Alonzo Mann admitted that as a 14-
year-old boy he had seen the janitor of
the National Pencil Co. carrying the
limp form of Mary Phagan in his arms.
The janitor threatened him with death
should he tell anyone, and Mann never
came forward with his story. Three
Jewish organizations petitioned the state
to pardon Frank, but were denied.
Finally, in 1986, the State Board of
Pardons and Paroles granted Leo
Frank a posthumous pardon.
The current-day media exploration
of the events is partially explained by
Jay Kaiman, Southeast regional &rec-
tor of the Anti-Defamation League,
who surmises that it was such an
intense time that contemporary artists
are using the experience to try and
explain human nature.
"The Leo Frank case had a profound
effect on the Atlanta Jewish community,
who at that time felt very secure in their
identity," he says. "There was such
backlash that for the most part the
Jewish community was hesitant to speak
out. To this day, [the case] resonates
with many people."

Poet Laureate

The South has it chroni-
clers in William Faulkner,
Flannery O'Conner and
Eudora Welty. The Jewish
South has Alfred Uhry.
Before him, no one wrote Alfred Uhry
about the experience of
growing up Jewish in the
South with all its ironies, subtleties and
complexities.
Jewish Southerners in the first half of
' lived a complex identi-
the 20th century
ty, and Uhry is its poet laureate, a gifted
storyteller in the best Southern tradition.
After graduating from Brown
University, Uhry moved to New York
and began his career as a lyricist work-
ing for the late composer Frank Loesser.
His first nonmusical play was
Driving Miss Daisy — based on his
own grandmother — for which he
won the Pulitzer Prize. The film ver-
sion of the play received two Academy
Awards, including Best Picture. Uhry's
The Last Night of Ballyhoo, another
play set in Atlanta and about Jews,
won a Tony Award for Best Play.
Parade has great personal signifi-
cance for Uhry. His great-uncle was
Leo Frank's boss. But "nobody men-
tioned Leo Frank," he said. "Some of
the family even walked out of the
room if the name came up. I found
this confusing because I knew my
Great-Uncle Sig had been his employ-
LEGACY on page 79

In Good
. Conscience

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David Reiser gives
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avid Reiser plays Gov.
John Slaton in the
University of Michigan
production of Parade. The governor
sacrifices his political career when
he stays the execution of Leo Frank
"I think my role in Parade is .
great," says Reiser, who had the
lead in Good News earlier this sea-
son. "The governor is at a critical
point in his life and has to make a
decision that goes with either
good conscience or personal
advancement. There is a wonder-
ful scene that has him voicing his
dilemma.
Reiser, 21, grew up in a
Tallahassee, Fla., household where
theater and films were of special
interest. His parents, Linda and
Bob Reiser, enjoy going to theater
and watching old movies on TV
and turned their three children
into fans and performers.
His dad, a professor of educa-
tion at Florida State University,
wrote a succession of Chanukah
plays over several years and invit-
ed his youngsters' friends to take
part and then enjoy traditional
holiday foods at the family home. •
"When I was a college sopho-
more, I played an elderly Jewish
man in Cabaret, says Reiser, a grad-
uating senior. "When I was a high
school sophomore, I was cast in
Singin' in the Rain, and that's when I
decided on a musical theater career."
Reiser, who sings with Amazin'
Blue, a campus a cappella group,
had his religious education and
bar mitzvah at Temple Israel in
Tallahassee. He taught Hebrew at
that temple and at Temple Beth
Emeth in Ann Arbor.
The actor decided to apply to
U-M because of the reputation of
its theater program, but adjusting
to his first winter wasn't easy.
"I bundled up and remembered
how beautiful the campus was in
autumn," says Reiser, about to
experience autumn in New York.
"I soon will be doing a lot of
auditioning in the East."

— Suzanne Chessler

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