The man told Horner I am an FBI agent and you are under arrest.. Frank La Salle caught her outside the store and told her that he was an FBI agent. They looked at her as a total whore, her friend Carol Starts said of their classmates harsh welcome back to junior high. A twisted version of the story played out in the novel Lolita, which later became a film starring Sue Lyon (left) and James Mason (in chair). The chain of events that followed is more harrowing than the work of fiction because they are fact. (Public awareness of Stockholm syndrome emerged with a later and more famous kidnapping, that of Patty Hearst.) It all set off a creative burst that carried Nabokov through the completion of Lolita in 1953. SMOJ. [8] La Salle instructed her to tell her mother he was the father of two of her school friends and she had been invited on their week-long family vacation to Atlantic City to see the Jersey Shore. The young girl was relieved, but also terrified about how Frank La Salle would react. But before they were 100 yards away Billeiter said he heard a single gunshot behind them. Author Vladimir Nabokov undertook research of all kinds to write whats widely considered to be the most gripping and well-written study in perversion of the 20th century. The abuse only ended when she managed to phone her family from San Jose in March 1950: Tell Mother Im OK and dont worry. The way we commodify young girls bodies, our social veneration of virginityand the notion that if a child is not a virgin its less of a crime to rape herall this is in the pages of Nabokovs novel. Cox, who once lived in northern suburbs of Houston, has been in and out of the judicial system for years. La Salle was arrested and charged under the Mann Act of 1910; a law against human trafficking. What are the sources of evil? He told people she was his daughter. Send the FBI after me, please! the girl shouted over the cross-country static. The two went to Dallas, where they lived in a trailer park and Horner even attended school. Weinman argues that Sally Horners fate has echoed through our culture. Upon his wifes death, Humbert abducts his stepdaughter and embarks upon one of literatures most infamous road trips. Sally Horner was 11 years old when a pedophile, Frank La Salle, kidnapped her. Thats when Sally Horners mother learned the terrible truth. That he apparently denied it when asked about the Horner casefollowing a magazine article in the early 1960stells us little one way or another. And even James Mason regretted accepting the part. He noted that Sally had spent 21 months as the cross-country slave of a middle-aged morals offender, phrases that would reappear in his 1955 novel, Lolita, about a mans obsession with a 12-year-old nymphet. "The main thing is this child is safe and the individual is dead," Slidell police Chief Ben Morris said. In February 1950, 20 months after he had abducted her, Le Salle pulled Sally out of school for another move. The woman was suspicious of the relationship between Horner and La Salle, and tried, to no avail, to get Horner to open up to her. // La Salle was extradited to New Jersey. Your email address will not be published. Nabokov denied that his novel was inspired by the famous 1948 case, but this literary detective work reveals many parallels. She impressed me as a darn nice girl, Baker said. He took Sally on a 21-month odyssey from New Jersey to California, pretending she was his daughter. Sign up now to get the Washington Examiners breaking news and timely commentary delivered right to your inbox. Sally Horner, age 11, kissed her mother goodbye and climbed aboard a bus bound for Atlantic City. [2], Florence Sally Horner was born on April 18, 1937, in Camden, New Jersey, to Russell Horner (19011943) and Ella Horner (19061998, ne Goff). The story makes us witnessthe depraved, shallow, and turbid nature of the American society. State of the Great Hall, on the side of the projection booth (photo: 2011). She was to trick her mother with a cover story about a family vacation with a friend. It is strange, the morbid inclination we have to derive satisfaction from the fact (generally false and always irrelevant) that a work of art is traceable to a true story. Is it because we begin to respect ourselves more when we learn that the writer, just like ourselves, was not clever enough to make up a story himself?. "She's very brave, very composed. John W. Gonzalez is a reporter with the San Antonio Express-News. The girl was shocked and told Horner that the relationship was wrong and that she should put an end to it. Hed seen her commit a crime, and she was in trouble. Its true, too, that our culture deals awkwardly with sexuality and adolescencea weak point that Nabokov targeted perfectly. Horner was a 5th grade student at Northeast Elementary School, where she was noted as an honors student.[3][4]. The chain of events that followed is more harrowing than the work of fiction because they are fact. Reaching the sisters husband, Horner implored him to send the FBI. A sensitive person is never a cruel person.. Frank La Salle, Sallys kidnapper and rapist. (Constantin Joffe / Conde Nast via Getty Images), Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel, A hardcore coming-of-age novel nails the glitter and grime of L.A.s 80s metal scene, 10 books to add to your reading list this May, Aging beloved YA author Judy Blumes inevitable foil isnt so bad after all, Adult friendship is hard. The awful ordeal that young Sally Horner endured began on June 13, 1948, in Camden, New Jersey. On March 31, they snapped pictures of her boarding an airplane home and the tearful reunion with Ella in Philadelphia. Author Vladimir Nabokov undertook research of all kinds to write whats widely considered to be the most gripping and well-written study in perversion of the 20th century. The young girl had the notebook hidden and was exiting the store when an older man grabbed her arm, stopping her. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, What your kid needs to learn at summer camp, Woman has 'loud, full body orgasm' in the middle of LA concert, Biden son arrives for baby mama showdown, lawyer says he's already paid $750K support, Michael J. Photo Credit: Facebook, New Jersey Historic Preservation Office. But in June, as she was walking home from school, the man reappeared. Weinman, a noted editor and writer who specializes in crime stories by often neglected female authors, first wrote about La Salles crime and its influence on Lolita in a popular 2014 article for the Canadian online magazine Hazlitt. But she deserves to be rememberednot as a literary footnote, nor even just as the victim in a tragic case, but as one who was brave enough to escape. Horner was relieved to avoid an arrest. Then, on July 31, Sally wrote that she was heading to Baltimore. The first time was in Baltimore right after we got there, she told police later. The government wanted her in Atlantic City, he said. Hed seen her commit a crime, and she was in trouble. This seems odd, at the least. Frank La Salle, the kidnapper and pedophile who abducted 11-year-old Sally Horner in 1948, was a serial rapist who preyed on young girls, adopting new identities, pseudonyms and residences with the ease of a habitual con man. WikipediaA photo of Sally Horner, taken sometime during her abduction. In other words, fiction like the novel that brought Nabokov international notoriety and renown. But he did tuck a tribute into its pages. KERRVILLE -- Leah Henry, an 11-year-old girl kidnapped in Houston four days ago, was hailed for her quick thinking and bravery when she escaped from her captor Friday into the arms of a sheriff's . His battles with the church arent over, 17 SoCal hiking trails that are blooming with wildflowers (but probably not for long! Did a real-life kidnapping case inspire Nabokovs Lolita? The tragic end of the lost-and-found kidnapping victim set off a fresh round of news coverage including a story devoured by Vladimir Nabokov. Photo Credit: Facebook, Bob Emerson San Jose History. Another neighbor, Ruth Janisch, wasnt so sure. Its main character, Humbert Humbert (a word that hints to the French term ombre which means shadow) is a very unrelatable character. Sally asked for his help. The parents then took a private plane to Kerrville. All That Is Interesting He repeatedly molested and exposed his genitals to pre-teen and teen-age girls close to the age of his own children. He held her captive for 21 months until she managed to escape and call her family. But while the girl thought shed caught a break, La Salle was slyly investigating which school she attended. When he did the little girl, thinking extremely sharp she bailed out and ran straight for Sgt. Her family is dead, too, except for a niece too young to remember her. window.open(theURL,winName,features); His rap sheet of crimes included statutory rape and enticing a minor. If she refused she would be sent to the reformatory. He was fresh out of prison. Officials wouldn't disclose who owns the cabin but said they believe it's the same site described by the kidnapped girls from San Antonio and Slidell. frank la salle biography Sally must accompany him to Atlantic City, on orders of the government. Sally was finally able to come back home. [11] As the Associated Press reported on August 20, 1952: "Florence Sally Horner, a 15-year-old Camden, N.J., girl who spent 21 months as the captive of a middle-aged morals offender a few years ago, was killed in a highway accident when the car in which she was riding plowed into the rear of a parked truck. Theres no doubt that Nabokov was familiar with the case, and little doubt that he mined its details for his novel despite what the author maintained. We've received your submission. Horner did, however, tell a friend at school about the ordeal. La Salle was arrested, but he insisted he was the girls father and was married to Horners mother. The Real Lolita The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel That Scandalized the World b y Sarah Weinman Ecco, 306 pp., $27.99 . We generally frown on grown men who leer at young women, even while companies market T-shirts saying PORNSTAR for children and glossy magazines encourage teen readers to experiment with sex. Now, two books the novel Rust & Stardust by T. Greenwood (St. Martins, out Tuesday) and the non-fiction The Real Lolita (Ecco, Sept. 11) by Sarah Weinman look at how Sallys kidnapping, exploitation and early death provided the raw materials for Nabokov to complete a novel that had bedeviled him for a decade. He doesnt fit our image of a child molester (and looks nothing like Frank La Salle, to judge from the mug shots). These include cases in which the parents of a pregnant 12-year-old see marriage to her rapist as a good outcome for their daughter. Their defense is framed in terms of evolution and biological imperative, and anyway arent there countries where girls are married at 11? The formerly white car recently had been painted red, causing Billeiter initially to think it was a false alarm. All rights reserved. Sexual abuse of children takes place when there is sexual contact, with or without consent, between an adult and a minor. He told Sally that an FBI agent like him had a responsibility to send young thieves to the reformatory. Weinman has more success underscoring how Any speculation that Lolita could be inspired by a real-life case went against the single-minded Nabokovian belief that art supersedes influence, and so influence must be brushed off. In researching her book, Weinman is staggered by the amount of material relating to Lolita in the Nabokov archives newspaper and magazine clippings, but also girlie mags featuring photos of starlets eager to play Lolita in Stanley Kubricks 1962 film adaptation (including an issue of Cosmopolitan with a photo of a then-43-year-old Zsa Zsa Gabor dressed as a 12-year-old). I am an FBI agent, and you are under arrest, he said. It's just been a wonderful feeling and I'm thrilled to be here," Henry said. She stated that though her real father died when she was six, she still remembered him and he was not this man. La Salle found a job and enrolled Sally in a Catholic grammar school, where she attended sixth grade as Madeleine LaPlante. "The girl is doing fine," said Kerr County Sheriff Randy Hierholzer. As Sally, described by a teacher as a perfectly lovely girl, was leaving the store, a slender, hawk-faced man with cold, blue-grey eyes and a scar on his cheek grabbed her by the arm. Her work has also been featured in Smithsonian and shes designed several book covers in her career as a graphic artist. Sally turned 12 during the journey to Texas. But before leaving Dallas, Sally confided to a new friend at school what La Salle had been doing to her for the last year and a half. Current affairs have raised questions as to what constitutes inappropriate behavior with minors. The man was Frank La Salle, a 50-year-old mechanic who was also a pedophile. With Humbert, he tried to show the world the profile of the most classic pervert. Relieved, Horner went back to her life having learned a valuable lesson. The first step is to confirm through fingerprints that the man who killed himself Cox. Sally began going by her given name, Florence. He never let [Sally] out of his sight, except when she was at school, she noticed. She wouldnt see her daughter again for almost two years. Initially, Horner was made to send letters to her mother in which she was informed that the "vacation" would last longer than expected, until July 31, 1948, when the last letter was received by Ella Horner. Terrified by this brush with the law, Sally tried to put the experience behind her. The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel That Scandalized the World. Ruth Janish told La Salle that they had even reserved a spot right next to theirs in their new trailer park in San Jose.
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