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When the young and beautiful Vivian Gordon was found strangled in Van Cortlandt Park in 1931, still wearing the velvet dress and mink coat she went out with that evening, the case to find her killer unveiled the dark underbelly of New York City political power and policing. Tammany Hall ruled the city but was beginning to lose its iron grip. Corruption ran all the way up and down the ranks from politicians to judges to cops, and a large police conspiracy to frame women as prostitutes was already under investigation. Vivian—herself complicit in many dangerous schemes—found herself caught up in all of it and paid the ultimate price.
The new book, The Bishop and the Butterfly (Union Square & Co.) by Michael Wolraich is a captivating deep dive into the investigation of Vivian Gordon’s murder and the dark side of Jazz Age, Prohibition-era New York. The question of who murdered her—was it the police? A corrupt judge? Someone in the mafia?—enthralled New Yorkers, and Americans across the country, but has been completely forgotten in the nearly hundred years that has passed since.
Lit Salon: The Bishop & the Butterly (Virtual Launch Party)
Join Untapped New York as we livestream the launch party of the book with The Lit Salon, featuring a conversation between Wolraich, yours truly Michelle Young, the founder of Untapped New York, and Pulitzer Prize-winner Debby Applegate, author of Madam: The Biography of Polly Adler. Untapped New York Insiders get free access to the live stream with a member-exclusive promo code! Insiders book here.
Vivian’s notebooks, found by the police in her apartment, were filled with a veritable who’s who of New York City’s power players—businessmen, gangsters, socialites. Her last tantalizing letters and notes indicate that she was going to testify against a policeman she claimed framed her a decade before, causing her to lose her daughter, years of her life in prison, and any hopes for a normal career.
Vivian’s murder was of particular concern to then-Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was already embarking on an anti-corruption probe in New York City. A high profile murder that implicated the police and the justice system needed to be closed quickly, and he put the pressure on the Bronx District Attorney and the colorful Mayor Jimmy Walker, who was conveniently absconding to Palm Springs on an extended rest.
The Bishop and the Butterfly is an engrossing work of narrative non-fiction, eloquently told and deeply researched. Wolraich’s love of New York City comes through especially in his lyrical and vivid depictions of the places in which the story takes place. Describing the desolate spot where Vivan’s body was found, Wolraich writes:
“A pale sun eased over the hills of Van Cortlandt Park, polishing bare branches to a yellow glint, sketching faint shadows on frost-glazed grass. The warm weather had thawed the ancient brook that bisects the park. Free of winter’s grip, it gurgled through the valley and washed into a narrow, slushed-choked lake beside an overgrown golf course.. The forest had never left this corner of the Bronx.”
And describing the former working waterfront of Manhattan, Wolraich writes,
“River ice still clung to Manhattan’s shores despite the mild weather in late February, encasing the long wooden piers that jutted into the Hudson River like outstretched fingers.”
Pre-order an autographed copy of The Bishop and the Butterfly and join us for the livestream launch party! Untapped New York Insiders get free access to the live stream with a member-exclusive promo code. See the full list of upcoming Lit Salon events here.
Lit Salon: The Bishop & the Butterly (Virtual Launch Party)
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