America's Most Hated Woman: The Life and Gruesome Death of Madalyn Murray O'Hair

This is a pretty good book on O'Hair's life, although, like another reviewer, I did wonder why there was so much material on her murderer, David Waters. It is likely because the author interviewed him, wanted to used the material in the book, and the information is somewhat relevant to the story. However, it is really hard to read a book about O'Hair and really get a feel for the woman. There is a radio interview/debate between O'Hair and Walter Martin, a Baptist minister, that occured in 1968 on the Long John Nevel radio show that is very illuminating, if you care to take the time to listen to it. If you go to the Wikipedia entry on Madalyn Murray O'Hair and scroll down to the "external links" section, there is an entry labeled "Baptist minister Walter Martin vs. Atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair". Click on it, and you'll get the entire three hour radio program in MP3 format. The first hour or so is the interview, and the last two hours is the debate and call-in part of the show. Listening to this show after reading the book really gives you a feel for the facts presented in the book. For one, O'Hair really shows herself up to be quite the publicist in spite of her claims of not caring what other people think. As the book says, she needed these "other people" as a revenue stream. In this broadcast she claims that she is married to a "Mr. Murray", that he is Roman Catholic, and that both her sons are products of that marriage. Even O'Hair knew that, in 1960's America, most people would be much more willing to accept that she was an atheist than the fact that her sons had two different fathers and that she had never married either of them. She also makes the statement that if her son Bill decided to become a Christian minister that she would accept his decision. 12 years later when this actually happened, she took the attitude that he had commited treason. As the show wears on, O'Hair's end of the debate largely consists of name-calling, bullying, and claiming that "she had read every book Mr. Martin has read twenty years ago". In short, the radio program gives life to the facts presented in the book for those too young to remember what this woman was like in person. If you want to read a biography of O'Hair, this is probably the one to get since it is the most unbiased and least sensational of the books written on the subject.

Ann Rowe Seaman has written another fascinating and captivating masterpiece. It works well in paperback format, but a hard bound edition would have been nice to see as well. Ann has a way of drawing the reader into the life circumstances of the persons whom she is writing about. She deserves a Ph.D. for all of her writing efforts.

There aren't many who live their last days in more sensational and mysterious circumstances than Madalyn Murray O'Hair and her family. It is amazing that there hasn't been more attention, although the reason is probably due to the length of time between their disappearance and the discovery of the bodies (as well as the criminal trials). The publicity was victimized by the drawn-out nature of the series of events. The public simply doesn't have an attention span that can accommodate a five year time-frame between events. But it's now ten years later and all of the facts that we're probably ever going to know are on the table, so it's a great time for anyone curious about the details of the life and death of this tragic family to take an interest in the case. This is a well-researched book. The author really goes the distance in providing a deep sketch of the Murrays. I found myself detesting them and, at the same time, feeling sorry for them, particularly the children, who seemed incapable of resisting her gravitational pull, and, consequently, never had lives of their own. My feeling is that Madalyn was never as bad as she pretended to be, but neither was she as good as her supporters thought her. She played a role to two different audiences and pulled the wool over each.

Madalyn Murray-O'Hair may not have been an easy woman to understand. Her forceful, often intolerant-seeming personality did not make a good case for herself in the media. Indeed, this book, (one of two having been published) proves how difficult it has been to reassess Mrs. O'Hair's legacy. Whether right or wrong, it is hard to pin-point just exactly where Mrs. O'Hair stopped being an idealist, someone who truly wanted to change society and right some of the wrongs she saw in American culture, and where personal opportunism and megalomania began. One thing is clear: Mrs. O'Hair had ideals! From what I've read about her (and I have most of her published books), she was ahead of her times; her intellect was eclectic, but her interpretations of ideas and current affairs often bordered on the brilliant. Unfortunately, her personality, accentuated by a bad public image, plus her personal life (her son, William Murray, went on to write a tell- all-Christian book) all worked, I think, against the message she tried to communicate. Most leaders of the freethought movement have been relegated to a side note in history. Ironically, Mrs. O'Hair remains the best known atheist in the world. As a biography, this book provides a much needed gap about the life of an American historical figure, especially her earlier life. Perhaps, American Atheists should publish a biography about their Founding Matriarch, a biography that will continue to further the dialogue about Mrs. O'Hair's legacy in American life and culture?

The author neglects a key to O'Hair's persona: sibling rivalry. Madalyn seems to have observed how well her brilliant brother Irvin's cocksure, belligerent attitude served him, and adopted it for her own. While Irv finally slipped into senility, Madalyn fed her persona until its hubris led to her destruction. In her unending attacks on competitors, Madalyn's real ambition comes clear: to build a nest egg for her son and granddaughter using atheism for all it was worth. Editing books issued under her imprint 1981-1991, I recall such jealous incidents as when she discovered I was using Gordon Stein's Encyclopedia of Unbelief and whisked it off home. When I said Stein had repeated to me that she would end up a footnote to the history of atheism, her flip retort was typically insincere: "They'll never do it to a better woman." In the end, learning that Robin and Garth had likely just been killed and that her time to die had arrived, she would have realized her precious dream had utterly failed. The final moments must have been bitter indeed for Madalyn O'Hair, frightened, whipped, and--her ultimate nightmare--alone. The index is sloppy: Watergate player George Gordon Liddy will be amused to find himself listed as Gordon G. Liddy. Although Richard Franklin O'Hair's release valve during his stormy marriage to Madalyn is discussed, Mary Hartay is unlisted. There is no reason Waters' companion Patti Jo Steffens is unlisted. (That she was ignorant of and uninvolved in the murders is a claim that will likely bore readers.) As an atheist, I would be content to see O'Hair slide into oblivion. But Ann Seaman has done an enormous amount of research with this well-written and ultimately successful book. I recommend it.