Strange. 

This morning I was listening to Bob Dylan's 1964 song, "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll."  It's a fascinating, disturbing, and heartbreaking song about the murder of a black barmaid at the hands of a drunken young man (Zantzinger) in 1963 in Baltimore.  The song explores this crime and, in one of the more powerful moments you'll ever hear in a song, Dylan builds to the tragic crescendo by revealing that Zantzinger was sentenced to only 6 months in jail.

"And you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears," sang Dylan, "Bury the rag deep in your face, now is the time for your tears."

Indeed.

Zantzinger claimed that the song had no effect on his life, but he also cursed Dylan's name to one biographer and said that he should have sued Dylan and "put him in jail."  The Wikipedia article on Zantzinger is pretty interesting.

Well I see that Zantzinger died last month.  What his life was truly like, we'll probably never know.  But his crime will live on in infamy, thanks to Dylan, and the name "William Zantzinger" will forever be associated with drunkeness, racism, and murder.

Remember:  you build a legacy each day of your life. 

Here's the song.