William M. Adler

No one will mistake the author for a math major.

Bill — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:50:19 +0000

I’m grateful to the alert reader who recently pointed out an error of fact in the text. On page 297, I assert, incorrectly, that Hilda Erickson waited “60 years to tell her story” about the circumstances of Hill’s gunshot wound on the night of Jan. 10, 1914. In reality, as I’d stated three pages earlier, Hilda came forward in an unpublished letter to Aubrey Haan in 1949 — 35 years afterwards. (It took another 60 years until I came across the letter in the possession of Haan’s daughter.)

My arithmetically-challenged self aside, the question of why Hilda declined to come forward with the alibi while Hill was still alive is no less salient.

“Kill a Wobbly who insults you, and get honored at the Elks Club.”

Bill — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 14:44:29 +0000

Two weeks before Utah executed Joe Hill, another IWW member, Ray (or Roy) J. Horton was murdered in Salt Lake City — shot on the street, frontier-justice style, for the crime of mouthing off to a hotheaded old gunfighter who had once been a deputy under Sheriff Bat Masterson in Dodge City, Kansas.

The story is told briefly, too briefly, in the book, and is now ably reprised, and with some additional and welcome detail, on the Web page of the Standard-Examiner of Ogden, Utah. The blog post is headlined: “In 1915, kill a Wobbly who insults you, and get honored at the Elks Club.” It’s written by Doug Gibson, the paper’s editorial page editor, and well worth reading.

Also, it should be noted that back in 1991, the nonprofit Joe Hill Organizing Committee put a marker on Horton’s grave. He’s buried in Salt Lake in Mount Olivet Cemetery, plot S_49_1. The Salt Lake-based Committee is already organizing a commemoration of the centenary of Hill’s Nov. 1915 execution.

Off-Center Views, May 7, 2012

Bill — Tue, 08 May 2012 20:14:43 +0000

Write Phoenix Brown and Lars Vigo in their blog post: “William Adler’s new book is… destined to displace Gibbs Smith’s 1969 biography as the definitive work on the subject.” The pair go on to discuss the author’s contention that Hill died an innocent man. “Bottom line: even if you don’t buy into the Hill-as-martyr image, Adler’s is still the best book ever written on Joe Hill.

WorkingUSA: The Journal of Labor and Society, Mar. 2012

Bill — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 16:45:37 +0000

“[A] biographical act of courage…. Against all odds, the author uncovers evidence ranging from unpublished cartoons to [Hill's] prison-booking photographs…..” “[Adler] uses a richly layered historical approach.” — Laura Hapke

On hiatus

Bill — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:00:31 +0000

Now that the author and family are off the road, our On the Road blog is taking a breather. More soonest…

Austin Chronicle

Bill — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 18:19:16 +0000

It’s a gripping read, an indispensable book, and a wonderful gift for the 99 Percenter on your list.

Austin Chronicle, Dec. 16, 2011

Bill — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 18:18:20 +0000

Bill Adler’s definitive biography of rebel labor legend Joe Hill not only solves the mystery of Hill’s conviction and 1915 execution by the state of Utah – uncovering documentary evidence that confirms Hill’s innocence of murder – it vividly portrays an entire era of U.S. and working-class history in astonishing detail. Just as in his previous revelatory books – Land of Opportunity (1995) and Mollie’s Job (2000) – Adler recounts his central story of Hill and the Wobblies (Industrial Workers of the World) so that it opens up a period of extraordinary exploitation and heroic rebellion among the immigrant miners, dockworkers, pickers, and their millions of fellows at the turn of the century. It’s a gripping read, an indispensable book, and a wonderful gift for the 99 Percenter on your list. – Michael King

Bill — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 18:06:31 +0000

“Adler’s liberal use of Hill’s infectious lyrics makes this a readable and exciting history. His five years of research… give the book a non-academic freshness while reviving our interest in re-examining the century-old Hill saga.” –Ron Verzuh

Svenska Dagbladet (Sweden), Nov. 19, 2011

Bill — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 23:06:40 +0000

“Adler’s book is indispensable for anyone who wants to get a clearer picture of the life and times of Joe Hill.”

Click here for the full review in Swedish.

Chicago Tribune, Oct. 26, 2011

Bill — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 19:10:49 +0000

“Intriguing… a fast-paced chronicle of a life that would have gone unsung if not for Hill’s martyrdom in the wake of a mockery of a trial.”