Bob Hinton On The Lusk Letter

[Chris G.]

I remember strolling through the East End with Martin Fido many years ago, while discussing the letter and the kidney, and I recall how adamant Martin was about the issue: "Can we PLEASE forget about the kidney!?"
He did not buy into it at all, and he made good sense explaining why, as far as I can remember.

Myself, many years on, tend to feel rationally that we should regard all of the letters with the utmost scepticism.

... but I cannot see and read the Lusk letter without having the hairs on my arms standing straight out.

As hunches go, I am not opposed to it being the real McCoy - but why wasn´t the communication followed up on by the killer, if this holds true?
That, to me, is my main objection against giving that letter the green flag.

Hi Christer, Lynn, et al.

Good point, Christer, about the killer, if he wrote the Lusk letter, not following up on it.

My view of the Ripper letters has always been that a large segment of the public were getting their jollies off writing these letters to the police and to certain individuals and institutions. In other words, the letters are a byproduct of the case and nothing directly to do with the murders.

Best regards

Chris

[Lynn Cates]

try this

Hello Chris. Astute observation.

But here's an interesting thought experiment. Before the autumn of terror:

1. There were NO such letters.

2. Many people do not have the stomach for such things.

3. There are many common phrases (like "Boss" and "funny little games" etc) in the letters.

Is it not reasonable to assume they were ALL written by one bloke? I mean why should some letter writers follow another writer's lead? It's like copy catting.

Cheers.
LC

[Christer Holmgren]

why should some letter writers follow another writer's lead? It's like copy catting.

Cheers.
LC

You wrote that with a smile on your face, I gather...?

[Lynn Cates]

foul scowl

Hello Christer. Thanks.

Actually, with a perverse, savage and distorted grin. (heh-heh)

Cheers.
LC

[Chris G.]

Hello Chris. Astute observation.

But here's an interesting thought experiment. Before the autumn of terror:

1. There were NO such letters.

2. Many people do not have the stomach for such things.

3. There are many common phrases (like "Boss" and "funny little games" etc) in the letters.

Is it not reasonable to assume they were ALL written by one bloke? I mean why should some letter writers follow another writer's lead? It's like copy catting.

Cheers.
LC

No. Too many styles of writing, and different types of paper and media (letters, postcards, newspaper fragments, etc) for them to have been written by all one person. Despite what Patricia Cornwell has claimed. We are talking about hundreds of communications from everywhere, not just from London. Howard Brown's newspaper research has shown that the phenomenon of Jack the Ripper was worldwide and such letters equally were worldwide.

As for the commonality of the phraseology "Dear Boss," "little games," etc., everyone was copying from everyone else, or more correctly from the original sensational Dear Boss correspondence with the famous name "Jack the Ripper." The original Dear Boss set the example and then all followed suit. It was the model to get a rise out of the authorities, to get that little bit of attention. The similarities do not mean it was the same person, quite the opposite. The newspapers and police themselves made the mistake of making the wording of Dear Boss public.

Chris

[Lynn Cates]

point

Hello Chris. Thanks.

"Too many styles of writing, and different types of paper and media (letters, postcards, newspaper fragments, etc) for them to have been written by all one person."

But must we assume that a serial letter writer will always use the same style and media?

"everyone was copying from everyone else, or more correctly from the original sensational Dear Boss correspondence with the famous name "Jack the Ripper.""

Copying? Are we to imagine a whole TEAM of writers involved?

Having made my point, I shall now remove my tongue from my cheek and wish you a nice day.

Cheers.
LC

[Chris G.]

Hi Lynn

Do you have Evans and Skinner's Letters from Hell? To me it's pretty clear that a number of letter writers were involved and not just one person. Just the geographical locations of where the communications were sent from as well as the differing handwriting styles and types of media utilized (stationery, postcards, scraps of paper, newspaper pages, etc) would appear to imply that a number of correspondents aka troublemakers were responsible.

Chris

[Lynn Cates]

good book

Hello Chris. Thanks.

Yes, I do. Excellent tome.

Joking aside, I entirely agree. To attribute all to one bloke is, well, daft.

Cheers.
LC

[Sam Flynn]

Is it not reasonable to assume they were ALL written by one bloke?

The signatures are different

[Lynn Cates]

tongue, take 2

Hello Gareth. Thanks.

Your tongue in MY cheek? (heh-heh)

Cheers.
LC

[Cris Malone]

LOL... pretty cool, Lynn... even if everyone didn't catch the metaphor.

[Lynn Cates]

The devil, you say.

Hello Cris. Thanks. Yup, the devil made me do it. (heh-heh)

Cheers.
LC