The Day Huey Long Was Shot
by David Zinman
In 1960, the Associated Press assigned David Zinman to write a feature article on Huey Long's death. The article was intended to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the legendary governor's assassination.
While sifting through the relevant publications at the New Orleans Public Library, Zinman discovered that surprisingly little published information was available regarding Long's death, and even less data pertaining to Dr. Carl Weiss, the governor's alleged assassin. Moreover, publications on the assassination contained conflicting and often erroneous information. Finally, reporters and scholars had failed to investigate many important aspects of the still controversial case.
Zinman's enduring interest in these mysteries eventually led him to write The Day Huey Long Was Shot, which attempts to provide the most accurate, authoritative, and unbiased account of the assassination. The author incorporates into his discussion the latest forensic evidence produced by the recent exhumation of Dr. Weiss's body, the discovery of long-suppressed evidence (including the alleged murder weapon), and findings of scientists and the state police based upon these sources of information. Much of the evidence remains contradictory, however, and readers are left to form their own conclusions.