Slate History

A Word: My Father, the Spy


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Every family has secrets. As a girl, Leta McCollough Seletzky learned that her father, Marrell McCollough– was on the scene of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. But it would be years before she learned that he was there as a spy for the Memphis police, who wanted information on King’s local allies. On today’s episode of A Word, she speaks with Jason Johnson about her father’s story, captured in her new book, The Kneeling Man: My Father's Life as a Black Spy Who Witnessed the Assassination of Martin Luther King.


Guest: Leta McCollough Seletzky, author of The Kneeling Man: My Father's Life as a Black Spy Who Witnessed the Assassination of Martin Luther King



Podcast production by Ahyiana Angel


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This Pride Month, make an impact by helping Macy’s and The Trevor Project on their mission to fund life-saving suicide prevention services for LGBTQ youth. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more.

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