
In other words, the courtroom wasn't necessarily the end of Crowe's story.
It could have been the beginning of the Bernard Crowe media franchise.
There was a notorious case. There was Charlie Manson. There was a shooting. There was a threat. There was a potential first-person account.
And somewhere in the background was Hollywood. What could possibly go wrong?
The book was already on his mind
Crowe's attention turns toward the prospect of a book almost immediately. He wants to know whether the people talking to him are involved in one and who exactly is behind it.
He's not merely answering questions.
He's asking questions about the people who want his story.
Who is writing?
Who is investigating?
Who is involved?
When Sanders' notes are considered alongside the transcript, the picture becomes even more pointed: Crowe wasn't unaware of the commercial potential of his story.
He appears to have understood that his connection to the Manson case could have value.
Testify first, Hollywood later?
Crowe had reportedly been reluctant to testify against Manson. The Sanders material also records Crowe acknowledging that the threat was real, while indicating that he had feelings of sympathy toward Manson and didn't initially want to testify against him.
Yet there was another consideration.
The biz.
If testifying could help establish his story, attract attention, lead to a book, or create Hollywood contacts, suddenly the courtroom offered something beyond simply answering questions.
It offered exposure.
And exposure, in that world, could potentially be turned into money and opportunity.
Then came the awkward part: none of it happened
There is an almost perfect Hollywood punchline to the whole thing.
Crowe was looking to sell the story.
He was looking toward the entertainment business.
He wanted Hollywood connections.
He had a story involving one of the most notorious names in American criminal history.
He testified.
And then...
Apparently nobody ordered the sequel.The big media payoff never materialized.The Hollywood connections didn't turn into the career opportunity Crowe apparently hoped for.The story didn't become the lucrative entertainment-business launching pad that the plan seems to have envisioned.
All that anticipation, all that potential publicity—and ultimately, very little to show for it.
And suddenly the book questions make a lot more sense.
This is why Crowe's questioning about the book is so revealing.
When somebody approaches him connected to the Manson story, one of the first things on his mind is whether they're doing a book.
That doesn't look like an accidental concern.
It fits neatly with Sanders' handwritten notation about “the biz.”
Crowe knew there was an audience.
He knew there were authors.
He knew there were people interested in the story.
And apparently, he knew there might be a business opportunity attached to it.
The tragedy—or perhaps the irony—is that the opportunity seems never to have delivered.
That's a remarkably different motivation from the image of someone simply being dragged unwillingly into the public eye.But the grand payoff never came.
**The spotlight was there. Crowe just never got the starring role.**
You can read the transcript here
No comments:
Post a Comment