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JFK Book Reviews - The Housewives Underground · The Lone Gunman Podcast : JFK Assassination

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah. Velvet chair on a warm ocean breeze.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Stack of JFK books resting on my knees. Triple B
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: here to turn every page.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Bringing history back to the stage. Cutting through the heavy
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: literary ink To tell you what you really ought to
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: think Welcome to JFK Book Reviews Where we sort through.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: The history news From one to ten.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Guns up on the line We give every chapter its
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: own design One to ten guns up One to ten
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: guns up One.
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: To ten guns up What's up, everybody? Welcome in to
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: JFK Book Reviews, a division of the Lone Gunman Podcast.
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: I am Big Bad Bob, a.k.a. Rob Clark. And today
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  Speaker 2: on JFK Book Reviews, we shall be reviewing The Housewives
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  Speaker 2: Underground by Caitlin tiffany caitlyn tiffany it's a very good
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  Speaker 2: looking book nice and thick very sturdy sounding this book
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  Speaker 2: was published this year in 2026 back in the summertime
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  Speaker 2: by Crown Publishing, a division of Random House, Penguin. And
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  Speaker 2: I've been waiting for a book like this for a while,
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: because finally, a woman has written a JFK book about
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  Speaker 2: women in the JFK assassination. A topic that has been
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  Speaker 2: sorely looked over for a very, very long time. Now,
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  Speaker 2: the JFK assassination historically is a very male-dominated field, but
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  Speaker 2: I find from my own experience, and much to my chagrin,
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  Speaker 2: that there is a large female audience that takes an
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  Speaker 2: interest in the case. And The premise of this book,
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  Speaker 2: The Housewives Underground, follows the story mainly of three ladies.
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  Speaker 2: Maggie Field, Shirley Martin, and... I can never say her
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  Speaker 2: name right. Sylvia Marr. Meager. Sylvia Marr. Meager. And... You know,
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  Speaker 2: at a time when housewives should be at home cleaning
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  Speaker 2: their house, doing laundry, preparing dinner, maybe taking up a
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  Speaker 2: hobby like knitting, doing some ironing, maybe watching the soap
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  Speaker 2: operas on the television if they had one. Because, you know,
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  Speaker 2: once you get the husband and the kids up in
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  Speaker 2: the morning and you get everybody fed and dressed and
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  Speaker 2: ready for the day and you get them out the
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  Speaker 2: door and you can finally sit down and enjoy your
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  Speaker 2: cup of coffee and a cigarette and just enjoy the
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  Speaker 2: silence for a little bit. You know, some women were
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  Speaker 2: content with this lifestyle, almost in servitude of their family
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  Speaker 2: Oh my, how times have changed. But a lot of
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  Speaker 2: these housewives, instead of just sitting around the house knitting
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  Speaker 2: or picking up another hobby, playing gin with their girlfriends
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  Speaker 2: or whatever the case may be, some of these women
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  Speaker 2: out there developed an interest in the case of the
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  Speaker 2: JFK assassination because it affected a lot of people very deeply.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: And as we all know, women are emotional creatures. More
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: emotional than men. And the Kennedy assassination affected a lot
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  Speaker 2: of women very deeply. To the point of tears for
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  Speaker 2: a lot of them. A very long grieving process for
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  Speaker 2: some of them. But there were some housewives who decided
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  Speaker 2: to take it upon themselves, whether it be through the
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  Speaker 2: inspiration of figures like Mark Lane, Vince Salandria, all of
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  Speaker 2: these very important first-generation researchers who questioned the official narrative
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: and the conclusions of the Warren Commission. And a lot
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  Speaker 2: of these people went out recognized that there was some
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  Speaker 2: problems with this whole scenario that were being told in Fed,
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  Speaker 2: and took it upon themselves to start looking into the
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  Speaker 2: case and investigating it for themselves. Now, some very important
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  Speaker 2: work was done by Sylvia Maher and Maggie Fields. By
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  Speaker 2: creating an index to the 26 volumes of the Warren
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  Speaker 2: Commission report. An exhaustive task for sure that they were
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  Speaker 2: able to get out and publish by 1965. Sylvia Marr
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  Speaker 2: would also go on to write accessories after the fact.
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  Speaker 2: Shirley Martin... didn't ever really publish a book, but she
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  Speaker 2: did some important interviews. She lived in, uh, how many Oklahoma,
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  Speaker 2: I believe it was, which was not too terribly a
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  Speaker 2: far drive from Dallas. And she would make the trip
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  Speaker 2: and interview a lot of these, uh, firsthand witnesses, much
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  Speaker 2: to the chagrin of the local police and the FBI
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  Speaker 2: who did not like that shit. Okay.
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  Speaker 1: Hmm.
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  Speaker 2: And even out in California where Maggie Field was, she
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  Speaker 2: was approached by two journalists named Lawrence Schiller and Richard
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  Speaker 2: Lewis who were writing an article about the critics of
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  Speaker 2: the Warren Commission. The article was published in the New
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  Speaker 2: York World Journal Tribune in 1967 and followed by a
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  Speaker 2: book called The Scavengers and Critics of the Warren Commission
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  Speaker 2: and a record album titled entitled The Controversy. Now, Schiller
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  Speaker 2: and Lewis used all three to attack the credibility of
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  Speaker 2: critics such as Maggie Field, Shirley Martin, Penn Jones, Harold Weisberg,
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  Speaker 2: Raymond Marcus, Vince Salandria, Mark Lane, and Sylvia Marr. Maggie
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  Speaker 2: Field worked closely with Ray Marcus, who was out in
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  Speaker 2: California as well, and basically labeled them as housewives that
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  Speaker 2: have just a little bit too much time on their hands.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, the chauvinistic overtones of their literature just is
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  Speaker 2: unconscionable when you think about it in today's terms. Now,
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  Speaker 2: Maggie Field did write a book on the Kennedy assassination
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  Speaker 2: called The Evidence, but It was rejected by Random House
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  Speaker 2: in 1967. So she decided to revise the manuscript, a
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  Speaker 2: complete and total revamping of each page. However, she still
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  Speaker 2: couldn't find a publisher. Ray Marcus said, I know she
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  Speaker 2: was frustrated and disappointed about this, although she rarely said so.
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  Speaker 2: It would be superhuman for her not to be. He
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  Speaker 2: believed that if it had been published, it would have
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  Speaker 2: been one of the most important books on the case.
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  Speaker 2: So very frustrating to write a book and not be
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  Speaker 2: able to get published probably because she was a woman.
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  Speaker 2: Sylvia Marr actually did get her book published. And I
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  Speaker 2: don't know if Shirley Martin ever tried to write a book.
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  Speaker 2: Probably so. Doubt it got published.
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  Speaker 1: But....
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  Speaker 2: One thing that I noticed that was missing almost conspicuously
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  Speaker 2: from this book who would have added some depth and
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  Speaker 2: breadth and legitimacy to the housewives underground is of course
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: may brussel who is not factored into this book and
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: i don't know if that was by design or just
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  Speaker 2: by omission i mean admittedly uh the author caitlin tiffany
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  Speaker 2: is young and uh probably doesn't know a lot of
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  Speaker 2: the ins and outs and nuances of the Kennedy assassination.
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  Speaker 2: I could be wrong. I don't know. I'm sure she
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  Speaker 2: did her due diligence for this book. But researching the
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: lives of three people is a lot different than diving
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  Speaker 2: headfirst into the Kennedy assassination. It's not just something you
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  Speaker 2: can dip your toe in and understand even over the
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  Speaker 2: course of a year or two. So, Wondering why that
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: didn't happen. And look, I tried to get Caitlin Tiffany
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  Speaker 2: on the show to interview her after her book came
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  Speaker 2: out last summer. Could not find any contact information for
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  Speaker 2: her whatsoever. I did find her on X, but I
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: couldn't messenger unless I upgraded to a pro plan on X,
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: which I did not do. And then I came across
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  Speaker 2: her on Instagram and sent her a message there that
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  Speaker 2: was never read or answered. So, I tried. And if
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  Speaker 2: anybody out there has any contact information for Caitlin Tiffany,
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: please email me at theloangummanpodcast at gmail.com because I'd still
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  Speaker 2: love to have her on the show to talk about
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  Speaker 2: the book. Also, if you're in Texas, specifically anywhere around Austin,
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  Speaker 2: on Saturday, November 14th, from 345 to 430, The Atlantic
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  Speaker 2: presents Caitlin Tiffany on The Housewives Underground, where she will
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  Speaker 2: be given a discussion about the book. And then we'll
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  Speaker 2: answer questions. And then there's a book signing at 445
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  Speaker 2: in the main book signing tent. And you can find
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  Speaker 2: more about this Caitlin Tiffany appearance in Austin, Texas, if
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: you go to TexasBookFestival.org. And I'll put the link in
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  Speaker 2: the description, not only for the book, but also for
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  Speaker 2: the appearance. If anyone is around Austin, Texas on Saturday,
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  Speaker 2: November 14th and would like to meet her and actually
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: hear her speak, that would be cool. Now, back to
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  Speaker 2: the book itself. It is 512 pages long. It is
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  Speaker 2: a very well-written book. I like the style, if you will.
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  Speaker 2: It's not a boring and drab book. It's very character
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  Speaker 2: and narrative driven. And it keeps you engaged in the
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  Speaker 2: story as it interlapses and interweaves the stories of these
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  Speaker 2: ladies together. Because they often would correspond with each other,
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  Speaker 2: share information, write letters back and forth to each other.
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  Speaker 2: Maggie Field even worked with, like I said, Sylvia Marr
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  Speaker 2: on the index to the 26 volumes. And, you know,
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  Speaker 2: there's amazing stuff in here. She talked to a lot
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  Speaker 2: of these housewives' children and got their perspective on things.
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  Speaker 2: Shirley Martin would even get her oldest, Vicki, involved in
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  Speaker 2: transcribing interviews. And she would often drag her along with
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  Speaker 2: her to meet some of these people. So she has stories,
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  Speaker 2: of course, from growing up and being around this firsthand
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  Speaker 2: experience and meeting some of these personalities. Such as, this
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  Speaker 2: comes from the book, and this is an account of
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  Speaker 2: when Shirley Martin and Vicki drove to Dallas to meet...
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  Speaker 2: Akilah Clemons, a witness to the Tippett shooting, famously interviewed
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  Speaker 2: by Mark Lane. Now, of course, this is after Mark
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  Speaker 2: Lane talked to Akilah Clemons. They just went to her
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  Speaker 2: house and knocked on her door, right? Clemens was a
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  Speaker 2: live-in care provider at a house on the corner of
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  Speaker 2: East 10th Street, right where Tippett was shot. She said
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  Speaker 2: she'd been interviewed by police on the day of the
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  Speaker 2: assassination and told them that she'd seen two men, not one,
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  Speaker 2: at the scene of the crime. But she had not
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  Speaker 2: been called to testify by the Warren Commission. So when
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  Speaker 2: Shirley and Vicki found her at her own home, she
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  Speaker 2: was reluctant to speak to them. But they got her
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  Speaker 2: to sit down and listen while they explained that Vicki
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  Speaker 2: was an aspiring writer who was working on a children's
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  Speaker 2: book about the assassination. Clemens hesitated and told them that
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  Speaker 2: someone from law enforcement, she wasn't sure which agency, had
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  Speaker 2: advised her to stop talking about the shooting. She seemed
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  Speaker 2: mostly to be worried that discussing it would mean having
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  Speaker 2: to take time off from work to go to Washington, D.C.,
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  Speaker 2: where she would inevitably be photographed by reporters. Both things,
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  Speaker 2: she felt, would upset her employer. The muddled way that
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  Speaker 2: she phrased her concerns struck the two women as ominous. Quote,
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  Speaker 2: they don't allow me to say anything. I'm not allowed
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  Speaker 2: to say anything, Clemens told Shirley and Vicki. But in
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  Speaker 2: the end, she did talk. though hauntingly and confusingly. The
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  Speaker 2: two men she'd seen seemed to be working together. One
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  Speaker 2: was tall and thin, and one was short and stocky.
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  Speaker 2: The latter had been the one with the gun, the
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  Speaker 2: short and stocky one. When Shirley and Vicki tried to
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  Speaker 2: get her in to describe the men's clothing in detail,
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  Speaker 2: she said she couldn't. I didn't pay that much attention,
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  Speaker 2: she said. I just tried to get out of the
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  Speaker 2: way because I thought he was going to shoot me.
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  Speaker 2: Vicki made a transcript of the entire odd exchange. Clemens. See,
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  Speaker 2: they'll kill people that know something about that. There's liable
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  Speaker 2: to be a whole lot of them. Shirley Martin says, who?
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  Speaker 2: There might be a whole lot of Oswalds and things.
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  Speaker 2: You know, you don't know who you talk to. You
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  Speaker 2: just don't know. Martin says, you scare me. Clemens says,
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  Speaker 2: you have to be careful or you get killed. Martin says,
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  Speaker 2: that's what the police said too? Clement says, sure. They
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: told me that I had to be real careful if
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: I wanted to live. Martin says, oh, for heaven's sake. So, again,
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: there's lots of nuanced stories, firsthand accounts of witnesses. Marguerite
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: Oswald drove up to Shirley Martin's house in Hominy, Oklahoma
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: after the assassination I believe the year after, I guess 1965.
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  Speaker 2: And stayed in their house for a couple days and
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  Speaker 2: just talked and talked and talked and talked. Shirley took
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  Speaker 2: lots of notes. And I'm sure Vicki did as well.
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: But again, it's a very interesting book. It's one that
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: needed to be written. And I'm glad Caitlin Tiffany finally did.
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  Speaker 2: It is a noble effort. It is a well thought
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  Speaker 2: out narrative. Again, like I said, I like the way
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  Speaker 2: that the book is written. It's very easy to read.
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  Speaker 2: It is an editor's pick and is one of the
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: best books of the year so far. 2026 on Amazon.
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: It was very well received by the mainstream public, believe
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: it or not, which always helps to bring eyes to
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: the Kennedy assassination, which is always a good thing. It's
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: always a good thing. So with that being said, for
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: what it is, but also for what it's missing, I
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: just can't go any higher than an eight guns up
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  Speaker 2: for this book. And that's not taking anything away from
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: this book. It's just I think that it could be
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: more had you included Maybe Brussel. You know. Maybe even.
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: Mary Farrell. Maybe Dorothy Kilgallen. I don't know. Just all
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: the women. All the things. But. Like I said. 8
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: out of 10 guns up. Not a bad score for
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: Caitlin Tiffany. In this outing.
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: And.
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: Masterfully done. And I'm glad she is enjoying the success
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: with the book. Like I said, I'd still love to
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: talk to her. So if anybody has any contact info
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: for Caitlin, the lone gum and podcast at gmail.com much appreciated.
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: And again, if you're anywhere near Austin, November 14th, 2026,
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  Speaker 2: she will be at the Atlantic, uh, giving a presentation,
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: and signing books. Again, all this stuff will be linked
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: in the description below in this video where you can
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: get the book and the information for the presentation in Austin, Texas,
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: November 14th, 20 and 26. So with that, folks, this
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: has been another JFK Book Review, a division of the
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: Lone Gummin' Podcast. a show all about the Kennedy assassination
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: and investigating all aspects of it that I do right
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: here with my co-host Joe Borelli every Friday night live
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: right here on YouTube at 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: and also on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: for our channel members only because we love them so much.
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: They keep our channel going. They keep us afloat. So
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: we like to give them something special. Extra Special, which
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: is an entire show just for them once a week.
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: So if this kind of thing interests you, check it out.
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: You might like it. You just might like it. And
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: in fact, for this month, the anniversary month, all through November,
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: all members-only shows will be open to all members. Normally,
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: it's just covert operators and hire. It is going to
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: be spooks and hires. For the entire month. Of November.
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: As a thank you. To all of our channel members.
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: For help keeping this little here channel afloat.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: So.
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: Much appreciated. Hope you enjoyed it. We'll see you next time.
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: On JFK. Book Reviews. This has been. The Housewives Underground.
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: Oh.
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: It's about 18 bucks on Amazon. Roughly. For a hard cover.
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: Like I got. It's actually almost 50% off right now. So.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: Get it while it's hot.
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: Or.
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: Get it in Austin and get it signed. Until then.
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: Until the next one. It's your boy. Peace.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, keep it smooth. Velvet chair on a warm
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: ocean breeze.
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: Stack of JFK books resting on my knees. Triple B
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: here to turn every page.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: Bringing history back to the stage.
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: Cutting through the heavy literary ink To tell you what
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: you really ought.
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: To think Welcome to JFK Book Reviews Where we sort through.
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: The history news From one to.
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: Ten guns up on the line We give every chapter
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: its own design One to ten guns up One to
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: ten guns up One to ten guns up
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: Thank you.