This is the story of Glenn Turner's fall
from grace, power and wealth.
The story of this charismatic,
dynamic young man's rise from his humble beginnings, grinding
poverty, his birth in a charity ward, handicapped with a severe
speech impairment, disfigured by a harelip, and disadvantaged by
a meager education, was chronicled by John Frasca in a book
called, "Con Man Or Saint?" and in a motion picture produced by
Earl Owensby, entitled "Dare To Be Great." This book is not an
attempt to rehash Frasca's books or Owensby's movie in other
words, in another way, nor is there any need to. These works
were excellent and stand alone. This is the story of what
happened to Glenn Turner, after he "made it," after the period
covered in the book and movie.
This a story that has never been
told but cries out to be told. This is a story, a true story,
just as the characters in the book lived it.
In the words of the legendary Clark
Stone, " The names of some of the characters, places and
circumstances have been changed to protect the guilty."
This is a story of government
persecution, prejudice and abuse of power, spawned by the
Richard Nixon Watergate era. It is a story of a tragic, willful,
systematic destruction of a man and his people, for the purpose
of passing laws against a system of marketing, a feat that would
be the making of a lot of people's reputations. Fanned by the
flames of irresponsible yellow journalism and executed by young
prosecutors who were like young surgeons fresh out of medical
school and yearning to cut on someone, anyone, to test these
skills. These young men and women could not wait to get into
court. Glenn Turner was a suitable victim. Meaning well, and
perhaps even bringing themselves to believe they were fighting
the "good fight," these government officials were not ignorant
of the acclaim and prominence they would garner by bringing down
a man of Glenn Turner's stature. Most of them needed little
invitation to hop aboard the band wagon and join the lynching
party of Glenn Turner and his people.
They were successful. Glenn Turner
was stripped of his wealth, reputation, his companies, and even
his family. They were so successful that even today, some 20+
years afterward, there are many people who never met Glenn
Turner, or were involved in any way, who accept without question
that the man was a crook, a swindler, a cheat, as the government
said he was, forgetting that the government of that day was
proven to be the abusers of power, corrupt and consummate liars.
And what about Glenn Turner? Is he
embittered, soured on life, licking his wounds? No! Glenn Turner
today still maintains his love of God, country and his fellow
human beings. He cares about people and works tirelessly for the
benefit of others as he always has. He has run for public office
twice. Each time he was able to raise the funds for his race,
run a credible, clean campaign, addressing the issues and did
well at the polls. In his first race, at the height of his
legal problems. Glenn Turner ran for the U.S. Senate from the
State of Florida. Gagged by the Judge, awaiting a second trail
on mail fraud, fighting extradition to New York State and
totally without experience in campaigning or politics, he scored
high in the race, confounding his tormentors. He beat six worthy
opponents, one of them the former President of the Florida Bar
Association. While he did not get into the runoff race, he
helped many people change their opinion of him.
This is the story of the way a man
and his people were treated. In the opinion of the writers, it
was unfair, un-American, and unconscionable. It is one more
black mark against the Watergate government of Richard Nixon and
further indication as to how far that corruption spread before
it was brought down. This story would have been unbelievable a
few years ago. Now knowing the excesses of government and the
press of that shameful era of our country's history, it is
credible and should be told. See the copy
of the New York Times article
click here.
John Frasca
Mr. Frasca always felt it
was his destiny and purpose to let the Turner Story be told and
the truth be heard. As a highly acclaimed investigative
journalist, he began to research the accomplishments of Glenn
Turner -- which led to two of his books, "Con Man or Saint?" and
"The Unstoppable Glenn Turner". He also wrote " GWT Changed The
World for Me" and "A Fun Book from a sharecropper's 100 Best
Stories". These will soon be available in eBook form. So check
back
John Frasca was a native
of Lynn, MA, and a graduate of Mississippi College. He served as
a Marine Corps Officer in World War II, worked for newspapers in
Mississippi, Texas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Florida and
had written articles for This Week, American Mercury and
Colliers. In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, he received 35
major awards for journalism, including the Heywood Broun Award.
A series of highly
acclaimed articles for the Tampa Tribune not only brought
freedom to a man falsely imprisoned but also brought to John
Frasca journalism's highest honors the Pulitzer Prize and the
Heywood Broun Award.
His book, "THE
MULBERRYTREE," received a special Edgar Allan Poe Award.