The obits for "Dr G," as Carolyn Goodman's son, David, called her, are coming in from around the world. Click through this gallery of photos from the Jackson (Miss) Clarion Ledger. The photos begin with this one taken June 17,
2005, showing Dr G leaving the Neshoba County Court House in Philadelphia, Miss., with David. She was there to testify in the murder trial of Ku Klux Klansman Edgar Ray
Killen, accused in the 1964 killings of her
son, Andy, and two other civil rights workers (Michael Schwerner and James Chaney). Then read this obit by Jerry Mitchell, who kept this story alive for a very long time. Read more here about Mitchell's tireless investigative reporting that "has unearthed documents, cajoled suspects and
witnesses, and quietly pursued evidence in the nation's notorious
killings from the civil rights era."
At the trial, Dr. G read the postcard that Andy mailed from Mississippi on the day he was killed.
Killen was convicted of "orchestrating the killings," Mitchell writes, on the 41st anniversary of the young men's murders June 21, 1964, and is serving sixty years in prison for manslaughter.
Mitchell's personal understanding of Dr G comes through in his piece, reflected in the quote he chose from her son:
Goodman’s son, David, said today: “Besides being my mother, my mentor and spiritual guide, she taught me the precious value of human dignity and the importance of speaking up and acting whenever your own, your family’s or other people’s dignities and civil rights are denied.”
Other obits: Washington Post, The Guardian...just google.
Graveside service tomorrow (Sunday) in New York; memorial service to follow in the fall.
