Here is a new press release I’ll be sending out shortly. I think it better enlightens folks to the fact that there is more in this book than just the story of a boy who was killed a long time ago. I’ve had people come up to me after programs telling me that the most compelling parts of the book were the parts about advice some editorials in the papers back then gave to parents in order to help protect their children … or how fascinating the debate was on how to treat mentally ill people … or how they couldn’t believe the photos and stories some of the papers published in those days. Anyway, any comments on this would be appreciated as I haven’t sent it out yet.

New book on 1925 murder discusses many topics still relevant today

Feb. 16, 2013 WAUWATOSA, Wis. – Author Paul Hoffman’s new nonfiction book, “Murder in Wauwatosa: The Mysterious Death of Buddy Schumacher,” not only chronicles the investigation of the killing of an 8-year-old boy in a Milwaukee suburb in 1925, but it also brings to light several factors involved in the story then that are still relevant in today’s society.

Hoffman’s tale of the disappearance, seven-week search and eventual discovery of the lifeless body of Buddy Schumacher chronicles a family and community that had its collective heart broken and its peaceful existence turned to fear as the search for the young boy’s killer took one strange twist and turn after another.

In addition to shedding light on a murder investigation of one of the few child sex murders Milwaukee-area authorities investigated in the first half of the 20th century, Hoffman also discusses such topics that figured in this case as:

● How competing news sources treated the story.

● Forensic tools investigators had available to them.

● Mental health care.

● Homelessness.

● Prohibition.

● Pedophilia and pedophiles.

● How to protect children from harm.

Many of these subjects are still being debated today. Recent tragic stories such as the Sandy Hook killings and Jerry Sandusky pedophilia trial have renewed public debate about the best methods to protect our children.

The quality and slant of media coverage of such events today has also been hotly debated, just as it was when the Milwaukee Sentinel and Milwaukee Journal were grappling for readers while covering the Schumacher case in 1925. “Murder in Wauwatosa” enlightens today’s public on subjects that have not gone away in the almost 88 years since Buddy’s death.

The book also discusses the good things that eventually came out of such a horrible tragedy. The author hopes that today’s generations might also gain some wisdom from what happened so long ago and apply it to today’s similar situations. Hoffman has been a professional journalist for nearly 30 years and was raised in Wauwatosa.

The house he grew up in was purchased by his father from Buddy Schumacher’s dad, Arthur Schumacher. The book, published by The History Press, is widely available in print and in electronic formats. For more information, or to schedule an interview, contact Paul Hoffman at…. etc.