The roaring '20s were screeching to a halt when Myrtle Bennett, a modish Kansas City housewife, shot and killed her husband, John Bennett, over a game of bridge. What otherwise would have been an open-and-shut case erupted into a trial of unequaled theater as Bennett was defended by James A. Reed, longtime mouthpiece for the Pendergast machine. Such is the subject of Gary Pomerantz's latest book, The Devil's Tickets: ANight of Bridge, a Fatal Hand, and a New American Age. Pomerantz's Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn, a profile of Atlanta's racial history, was a New York Times 1996 Notable Book of the Year. Pomerantz will discuss The Devil's Tickets at 7 p.m. in the Truman Forum at the Kansas City Public Library's Plaza Branch (4801 Main). The event is free. Due to space limitations, reservations are suggested. Call 816-701-3407.
Wed., June 24, 7 p.m., 2009
