the lonesome death of William Zantzinger

Forty-five years ago, a young white son of a tobacco farmer came to town to have a ball. As part of a raucous crowd in a posh hotel, he got drunk on juvenile arrogance, ill-founded feelings of superiority and plenty of whiskey. Towards the end of the night, when the boozing picked up and rambunctiousness spread, he had an explosive encounter with a barmaid who he berated for being too slow in replenishing his drink. His sense and judgment lost in alcohol, he drenched her in hateful abuse, threatened her from his position of power and smote her with his cane. She fell to the ground, recovered briefly but soon collapsed with what may have been heart failure, and was sent to a hospital where she died eight hours later of stress-related complications resulting from the attack. The woman was middle-aged, black and a mother of eleven.

This is a story that many people know. It was immortalized in all its tragedy by Bob Dylan who turned it into a powerful commentary of pervasive racism and shocking lack of humanity. The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll was written after the poet had read about it in a newspaper report documenting the case and the conviction of William Zantzinger of assault and manslaughter. Zantzinger spent six months in a county jail for his crime and paid all throughout his life, his name forever tarnished.

What we hear in the song is Dylan's version of the story, close enough to the newspaper report but artistically transformed to carry its message most convincingly. He speaks for poor Hattie Carroll whose life was taken and who can't present her own story. Zantzinger was frequently invited to paint himself in a less condemning light, to recast the crime as the tragic outcome of youthful, booze-fueled idiocy, to find excuses publicly. He always declined. He accepted the responsibility for the killing and deserves respect for leaving the legacy of Hattie Carroll in peace.

William Zantzinger died on the third day of this year, ending forty-five years of infamy. Bob Dylan still tours and sings, though not about Hattie Carroll. The case is closed, apparently.