Author Visit & Book Signing with Anita Paddock

The Fort Smith Public Library Endowment Trust invites you to a special evening with author Anita Paddock.  Author of the popular true crime novels Blind Rage and Closing Time, Anita’s brand-new true crime release is Cold Blooded, the true story of the murder of four people in the Arkansas River Bottoms. 

On a cold January morning in 1981, a knock on an apartment door began what would become one of the bloodiest crime sprees in Arkansas history.  In the coming days, the bodies of newlyweds Larry and Jawana Price, businessman Holly Gentry, and Police Detective Ray Tate were discovered. They had been executed in cold blood and discarded like so much trash. What kind of person murders four people in cold blood? Did the right one go to prison? 

A native of Van Buren, Arkansas, Anita Paddock has been teased and called “the Grandma Mosses of True Crime.” She says that with this third book Cold Blooded, published in her seventy-eighth year of life, she qualifies for that esteemed title to be granted to her.  All of Paddock’s books are about murders committed in and around her hometown of Van Buren, Arkansas. In all those cases, she had some connection with the victims, and sometimes with those who were convicted for the crimes. The author will discuss the book and the writing process beginning at 7 PM.  Copies of Cold Blooded will be available for sale and signing.  Refreshments will be served. 

Anita will also appear at the Miller Branch Library (8701 South 28^th Street) on Monday, July 22, from 2 - 4 PM for an additional book signing event.