I usually don’t like to write about notebooks that are associated with crime– they usually involve the sociopathic journal entries of serial killers or mass shooters and I have no desire to give them any further publicity. But here’s a notebook that harkens back to an era of more romanticized (if not much less violent) crime. It belonged to Bonnie Parker, of the famous Bonnie and Clyde duo.
[R]are artifacts that will be auctioned off in Boston this weekend include Mickey Cohen’s pinkie ring and Sam Giancana’s gambling notebooks.
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow’s sawed-off shotgun, Al Capone’s cigarette case, Mickey Cohen’s pinkie ring, and Sam Giancana’s gambling notebooks are among many rare artifacts from the world of crime that will be auctioned off in Boston [in September 2019]…
In addition to the sawed-off shotgun, the auction includes a wristwatch that Barrow wore when he died, a bulletproof vest that was recovered from Barrow’s car, and a book of handwritten poems that Parker wrote when she was in jail.
“Featuring a mix of Parker’s original creative compositions and renditions of popular folk ballads, these poems were written by Parker while she was held in Kaufman County Jail, Texas, in 1932, after being arrested for the botched armed robbery of a hardware store,†the auction listing states. “With little to do other than pine for Clyde and chat with her jailer, it is no surprise that Bonnie’s fertile imagination turned to poetry: of the ten poems in this book, five appear to be original compositions, largely drawn from her adventurous life on the road with the Barrow Gang.â€
Her black leatherette book includes works titled “The Story of ‘Suicide Sal,’ †“The Prostitute’s Convention,†“The Hobo’s Last Ride,†“The Fate of Tiger Rose,†(a narrative poem about a “woman of shame, who played a hard gameâ€), and “I’ll Stay,†(Just like the stars in heaven / fling around the moon at nite / I’ll stay with you forever / whether you are wrong or right).