Ruby, Don't Take Your Gun to Town

Americans of all kinds have struggled with the facts and fictions of the John F. Kennedy assassination. Not the least puzzling is the involvement of Jack Ruby, a nightclub owner who — depending on whom you believe — was operating as a hit man for the Mafia or was just an attention-seeking patriot when he shot and killed suspected assassin Lee Harvey Oswald on live TV. As a wise, sexy man once noted, "the truth is out there" — but where is it? Jack Ruby and the FBI: A Poetic Investigation sifts through the details in an unconventional manner. This Poetry Scores-sponsored event features Missouri Poet Laureate David Clewell reading from his book-length poem, Jack Ruby's America, which shows you the world through the eyes of a man who believed strip clubs with black velvet paintings of prodigiously endowed stallions were "real class." Following the reading, Poetry Scores creative director Chris King reads partial transcripts of Ruby's actual FBI file, which are no less strange than hung stallion décor. The Poetic Investigation begins at 7 p.m. at the Missouri History Museum (Lindell Boulevard and DeBaliviere Avenue; 314-746-4599 or www.mohistory.org), and admission is free.
Thu., June 17, 2010