Hannibal Lecter was born in Rich, Mississippi. You read that right.
Lecter, the infamous cannibal serial killer, created by novelist Thomas Harris, and immortalized in cinema history by actor Anthony Hopkins in the 1991 film, “The Silence of the Lambs,” has roots in the Mississippi Delta.
The man who conjured him up, Harris, was raised in Coahoma County where his father worked as a farmer and his mother, Polly, taught at the Lula-Rich Consolidated School.
In September 1979, Harris — who at the time was living in Sag Harbor, New York — relocated to his childhood home to help his father, W.T. Harris, when he was sick. Harris was also reportedly having trouble concentrating on his latest novel in Sag Harbor.
According to a new book by Brian Raftery, “Hannibal Lecter: A Life” (Simon & Shuster), Harris spent his days with his father and
his nights “in a neighbor’s shotgun shack in the middle of a large cotton field. That was where Harris worked on what would become ‘Red Dragon.’”
“Red Dragon,” released in 1981, was Harris’s second novel and the first to introduce Lecter to an unsuspecting audience who devoured thrillers like “fava beans and a nice Chianti.”
Raftery’s book is unique in that it is a biography of a fictional character. The book explores Lecter’s place and impact in pop culture history through Harris’s novels, the films that were based on those books, and a hit TV series.
Raftery said he tried to interview Harris, who is alive and well, but to no avail since Harris is a well-known recluse when it comes to publicity and interviews. Because of that, Raftery relied on extensive research from the few interviews Harris gave in the past and interviews with others.
Following two years of research, Raftery’s book currently stands as the definitive biography of not only one of the world’s most famous fictional villains but of Lecter’s Mississippi-reared creator.
Raftery’s obsession with Lecter started when he was a kid after seeing the Academy Award-winning “The Silence of the Lambs.”
“I loved ‘The Silence of the Lambs.’ It was the first time I saw a real, sort of grown -up horror film. Then I read the books. And what’s interesting is that Lecter in the first book was more of a supporting character,” Raftery said.
In “Red Dragon,” the book’s plot revolved around ex-FBI profiler Will Graham and his search for a serial killer nicknamed, “The Tooth Fairy.”
When Graham decides he needs some assistance, he goes to a mental hospital for the criminally insane where Dr. Hannibal Lecter, aka “Hannibal the Cannibal” was banished to after Graham caught him. Graham wants Lecter to provide some insight to The Tooth Fairy’s methods in hopes that information will help Graham catch The Tooth Fairy.
The early part of Raftery’s book is filled with moments of Harris’s time in Mississippi.
According to Raftery’s book, Linton Weeks was working at the now closed Volume One bookstore in Clarksdale in 1979 when Harris walked in one day.
Harris asked Weeks if he could help him track down a hard-to-find 1873 cooking guidebook — “Grand dictionnaire de cuisine.”
Weeks and his wife, Jan, became friendly with Harris and the three of them spent time at the couple’s cabin on nearby Moon Lake.
While enjoying cocktails and staring at the water, Harris was quoted as saying, “The Mississippi Delta has the most beautiful sunsets of anywhere on earth,” Raftery wrote.
Although Harris didn’t live in Mississippi full-time after “Red Dragon” was released, Raftery said his hometown and state had an important impact on the writer.
In 1978, Harris was enrolled in a Monday night art class at Delta State University in Cleveland. An instructor told Harris he was such a good artist that he could “illustrate your next book.”
While Harris wrote “Red Dragon” at night in the cotton field shack, “he could hear wild dogs panting as they roamed outside in the dark, their voices howling in unison during a full moon,” Raftery wrote.
According to Weeks, Harris’ Mississippi home “began to morph into a small library, dotted with overflowing ashtrays and stocked with research materials: gun magazines, a Bible, star charts, and an Italian cookbook.”
Harris was still writing “Red Dragon” in May 1980, the month his father died at 66.
The book was finished and sent off to his agent in November of that year.
Although Harris didn’t live in Mississippi full-time after “Red Dragon” was released, Raftery said his hometown and state had an important impact on the writer.
Harris experienced some bullying in school and took refuge in reading and the library.
“He wanted to get out of Rich. In Rich, there wasn’t a lot of space to move. He enjoyed parts of his small-town childhood, but books were his escape,” Raftery said.
For more information about Raftery and his book, visit brianraftery.com.
