Fruit of the Poisonous Tree

Richard W. Carson grew up in Detroit, and graduated from Cooley High School. He attended Ferris State College at Big Rapids and appeared unspectacularly as Christian de Neuvillette in a campus production of Cyrano DeBergerac. Carson later transferred to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and, having wisely abandoned his interest in the stage, majored in English. In 1967, Carson joined the staff of the Huron Daily Tribune, a small daily in Michigan’s Upper Thumb area. There he worked as a general-assignment reporter, was promoted to editor, and received awards for excellence in editorial and feature writing as well as news, sports and feature photography. Small-town life, which always appealed to the city boy, gave way to career opportunities in 1981. After nearly 15 years at the Tribune, Carson accepted a position as a section editor at The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch. Soon after, he was promoted to editorial writer and, in 1988, to editorial page editor. In the latter capacity, Carson supervised a nine-member staff of writers and editorial cartoonists. In 2003, after 22 years with The Dispatch, Carson retired and began to pursue his passion for writing a detailed account of the Robin Adams murder case. In this connection, he refers to himself as “the writer of last resort,” given the persistent rumors that several others planned to write such a book soon after the murder trial ended, though, ultimately, none did. Commenting on the timeliness of Fruit of the Poisonous Tree, Carson said, “I wish I could have finished the book sooner but I’ve learned painfully that writing non-fiction is like taking the wheel of a runaway train. You never know when the story will stop and I wonder if this one has even now.” Carson, a widower, lives in Gahanna, Ohio, in close proximity to his three grown children, Denise, Rich and Danielle, and six grandchildren.