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She said that she had worked as a casting director and that in that
profession she had learned never to forget a face, and that when
Oswald's picture first came up on the television screen, November
22nd, she had jumped up and screamed, "It's him 11 -- it's the guy
Kerry was sitting with in the Bourbon House.
I had come to know Barbara only recently, and only because
nearly every night when I got off work at Arno's, it was at her
house that I would find Clint, along with Sam (the tabacco impress-
ario mentioned earlier) and sometimes a fellow named Cliff Hall,
who was introduced to me as a radio and movie personality of some
sort. I was therefore completely unaware of Barbara's reputation
for lying, exaggerating, and imaginarily connecting herself with
all kinds of major news events. So when she finally proposed the
theory that Oswald and I had failed to recognize each other out of
uniform -- or at least that I had failed to recognize him -- and
that ive just sat down and chatted on a face-is-familiar basis, that seemed
seng possible to me (and it was a very intriguing possibility at
that)
Barbara went on to outline a conspiracy theory which at that time
did not seem so plausible but which, in light of various revelations
?
over the years, seems astonishingly accurate in retrospect -- so
much so that I still hold out as a possibility deserving of invest-
igation that Barbara was wittingly involved, with Kirstein, in the
multiple murder plot.
She told me to mark her words that when the truth about the
assassination came out, it would be found that Latin American
elements were involved, that rightist individuals and organizations
were involved, and that the plot was New Orleans based. She
even warned me that Clint and Sam were somehow involved. She
further stated that a colorful nightclub barker named Dan Bickell
(sp?) (AKA Dan Cartier) had been involved.
(In light of the accuracy, apparently, of Barbara's other
statements at that time -- this might deserve looking into. Dan
lived on Decatur Street and I believe he had left New Orleans
by then. Barbara said his girlfriend, Kitty -- who had died that
summer of a drug overdose -- had worked for Jack Ruby as a stripper.
Barbara expressed the belief that Kitty had been murdered. Accord-
ing to local. gossip; Dan was the son of a Texas military officer
(an Army colonel, I think) who sent him periodic checks on the
condition that he stay away. On one of my return visits to the
Quarter I heard that Dan was picked up by the police in New York
for selling heroin, but that he managed to escape from jail.
Loy Ann Camp, Al Thompson, Mala Samuelson, and Millie Fletcher
were all French Quarter people who knew Dan much better than I
did.)
Shortly before my 13 December 1963 departure from the French
Quarter for Arlington, Virginia, I dropped by to see Barbara and
told her that one of the reasons I was going to the Washington,
D.C., area was to investigate the assassination, I was not very
serious when I said this, for by that time I believed it was not
very probable that there had been a conspiracy. Since the even-
ing she had confronted me about the Bourbon House incident, I had
learned of her reputation for far-fetched melodramatics. So I
thought I was just harmlessly humoring a paranoid and soon forgot
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"ocrText": "She said that she had worked as a casting director and that in that\nprofession she had learned never to forget a face, and that when\nOswald's picture first came up on the television screen, November\n22nd, she had jumped up and screamed, \"It's him 11 -- it's the guy\nKerry was sitting with in the Bourbon House.\nI had come to know Barbara only recently, and only because\nnearly every night when I got off work at Arno's, it was at her\nhouse that I would find Clint, along with Sam (the tabacco impress-\nario mentioned earlier) and sometimes a fellow named Cliff Hall,\nwho was introduced to me as a radio and movie personality of some\nsort. I was therefore completely unaware of Barbara's reputation\nfor lying, exaggerating, and imaginarily connecting herself with\nall kinds of major news events. So when she finally proposed the\ntheory that Oswald and I had failed to recognize each other out of\nuniform -- or at least that I had failed to recognize him -- and\nthat ive just sat down and chatted on a face-is-familiar basis, that seemed\nseng possible to me (and it was a very intriguing possibility at\nthat)\nBarbara went on to outline a conspiracy theory which at that time\ndid not seem so plausible but which, in light of various revelations\n?\nover the years, seems astonishingly accurate in retrospect -- so\nmuch so that I still hold out as a possibility deserving of invest-\nigation that Barbara was wittingly involved, with Kirstein, in the\nmultiple murder plot.\nShe told me to mark her words that when the truth about the\nassassination came out, it would be found that Latin American\nelements were involved, that rightist individuals and organizations\nwere involved, and that the plot was New Orleans based. She\neven warned me that Clint and Sam were somehow involved. She\nfurther stated that a colorful nightclub barker named Dan Bickell\n(sp?) (AKA Dan Cartier) had been involved.\n(In light of the accuracy, apparently, of Barbara's other\nstatements at that time -- this might deserve looking into. Dan\nlived on Decatur Street and I believe he had left New Orleans\nby then. Barbara said his girlfriend, Kitty -- who had died that\nsummer of a drug overdose -- had worked for Jack Ruby as a stripper.\nBarbara expressed the belief that Kitty had been murdered. Accord-\ning to local. gossip; Dan was the son of a Texas military officer\n(an Army colonel, I think) who sent him periodic checks on the\ncondition that he stay away. On one of my return visits to the\nQuarter I heard that Dan was picked up by the police in New York\nfor selling heroin, but that he managed to escape from jail.\nLoy Ann Camp, Al Thompson, Mala Samuelson, and Millie Fletcher\nwere all French Quarter people who knew Dan much better than I\ndid.)\nShortly before my 13 December 1963 departure from the French\nQuarter for Arlington, Virginia, I dropped by to see Barbara and\ntold her that one of the reasons I was going to the Washington,\nD.C., area was to investigate the assassination, I was not very\nserious when I said this, for by that time I believed it was not\nvery probable that there had been a conspiracy. Since the even-\ning she had confronted me about the Bourbon House incident, I had\nlearned of her reputation for far-fetched melodramatics. So I\nthought I was just harmlessly humoring a paranoid and soon forgot"
}