11 Hours on the Ledge

11 Hours: Madness, Mob Mentality and the Media is the incredible story of John William Warde, a privileged, wealthy, educated young man who inexplicably stepped out onto the 17th-floor ledge of the Hotel Gotham in midtown Manhattan in 1938 and subsequently captivated the entire nation for 11 thrilling hours before leaping dramatically to his death-to the delight of a cheering crowd estimated at up to 100,000. His last words were: "e;Look at all those people down there, I can't disappoint them. It's showtime!"e; The fledgling NBC network featured a live broadcast of the event to launch their new media platform. Walter Wichell was providing play-by-play on CBS radio. Film footage was being shot for a newsreel that would subsequently generate nearly $20 million in today's dollars during a Great Depression economy. Although it is a story set in another era, it clearly surfaces contemporary issues such as media ethics and impact, the psychology of mob mentalities, and mental illness. It also features strains of dark humor. Presented in chapters that count down each of the eleven hours of the unfolding drama, the suspense builds exponentially as Warde is trying to literally be talked "e;off the edge"e; by pastors, priests, psychiatrists, reporters, evangelists, hookers, beat cops, the mayor of New York, the New York Police Commissioner, family members, and a few random hucksters and interlopers. When all these efforts fail, the NYPD attempts a series of comic "e;rescues"e; in vain. Beginning on a sweltering summer day, the drama builds in intensity with every passing hour until it reaches a fever peak of hysteria at the eleventh hour. The author has unearthed previously unreported information that makes the case of John Warde even more titillating for today's readers. The manuscript is meticulously researched and well-resourced from thousands of newspaper accounts of the time, and magazine articles of the era. The author's approach includes multiple perspectives-conversations among the key characters, narrative storytelling, and contemporary reports from journalists, classmates and family members, ancestry researchers, psychiatrists, and detectives from the day.