{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"13 | Larry Brinton | Cash-for-Clemency Scandal, \u2018Marie\u2019 Movie | JFK Visit, Janet March Murder | August 2019 Issue","description":"Veteran reporter Larry Brinton recalls growing up in Hillsboro Village, how he became a journalist, and more of his big news stories, including the Janet March murder in 1996 and President Kennedy\u2019s Nashville visit in 1963. This special podcast, on the occasion of Brinton\u2019s recent death, is a continuation of the interview from Episode 01 by host Allen Forkum (editor of The Nashville Retrospect newspaper). (Segment begins at 04:14) [EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: For even more, see our video presentation \u201cTrue Crime Nashville: The Reporting of Larry Brinton."] Larry Brinton is shown in photos he estimated were taken in the early 1940s. In the left photo, Larry (left) stands with his brother, Reuben Brinton. On the right, Larry stand with his sisters Ann and Jean. Larry was born on Sept. 8, 1930, and died on July 25, 2019. (Images: Larry Brinton) Larry Brinton is pictured in a 1964 \u201cmugshot\u201d for the Nashville Banner. He started working for the Banner after leaving the Navy in 1954, first as an obituary writer, then as a police reporter. (Image: Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room) In this snapshot, Perry March (left) is pictured with Brinton at March\u2019s house in Ajijic, Mexico. Brinton was the only reporter to whom March would talk. Brinton said of March: \u201cFrom day one I was convinced he had murdered his wife of nine years. There wasn\u2019t a doubt in my mind, ever.\u201d (Image: Larry Brinton) Part of the original caption from the Dec. 26, 1961, Nashville Banner: \u201cBanner color cameras record the drama of the spectacular blaze which destroyed the historic Maxwell House Monday night, leaving in ruins one of the most famous landmarks in the Nashville area. Roaring flames ate through the roof of the century-old building while soot-smeared firemen fought stubbornly to bring the angry blaze under control. \u2026\u201d (Image: Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room, photo by John Morgan) Country music star Patsy Cline is pictured in publicity photo. Brinton covered the story of her 1963 death by visiting the crash site of her airplane in Camden, Tenn. (Image: Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room) President John F. Kennedy steps out of his open-top limousine at Vanderbilt\u2019s Dudley Field in May 1963. During his visit, Brinton had an encounter with the president at the Hermitage Hotel. (Image: Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room) Also hear the award-winning journalist discuss his role in exposing the cash-for-clemency scandal of Gov. Ray Blanton, which eventually led to Brinton\u2019s portrayal of himself in the 1985 movie \u201cMarie.\u201d (Segment begins at 42:25) Marie Ragghianti stands in front of Nashville\u2019s Federal Courthouse in 1977. While heading the state parole board, Ragghianti met secretly with Larry Brinton in September 1976, saying that she suspected paroles were being sold by Gov. Ray Blanton\u2019s administration. (Image: Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room, photo by Dean Dixon) The front page of the Oct. 23, 1976, Nashville Banner on which Brinton\u2019s story about the cash-for-clemency scandal first appeared. (Image: Tennessee State Library and Archives) In the 1985 Warner Brothers movie \u201cMarie\u201d about the cash-for-clemency scandal, Brinton portrayed himself. This screen capture from the movie\u2019s trailer shows Sissy Spacek as Marie Ragghianti with Brinton in the background. (Image: Warner Brothers) And finally, Allen Forkum reviews some of the contents of the August 2019 issue, including the 1926 execution of the \u201cPetting Party Bandit\u201d and an 1899 outbreak of illness in Nashville due to contaminated buttermilk. (Segment begins at 01:48)   SHOW NOTES A list of articles relating to this episode that you can find in archive issues of The Nashville Retrospect (archive issues can be ordered by clicking here or on the issue links below): \u2022 \u201cGrowing Up in Hillsboro Village\u201d by Larry Brinton, The Nashville Retrospect, October 2016 \u2022 \u201c4 Opry Stars Die In Crash,\u201d by Larry Brinton and Clay Harges, Nashville Banner, March 6, 1963 (The Nashville Retrospect, March 2010) \u2022 \u201cPolice Push For Killers Of Stringbean, Wife,\u201d by Robert Glass, Nashville Banner, Nov. 12, 1973 (The Nashville Retrospect, November 2010) \u2022 \u201cThe Stringbean Murders\u201d by Larry Brinton, The Nashville Retrospect, November 2010 \u2022 \u201cAshes Mark End To 102 Years of History\u201d by Ed Huddleston (about the Maxwell House Hotel fire), Nashville Banner, Dec. 26, 1961 (The Nashville Retrospect, December 2009) \u2022 \u201cPerry March\u201d by Larry Brinton, The Nashville Retrospect, August 2010 \u2022 \u201cNovember 22, 1963\u201d by Paul Clements (about the assassination of President Kennedy), The Nashville Retrospect, November 2013 \u2022 \u201cCash For Clemency\u201d by Larry Brinton, The Nashville Retrospect, September 2011 \u2022 \u201cSisk Apologizes To Rep. Hall For Dousing, Slap In The Face,\u201d Nashville Banner, March 25, 1977 (The Nashville Retrospect, March 2018)   Other related articles: \u2022 \u201cThe Blanton Administration: FBI Probing Parole Payoffs\u201d by Larry Brinton, Nashville Banner, Oct. 23, 1976 \u2022 \u201cTennessee: How U.S. Wages War on Corruption\u201d by Charles R. Babcock, The Washington Post, Jan. 3, 1979 \u2022 \u201cVanishing Of Scripts Stirs Furor\u201d by Kirk Loggins, The Tennessean, Dec. 22, 1984 \u2022 \u201cMarie on \u2018Marie\u2019: Like a Sledgehammer\u201d by Gene Wyatt, The Tennessean, Sept. 27, 1985 \u2022 \u201c\u2018Marie\u2019 Fast-Paced, Well Acted\u201d by Janet Maslin (N.T. Times News Service), The Tennessean, Sept. 27, 1985 \u2022 \u201cGuilty on all counts; Ex-lawyer convicted of killing his wife\u201d by Sheila Burke (about the verdict against Perry March in the murder of Janet March), The Tennessean, Aug. 18, 2006   Links relating to this episode: \u201cNashville Retrospect\u201d podcast, Episode 01, featuring Larry Brinton Larry B. Brinton obituary \u201cLarry Brinton, a hard-nosed, old-school Nashville reporter, dies at 88\u201d by Brad Schmitt and Mary Hance at Tennessean \u201cLongtime Nashville journalist Larry Brinton dies at age 88\u201d by Chuck Morris at WSMV \u201cMarie Ragghianti\u201d at Wikipedia \u201cMarie: A True Story\u201d book by Peter Maas at Amazon \u201cMarie: A True Story\u201d Warner Brothers Archive Collection DVD at Amazon \u201cMarie: A True Story\u201d movie trailer at YouTube \u201cKu Klux Klan\u201dby Mark V. Wetherington at Tennessee Encyclopedia \u201cThe Murder of Janet March\u201d at Wikipedia   Audio excerpts: \u201cMarie: A True Story\u201d movie, Warner Brothers (1985); \u201cMarie: A True Story\u201d trailer, Warner Brothers (1985). Music: \u201cNear You\u201d by Francis Craig and His Orchestra (Bullet, 1947); \u201cQuiet Outro\u201d by ROZKOL (2018); \u201cCovered Wagon Days\u201d by Ted Weems and His Orchestra; and \u201cThe Buffalo Rag\u201d by Vess L. Ossman ","author_name":"Nashville Retrospect","author_url":"http:\/\/nashretro.libsyn.com\/website","html":"