Thanksgiving 1958

Thanksgiving 1958 is the holiday period in which Lowell Lee Andrews came home and, on the evening of November 28, attacked his family. The account sets the violence against an ordinary family gathering and a precise evening chronology, making the holiday visit the immediate setting for a decisive rupture.

The Holiday Visit

During Thanksgiving week, Lowell Lee was home for the holidays. His sister Jennie Marie, a college student in Oklahoma, was also there. Around seven on the evening of November 28, she sat with their parents in the parlor watching television while Lowell Lee remained in his locked bedroom, reading the final chapter of The Brothers Karamazov.

The Evening of November 28

After finishing the book, Lowell Lee shaved, changed into his best suit, took a rifle and revolver, and walked down the hall to the parlor. He attacked Jennie Marie and their parents. The account thus moves from a family’s quiet holiday evening to the killing of the three people gathered there, fixing the family’s return home to Thanksgiving week as the setting for the crime.