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On November 13, 1974, Karen Silkwood, chemical technician and labor activist, was driving on a deserted Oklahoma highway when her car crashed into a cement wall, and she was killed. On the seat next to her were doctored quality-control negatives showing that her employer, Kerr-McGee, was manufacturing defective fuel rods filled with plutonium. She had recently discovered that more than forty pounds of plutonium were missing from the Kerr-McGee plant.
Fifty years later, her death is still steeped in mystery. Did she fall asleep before the accident, or did someone force her off the road? And what happened to the missing plutonium?
The Killing of Karen Silkwood meticulously lays out the facts and encourages the readers to decide. Updated with new, vital information as well as the author’s chilling new introduction Silkwood’s story is as relevant today as it was fifty years ago.
For this updated edition, the author has added the latest information as to what happened to the various people involved in the Silkwood case, given real names to people who heretofore could not be identified, and presented new angles on the lasting effects of this underreported piece of the history of the antinuclear movement.
About the author
Richard Rashke is a lecturer and author of ten non-fiction books including Useful Enemies: America’s Open-Door Policy for Nazi War Criminals (2013), Escape from Sobibor (1982/1995), and The Whistlerblower’s Dilemma (2015) from Delphinium Books. Rashke is a featured expert in the award-winning international television series Nazi Hunters. His works have been translated into thirteen languages and have been the subject of movies for screen and television. In 1975, Rashke transitioned from educator to freelance journalist and eventually to national correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter. His experience and success as a screenwriter and playwright give his investigative work added urgency for his reading audiences. Rashke also appears in the 2019 Netflix series The Devil at Home about Nazi war criminal living in Cleveland, OH. At home, he is an alto sax player and composer. First released in 1981, this revised and updated release of The Killing of Karen Silkwood is finding increased relevance in the current socio-political atmosphere. He lives in Wisconsin where he keeps up his research and writing.
Summary
On November 13, 1974, Karen Silkwood, chemical technician and labor activist, was driving on a deserted Oklahoma highway when her car crashed into a cement wall, and she was killed. On the seat next to her were doctored quality-control negatives showing that her employer, Kerr-McGee, was manufacturing defective fuel rods filled with plutonium. She had recently discovered that more than forty pounds of plutonium were missing from the Kerr-McGee plant.
Fifty years later, her death is still steeped in mystery. Did she fall asleep before the accident, or did someone force her off the road? And what happened to the missing plutonium? The Killing of Karen Silkwood meticulously lays out the facts and encourages the readers to decide. Updated with new, vital information as well as the author’s chilling new introduction Silkwood’s story is as relevant today as it was fifty years ago.
For this updated edition, the author has added the latest information as to what happened to the various people involved in the Silkwood case, given real names to people who heretofore could not be identified, and presented new angles on the lasting effects of this underreported piece of the history of the antinuclear movement.
Foreword
- Social media
campaign. - Delphinium's publicist will work to obtain radio and print reviews.
- Tie-ins with 50th
anniversary events including giveaways tied to TV and other media releases. - Outreach to
universities and union groups. - Hosted Zoom author Q&A with ProPublica investigative journalist James Bandler. Release to coincide with the 50th anniversary events
(November 2024).
