Talk:Albert Fish

Stayed v. Staid

The spelling of the word stayed is, in fact, "staid" in the original letter. After my second correction of this I feel it must be stated explicitly: "staid" is not in error; it is correct insofar as it recreates the original text more accurately. User:Sir Isaac

Misc

There is a story, may be urban legend, that the first attempt at electrocution shorted the machine and burnt the fuses before accomplishing the task, because of all the needles, nails and razor blades inside his body. -- Cimon Avaro on a pogo-stick 09:18, Aug 31, 2003 (UTC)

172.133.71.172 is a vandal is his edit OK ? I don't know enough about Fish to see which version is right. Ericd 21:26, 11 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Nice catch. I initiated the page, you got it right. Thanks. vudu 23:54, 11 Sep 2003 (UTC)

During 1898, he was married to a woman nine years his junior and fathered six children before his wife ran off with another man.

This seems like an unbelievably active year!! GreatWhiteNortherner 01:13, 19 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Jinjo. Man, that is funny.

Is he related to the Sec. of State Hamilton Fish? AMFriedman 11:33 AM, 23 April 2006 (CST)

Hannibal Lecter

For future reference, Albert Fish was not the inspiration for Hannibal Lecter.

Here is an exercept from CrimeLibrary.com refering to Harris' inspiration "...that Harris once told a librarian in his home town, Cleveland, Mississippi, that Lecter was inspired by a murderer named William Coyne, who had escaped from prison in 1934 and gone on a rampage in Cleveland that included acts of murder and cannibalism. Coyne’s exploits were the stuff of local legend when Harris was growing up and might have planted the seed for Lecter in the author’s mind."

There, now stop changing it.

Anyway, my favorite is Andrei Chickatilo.... iskrena

Inspiration for Lecter

About the inspiration for the Lecter character from Demme's film--do we have a documented quote from either Harris (the author of the novel) or Demme? This talk about some librarian talking to Demme is nothing more than hearsay.

This article notes that there are a lot of real life serial killers that may be the inspiration for the character: http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/weird/lecter/2.html?sect=3

Fried Fish

OK, Cab88, you're right, it doesn't belong in the article. I just find it hard to avoid an obvious "punning situation". But I'm working on it. As a consolation, I'm posting it here, for the possible bemusement of all. :) Wahkeenah 23:44, 6 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Fried Fish.

Got some French Fries to go with that?

User_Talk:Michael_Reiter

What do we really know about Fish?

From my superficial knowledge of the case, it would seem that Fish was a masochist who abducted and murdered a number of children. He also claimed to have eaten them, and probably claimed to have killed a larger number and tortured more still. The body of Grace Budd as recovered, but which other disappearences were linked to him by physical evidence? A number of witnesses in child disappearences, or attempted abductions, identified him, which ones? Do we definately know he killed 15 children? Do we definately know he was a cannibal? Any answers gratefully received. Rich Farmbrough 21:40, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I've quickly re-read the CrimeLibrary linked article, and fixed up a few things in our article which differ (6 children not 5, Edward budd advertised, not Fish.) I've removed some of the claims that don't seem substantiated, many of the rest are founded on Fish's testimony alone. However we don't mention Billy Gaffney of any of the other victims, nor the strange trial. Having said that, someone with acess to source material could improve this artcile tremendously. Rich Farmbrough 11:59, 29 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

"Capt. John Davis"

How much, if any, of this story is confirmed truth? --Creases 21:48, 9 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Disclaimer

I have removed the disclaimer at the top of the page, in line with the Wikipedia guidelines; see Wikipedia:No disclaimer templates. I presume the critical part of the article is the letter, so I'd suggest that it be moved to Wikisource. This would not only make the article less graphic, but also more compact and encyclopedic. GregorB 23:53, August 27, 2005 (UTC)

The Letter

I'm not a registered user, and so I feel aprehensive about taking down the letter. But it should be considered as it is uncited. It also arouses my suspicions by using language and vocabulary not common to the 30s (for example, "ass", "fuck", "tho", "could of" (instead of "could have")). Was there indeed a famine in China? What do we know for certain about this case? Should we request expert attention?.

In reply to the above comment on the letter: There is nothing new about the words "ass," "fuck," "tho" or "could of." (Especially "fuck.")

someone check the timeline its not chronologic

The letter is authentic and correct in the use of the words 'fuck', 'ass', and 'tho'. http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/notorious/fish/gracie_1.html

Someone, probably an anonymous vandal, has added a few lines at the end (Too bad. Hugs and Kisses, Albert) that are not accurate. I'm removing them. A.V.

??????

Fish said that he was told by god to kill,

and that god still had more work for him to do. What do u think that might of been? Was he really hearing voices?

or was he simply insane?

Of One Thing-

Of One Thing We Can All Be Sure; The Life Of Albert Hamilton Fish Was One Of Evil, and the Darkness, Pain and Sorrow He Brought To The Lives Of His Victims.

It Was Ended Appropriately Enough An The Electric Chair At Ossining Prison In New York... Like What Many In His Position Tend To Deserve Richly...

Michael 00:02, 14 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Though a convinced atheist, I am still inclined to respond amen, brother to the above comment. When I see unrepentant cannibal-murderers like Issei Sagawa parade the television and media as free men, act like some Hollywood celebrity, and take pride in their crimes, I can only think of how much more civilised it would have been of society to put such life-forms to death, as was Albert Fish.

On another note, take a look at Sagawa's wikipedia entry talk page for some compelling arguments on the removal of lurid descriptions of cannibalism from wikipedia. How is posting Albert Fish's description of cannibalising a little girl any different to detailing acts of pedophilia on the relevant wp entry? In my opinion, both kinds of lurid narration are sick and have no place in an encyclopedic entry. 212.251.123.212 18:32, 19 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Because it describes the act and how he went about it... two things that are encyclopdic. If one is offened by such, one should not read it. Typhoid Orchid 01:12, 13 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Spelling

Is the spelling tag reffering to the letter section? If so, that might have been the way he spelled it, and shouldn't we leave it as such, then? --Nqnpipnr17:06, June 27, 2006

Reason for fact tag

This statement "Most of his victims came from poor black families who were not likely to be able to do much about his actions." sounds like some wiki-editors opinion. So I added a fact tag. I'll leave it in for a while, then revert it, if no one can find the source to quote. Wjhonson 06:25, 28 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

According to the book Deranged ( written with the help of a man who knew Albert ), many of his victims came from poor families of all races.

If you could quote that passage in the article and cite the book that would be great. Thanks. Wjhonson 06:42, 28 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Date

Are you sure Fish's father was born in 1795? That would have made him 75 years old when he fathered Albert Fish! I realize this is possible, just seems as though it could be an error. ExRat 07:15, 6 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Freaky isnt it! I added the image from the 1870 census that gave me the data. He died in 1875 so I cant confirm with a later census. I will look for him in the 1860 census. --Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) 22:51, 29 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Removed till confirmed

"Over the course of his criminal career, he murdered more than 23 children[citation needed] (some of whom he claimed to have eaten) and tortured others across the United States. It is believed that he may have killed adults as well."

How about the 'boogeyman' remark? Is there a source for that? 24.131.12.228 06:28, 19 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]