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Outlook: ‘Sold’ for a pint of whiskey: Lonnie Holley’s mythical life, part 2

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28/06/2023 GMT

‘Sold’ for a pint of whiskey: Lonnie Holley’s mythical life, part 2

BBC World Service - Outlook, ‘Sold’ for a pint of whiskey: Lonnie Holley’s mythical life, part 2

Lonnie begins to rebuild; but it takes friends and family to tell him he’s an artist

Lonnie begins to rebuild his life – but it takes another tragedy and the intervention of friends and family to make him realise he’s an artist

Artist Lonnie Holley’s life feels like an American myth: raised in a whiskey bar next to the state fairground in Jim Crow-era Alabama, he wandered the ditches and creeks of the surrounding landscape, experiencing beauty and brutality in equal measure while the greats of Hollywood’s golden age played out on the giant screen of the drive-in movie theatre next door. 

This episode, part 2 of Lonnie’s story, follows him as he begins to rebuild his life among his family, following his escape from an infamous Alabama reform school. When the family experiences further tragedy, Lonnie's response is artistic. Pretty soon, people begin telling him he's an artist. Even though he's not sure what an artist is, Lonnie is eventually encouraged to show his work to the local museum.  

When Hussain Zaidi started his journalistic career, his home city of Mumbai was caught up in a vicious mafia war. The men who ran the gangs wielded huge power over business, smuggling, and the entertainment industry. As they fought for dominance the body count rose. Hussain was a crime reporter and he wanted to get the whole story, and so he embarked on a high-risk mission to track down and interview the most dangerous criminals in the city. Eventually, his work would lead him to the most famous don of them all, Dawood Ibrahim. First broadcast in 2019.

Presenter: Andrea Kennedy
Producer: Laura Thomas & Hetal Bapodra

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

(Photo: Lonnie Holley. Credit: David Raccuglia)

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