The late William Buehler Seabrook - a bloody legend in his time
Intrigued by recent publicity of a book detailing historic Maori cannibalism, I was trawling through references to cannibalism in the media when I stumbled across the biography of a man who could be deemed the most committed – and/or sickest – investigative journalist ever.
William Buehler Seabrook (1884 – 1945) was a New York Times reporter who researched tribal customs such as Voodoo, Satanism, Witchcraft and Cannibalism.
He was committed enough to travel to far-off places and observe these tribal customs in their original context, and when that wasn’t enough he’d do a bit of experimentation himself.
His greatest claim to infamy was – in the interests of a great scoop – tippling in a bit of do-it-yourself cannibalism …
After scoring himself some prime human meat from a hospital intern, he undertook various cooking methods and sampled the results.
In his book Jungle Ways (1930), he gave this rave review of the dish:
“It was like good, fully developed veal, not young, but not yet beef. It was very definitely like that, and it was not like any other meat I had ever tasted. It was so nearly like good, fully developed veal that I think no person with a palate of ordinary, normal sensitiveness could distinguish it from veal. It was mild, good meat with no other sharply defined or highly characteristic taste such as for instance, goat, high game, and pork have. The steak was slightly tougher than prime veal, a little stringy, but not too tough or stringy to be agreeably edible. The roast, from which I cut and ate a central slice, was tender, and in color, texture, smell as well as taste, strengthened my certainty that of all the meats we habitually know, veal is the one meat to which this meat is accurately comparable.”
Wow, what an insight. I am only left wondering if he sampled it with a little Pinot Noir (I hear it’s great with veal).
From what I’ve learnt of the man, William Buehler Seabrook was a trailblazing journalist – a reporter who “never bowed down to the morals and taboos of his times;” a traveller described as “the Herodotus of the early Twentieth Century;” and a writer lauded as “a sort of Marco Polo… It is rare to read facts that sound like fiction – most writers strive for the reverse effect.”
As aspiring journalists, my colleagues and I should aim to follow in the literary footsteps of this dedicated investigative reporter – even if occasionally some of our leads may be hard to swallow.
Photo courtesy of Michael G. Sullivan. From the private collection of the Seabrook Family Archive. Photo manipulated by this author (Reesh Lyon) with no offence intended.
2 responses so far ↓
Mem0ry // August 29, 2008 at 3:57 pm |
now thats what i call journo dedication, no speculating what human flesh ‘might taste like’ just cold hard facts!
Michael G. Sullivan // August 31, 2008 at 4:46 pm |
This article was brought to my attention by a fellow Seabrook scholar.
Willie had Cognac and some generic dinner wine with the human flesh. It was cooked by the housekeeper of a man who was translating one of his books into French.
The picture you used was taken from the Seabrook live journal group. I posted it. You have used it without citation or permission. It is from the private collection of Seabrook’s family.
It’s not that I mind you using it without asking so much as your addition of the trickling blood on his mouth in the photo.
You did however get correct the year of his, which is interesting because all published accounts of his birth put it two years later. My guess is that you also got that from the LJ Seabrook group. Probably from the post I made for Willie’s Birthday this year.
Seabrook started out as a reporter in the time of the ‘hard boiled’ reporter. His beat was working the African American getto of Atlanta Ga. in the early part of the last century. He worked the crime beat, reporting on murders and riots, commenting on the imbalance of justice shown to the African American population of in Atlanta and the south. Willie was very vocal on the issue of Jim Crow. There was much more to the man than cannibalism.
I am requesting that you credit the photo : Courtesy of Michael G. Sullivan. From the private collection of the Seabrook Family Archive.
I am Seabrook’s biographer. His family has endorsed and supported, and authorized my biography of William B. Seabrook.
I would be pleased to answer any questions you have regarding Seabrook, or his influence on American culture.
Regards.
Michael Sullivan.