Forrest Carter

Forrest Carter, the author of the controversial memoir (now recognized as a work of fiction) "The Education of Little Tree," was the pen-name of Asa Earl Carter (September 4, 1925-June 7, 1979), a rabid segregationist who was an infamous racist propagandist in the 1960s. A leader of the White Citizens Council (a group dedicated to opposing desegregation and one that was generally considered to be a front group for the Ku Klux Klan) of North Alabama, Carter was the head of a "klavern" of the Ku Klux Klan.

In Alabama, during the 1950s and 1960s under his real name of Asa Carter, he headed a chapter of the KKK and wrote speeches for segregationist Governor George Wallace. His best known contribution to Wallace's persona are the words "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!" that were delivered by Wallace in his first gubernatorial inaugural speech of 1962.

He was an unofficial speechwriter for segregationist Governor George Wallace, the segregationist governor of Alabama and candidate for the Presidency (1968, '72). Asa Earl Carter wrote white supremacist literature, and was a major contributor to "The Southerner," a white-supremacist publication that he edited and published first under the aegis of the racist White Citizens Council. Originally accepted as an actual work by a Cherokee Indian, "The Education of Little Tree" ranks as one of the great literary hoaxes of American literature.

Taking the pen of name Forrest Carter, he published two Westerns, including "The Rebel Outlaw: Josey Wales" that 'Clint Eastwood' made into the 1976 hit movie The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976). After the Eastwood film was released, the New York Times revealed that "Forrest Carter" was actually Asa Earl Carter, the segregationist. At the time it was fashionable among some critics, in line with Pauline Kael's criticism of the movie-star/director, to portray Eastwood as a "fascist," and Carter's outing was more likely made to embarrass Eastwood rather than to out Asa Earl Carter. In the New York Times article, "Forrest Carter" claimed that he was not Asa Carter. But he was.