Childhood Shadows: The Hidden Story of the Black Dahlia Murder
Mary Adeline Pacios, born and raised in Medford, Massachusetts, was a neighbor and friend of murder victim Elizabeth Short for ten years. Pacios' personal connection to Elizabeth Short has enabled her to focus with remarkable insight into the life, as well as the sensational death, of one of the most publicized and puzzled-over victims of the 20th century. Pacios, an accomplished artist and writer with a special interest in urban affairs and history, has written and edited essays, reports, and technical papers dealing with environmental issues, social change, contemporary printmaking, African art, and German Expressionism. For a U.S. edition, Ms. Pacios 'translated' The Complete Manual of Relief Printing (Dorling Kindersley, 1988) from British English to American English. She also edited the hilarious autobiography of underground filmmakers George and Mike Kuchar, Reflections from a Cinematic Cesspool. Pacios, a prize-winning painter and printmaker with an extensive international exhibition record, has lectured and demonstrated her printmaking techniques on college campuses. Her art work, has been shown in the United States, Europe, and Asia, and is included in prestigious public and private art collections. As an artist, she brings to this reconsideration of an infamous crime an unusual aptitude for detailed appraisal.