CONNERS, Bernard F. 1926-

PERSONAL: Born September 14, 1926, in Albany, NY; married Catherine Connors, November 30, 1957; children: Christopher, Sarah, Jane. Education: St. Lawrence University, B.A., 1951. Hobbies and other interests: Tennis, skiing, football.

ADDRESSES: Home—60 Old Niskayuna Rd., Loudonville, NY 12211. Agent—Oscar Collier, 280 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016.

CAREER: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC, special agent, 1951-60; former owner of soft drink and real estate businesses in New York and New England; publisher for Paris Review; creator of British American Publishing. Military service: U.S. Army, 1945-47, 1951; became lieutenant.

WRITINGS:

Don't Embarrass the Bureau, Bobbs-Merrill (Indianapolis, IN), 1972.

Dancehall, Bobbs-Merrill (Indianapolis, IN), 1983.

The Hampton Sisters, D. I. Fine (New York, NY), 1987.

Tailspin: The Strange Case of Major Call, British American Publishing (Latham, NY), 2001.

Contributor to magazines and newspapers.

SIDELIGHTS: Bernard F. Conners has worked in various fields of employment, from business, to government, to publishing. He began writing in his early teens and has published four books. He is also a former FBI special agent and draws on personal knowledge and expert research skills in his nonfiction book Tailspin: The Strange Case of Major Call. In this work, Conners determines to prove that Dr. Sam Sheppard, who was convicted of his wife's murder in the infamous Marilyn Sheppard murder case of 1954, was not the culprit. Instead, the author has collected nearly 150 pages of circumstantial evidence pointing to Air Force Major James Arlon Call. The successful Major's life began to spin out of control after the death of his own wife. He started gambling and embarked on a life of crime, which culminated in a shootout with four police officers. He was pursued through the Adirondacks on a 106-day manhunt, supposedly committing other crimes along the way. Conners's book contains forensic results, fingerprint records, and photographs, which help convince readers that Call was the "bushy-haired stranger" who murdered Marilyn Sheppard. As quoted by Marc Schogol in the Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, a former executive director of the National District Attorneys Association called this book "one of the best written on the subject" and also noted that the book delivers a "theory that will hold the reader spellbound from start to finish." A Publishers Weekly critic thought that the book had some problems with narration and Conners's "liberal dramatization based on the facts garnished with re-created conversation." But a writer for the Hutton Book Review called Tailspin "excellent reading," and a critic for the Midwest Book Review stated that the book is "gripping" and "persuasive."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Hutton Book Review, April 16, 2002.

Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, July 3, 2002, Marc Schogol, review of Tailspin: The Strange Case of Major Call, p. K6443.

Library Journal, May 1, 2002, review of Tailspin, p. 118.

Midwest Book Review. June 8, 2002.

Publishers Weekly, April 13, 1990, Joseph Barbato, "British American: Responding to Authors," p. 45; February 25, 2002, review of Tailspin, p. 49.

Washington Post Book World, July 14, 2002.*