Author plans Edwards followup By James Ronald Sksins "The response to the Edwin Edwards book has been phenomenal," Leo Honeycutt, the author of the book told the Piney Woods Journal. "Not only from the sales standpoint but from scholars and historians," Honeycutt, who has broadcast credits with all major broadcast networks continued. "My first draft of the book was over 900 pages. Finally I was able to squeeze it down to 546 pages. It has been suggested and requested that I publish the parts of the manuscript that were left out of the book," Honeycutt explained. "Also there is other research that I did for the book that will be included in the second Edwards book. I've got over 1736 footnotes in the book which refer to sources and other information about Edwards," Honeycutt pointed out. "I spent more than three years researching. Some of the public information on Edwards was on the internet but most was on microfilm from newspapers around the state and other public documents." "My plans are to have the second Edwards book out by the end of 2010," added Honeycutt, who interviewed President Reagan in the Oval Office. "2010 will be a very busy year for me.'' "Edwards is a fascinating individual and without a doubt the most interesting politician in Louisiana during the second half of the 20th c entury," Honeycutt noted in a recent lecture in Baton Rouge. "In many ways, the Edwin Edwards story is a biography of America after World War II," said Honeycutt, a native of Monroe. "Edwards was a country boy from a remote area in the state who joined the Navy at an early age during the latter stages of the war. He was two weeks away from getting his Navy pilot's wings when the war ended," said Honeycutt, a former newscaster with WBRZ TV in Baton Rouge. "In typical fashion, the government immediately discharged Edwards sending him home after spending all that money training him to fly. Like many young World War II era young men, Edwards proceeded to go to college.In 1949, he was president of his law school class at LSU. After graduating from Law School, Edwards began looking for a place to practice," Honeycutt added."The phone book for Marksville listed some twenty lawyers for a relatively small town. On the other hand, Cowley, where Edward's sister, Audrey and husband had settled listed only 12 attorneys for a much bigger and more prosperous area, so that was where he decided to hang out his law shingle." However, Edwards the young lawyer soon discovered there were a lot more lawyers in Crowley than just those listed in the phone book. "Through some kind of mix up, two thirds of the lawyers in Crowley had been left out of the phone book," Honeycutt noted. "Lawyer business for Edwards in Crowley was initially very slow. His first major client was a local car dealer. Out of that lawyer-client relationship he did get a car to drive, but many afternoons Edwards and another lawyer friend went to the movies." Edwards, like many returning World War II era military men who went to Law School slowly built up their law practice. He was an excellent lawyer, and his reputation began to spread rapidly as he begin to network through civic organizations and community activities like the Little Theater. Like many other small town lawyers across America during the 1950's, he got into politics on the local level as a City Councilman in Crowley. For ten years, Edwards dealt with local issues such as potholes, drainage, water and sewer problems, street repairs and economic development. In 1959, he was President of the Crowley Rice Festival which drew 135,000 people including Jack and Jackie Kennedy as the Grand Marshalls of the Festival. That was the first time Edwards got a taste of the magic of national politics. He saw Jackie Kennedy mesmerize the crowd at the Rice Festival when she spoke in French. Edwards learned a lot from watching Kennedy as he ran for President in 1960. "One of the things that has stood out to me in all my research was how much Edwards loved Louisiana," Honeycutt noted. In 1973, Edwards was very concerned about energy policy. He and President Carter butted heads several times over this issue. Carter would not return Edwards phone calls until just a few months before the 1980 election when it was obvious that Carter was in serious political trouble. Edwards developed several scenarios to deal with this problem even back in 1973 when the US only imported 30% of its oil versus 60% today. "The first controversy that dogged Edwards was the Tonsung Park rice deal where millions of dollars of Louisiana rice was sold to South Korea," Honeycutt pointed out. "I don't think that Edwards ever had anything more in mind than helping Louisiana rice farmers sell their crops. As to the controversial gambling license trial that brought him down, I have looked at thousands of documents including all the court documents, listened to hours of the wire tap conversations and I have found nothing remotely resembling a 'smoking gun'" Honeycutt noted. "Not only did I not find any smoking gun, I didn't even find any dots that could be connected to prove his guilt. You can read the book and draw your own conclusions, but as for me, I believe it was an 'engineered' trial. There is no doubt that Edwards walked close to the line many times, but there is no way that he had any influence to peddle to get a gambling license for those who accused him," Honeycutt continued. "In fact, Edwards was totally out of the loop by that time. As a point of reference, the NFL Commissioner at the time and the chief federal prosecutor were very close friends. The day that DeBartolo came to Louisiana and testified, he was under the impression that the Commissioner was going to allow him to keep the San Francisco 49ers. DeBartolo left Baton Rouge on his jet to New York to meet with the NFL Commissioner. It was only after he had stuck a knife in Edwards back with the cooperation of Eddie Jordan, did he get the word that he was out of the 49ers organization as the owner. After this work on this Edwin Edwards book, I really wonder about that term we continue to hear, `Liberty and Justice for All'," Honeycutt concluded. Dr. Wayne Parent, LSU Political Science Professor and Pollster said, "Leo Honeycutt reminds us and teaches us much about the most stunningly powerful Louisiana politician of our time. The stories, the analysis and the unknown tidbits are all packed in this engaging, well written book. It's a captivating book that you won't put down." During the second week of April, Edwards an eight year resident of the Federal Penal system, of which several years have been at the prison in Oakdale, was given a three day furlough. Edwards spent some of that time an RV Park in Port Allen across the Mississippi River from the State Capital visiting with family and close friends. According to a press release from the Federal penal system, three day furloughs for prisoners who are nearing the end of their sentences are not uncommon. Edwards is scheduled for release from Federal prison on August 8, 2011. Before his official release date, a federal prisoner may be assigned to a halfway house. No plans for his confinement to a halfway house are in the works according to the Federal Prison press release. However, after many years of absence, Edwards was once again headline news for the Baton Rouge Advocate. The Advocate reported that those people who visited with Edwards noted that he appeared in excellent spirits, exhibiting his quick wit and was in good shape physically. Apparently, according to the Advocate report, Edwards has developed a slight hearing loss. |