Live jazz funeral music and speech to pay tribute to slain NOLA doctor

The doctor was Mary Sherman, MD, an expert in cancer and radiation who taught at Tulane Medical School and worked at Ochsner Clinic.  She was found murdered in her Uptown apartment on Jul. 21, 1964.  Officially, her murder remains unsolved, and the crime scene photos have never been released until now.           

Mary Sherman’s death is the subject of the best-selling book Dr. Mary’s Monkey, which some have called “the most whispered about book in New Orleans.”  The book’s author, Ed Haslam, maintains that Dr. Sherman was severely electrocuted at another facility in Uptown New Orleans and her badly burned body was secretly brought back to her apartment where a murder scene was faked.  The subtitle of the book gives the reader a glimpse of the sprawling story that unfolds inside: How the unsolved murder of a doctor, a secret laboratory in New Orleans, and cancer-causing monkey viruses are linked to Lee Harvey Oswald, the JFK assassination and emerging global epidemics. 

The book has become an underground classic in the Crescent City and across the country.  Information about the book, hours of related videos, and the newly released crime scene photos can be found at the author’s website: DoctorMarysMonkey.com.  The updated 2014 hard cover edition is being released on July 21, 2014.    

JAZZ FUNERAL MUSIC FOR DR. MARY SHERMAN: A proper tribute at last.            
When: Monday, July 21, 2014, 10 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.            
Where: 3101 St. Charles Ave., NOLA.   FREE and open to the public.            
The murder of Dr. Mary Sherman was discovered 50 years ago on the morning of July 21 inside her apartment at 3101 St. Charles Ave., then known as The Patio Apartments.  Jazz funeral music to honor her will be performed outside, in front of her former residence, on the sidewalk.  Haslam says, “Mary Sherman was a beautiful, educated, and successful woman, beloved and respected by those who knew her.  It is time we gave her a better send-off than the vicious rumors that swarmed around her death in 1964.  Here in New Orleans, the dignified way to show respect is with a jazz funeral.  This is only a ‘faux funeral,’ but the jazz and the respect are real.”  The musicians will be lead by trumpet player Clive Wilson, a 40 veteran of traditional New Orleans jazz bands.  

An Evening with Ed Haslam: What’s new in the 2014 edition of Dr. Mary’s Monkey?              
When: July 21, 2014,  7 p.m. – 9 p.m.   FREE and open to public.           
Where: Jefferson Parish Public Library, 4747 West Napoleon            

Author Ed Haslam will be speaking about the new, updated 2014 hard cover edition of Dr. Mary’s Monkey at this event.  “We’re doing this presentation at a library to call attention to the fact that we are releasing a hard cover edition suitable for permanent collections in libraries and universities.”  This 2014 edition of his cult classic Dr. Mary’s Monkey, includes 25 additional pages, including documents from the FBI, CIA, CDC, and NOPD, plus the actual crime scene photos, which have never been released before. “The plot to kill Fidel Castro was used as an excuse for a lot of wicked stuff,” said Haslam, “but we find the familiar words polio and cancer right at the heart of the story.”            
Copies of the 2014 hard cover edition of Dr. Mary’s Monkey will be sold by the Friends of the Library and signed by the author.  If you have a copy of the 2007 edition and want it signed, please bring it with you to have it signed.