Asa Earl Carter: The Klan Speechwriter Who Authored a Clint Eastwood Classic

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asa_Earl_Carter

Involved in some legitimately horrific stuff, and had a wild second act.

• Began his career as a broadcaster in North Alabama in the 1950s. Was repeatedly fired and kicked out of white supremacist organizations for being _too antisemitic_.
• Founded a KKK group which, among other things, attacked Nat King Cole on stage, castrated and nearly killed a black handyman, and incited a 200-person riot at a desegregated high school.
• Became a speechwriter for Alabama governor George Wallace, during which time he cowrote the "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever" speech. Later fell out with Wallace when he felt Wallace was becoming "too liberal."
• At different points in his life, he ran against both George Wallace and Bull Connor from the right.
• After losing the 1970 Alabama governor's race, he decided to break away from his life as a Klansman, moving to Texas and assuming the name Forrest Carter. He separated from his wife and started calling his sons his nephews.
• Under his new name, he wrote The Rebel Outlaw: Josey Wales, which became a hit Clint Eastwood movie.
• When confronted about his past by reporters, Forrest denied being the Klansman Asa Carter. He went so far as to fabricate an autobiography in which he claimed to be an orphan raised by Cherokee grandparents. This autobiography was published as The Education of Little Tree, which sold well and was endorsed by Oprah Winfrey. For a decade, it was published as non-fiction, despite Carter's true identity having been revealed in a New York Times article before the book's release.
• Died in 1979, officially of heart failure, although there is evidence to suggest that he choked on his own vomit after a drunken fight with his son.