Ernest Granville Booth was born on 12 August, 1898, at Oakland
California, the son of Stuart W. and Abigail Hill (nee' Wall) Booth. His
father, a prominent Oakland journalist, had emigrated from England in
1890. His mother originally came from Massachusetts. As a boy Booth
attended the Preston School of Industry in Ione, California. Preston
Castle, as some call it, is now known as one of the oldest and better
known reform schools in America.
Considered a habitual criminal, hotel clerk Ernest Booth was sentenced
to life in prison in 1924 for robbing the Allendale branch of the
Oakland Bank. He began writing while serving his life term at Folsom
Penitentiary to help support his wife. In 1927 his writings came to the
attention of H.L. Mencken, who began
publishing his stories in The American Mercury. The next year his story
"Ladies of the Mob" was made into a film. Because of his writing
successes and a lung condition, Booth was granted a parole in 1937. By
that time he had spent 23 of his 39 years behind bars. In September of
1941 Booth was arrested and questioned over the murder of wealthy
socialite, Mrs. Florence Stricker, but was eventually released for lack
of evidence. As a result of the murder investigation, Booth was briefly
jailed for a weapons violation. Six years later, after having dinner
with wife, he was arrested in the parking lot of the legendary Musso &
Frank Grill in Hollywood and charged with armed robbery. Booth was
later found guilty of a string of West Coast robberies that stretched
from Seattle to Pasadena and was sentenced to 20 years to life at San
Quentin Prison. His final appeal was denied in 1958 and he died
sometime later in prison of tuberculosis.
