News & Public Affairs

New play premiering locally: Red Pepper, about the 1950 US Senate race between Claude Pepper and George Smathers

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Tags: Susan Willett, Claude Pepper, George Smathers, red-baiting, Paul Robeson

Coming up on the first part of today's program an interview with playwright Susan Willett whose new play Red Pepper looks at the 1950 US Senate primary in Florida

The play, which takes place during the election of 1950, tells about Sen. Claude Pepper, and his doomed race against his former protégé, George Smathers.

“Pepper’s opponents had a 48-page booklet of reasons why people shouldn’t vote for him,” Willett said. “For example, it had in it a pictu...