The Kneeling Man

“Get comfortable, because once you start reading you will not be able to put this book down. The Kneeling Man is a spellbinding account of a daughter piecing together her father’s mysterious role witnessing the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. With gorgeous prose and emotional honesty, Leta McCollough Seletzky brings us on her journey to uncover deeply hidden family secrets and better understand our own.” —Jennifer Taub, author of Big Dirty Money and Other People’s Houses

“The Kneeling Man is the heretofore unknown story of a chapter of American history. It tells the life story of the author’s father, Marrell “Mac” McCollough, a witness to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In the iconic photo of Dr. King lying on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in a pool of his blood, the man kneeling beside him is Marrell McCollough. The backstory to this historical image is that Mr. McCollough was an undercover Memphis police officer working on a local Black militant group known as the Invaders. Mr. McCollough is one of those unsung American heroes who history either ignores or has inadvertently forgotten. The telling of his unique story; from Mississippi childhood to the U.S. Army to the Memphis Police Department to the CIA, Mr. McCollough has lived the quintessential American life-NOT as a Black man but as an American-is inspiring and revelatory. He is a TRUE American hero! I wholeheartedly recommend Ms.Seletzky’s wonderful, thought provoking memoir of her father.” —Ron Stallworth, author of Black Klansman

"Millions of people recognize the photo, but until now hardly anyone has known the incredibly fascinating life story of the man at the center of it: undercover cop and future CIA agent Marrell McCollough. His daughter Leta captures the complexity and humanity of her father's life in this deeply engrossing narrative, which is both an important work of history and an unforgettable family story." —David J. Garrow, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Bearing the Cross and The F.B.I. and Martin Luther King, Jr.

"An important and moving book that everyone should read. Leta is a talent." —Molly Jong-Fast, author of The Social Climber's Handbook

"In The Kneeling Man, Leta McCollough Seletzky mixes reportage with personal reflection, helping readers understand a famous photograph of the assassination of Martin Luther King by deftly exploring what exists outside the frame of the image. Through her deep dive into her father’s connection to that photograph—and by engaging with the harsh realities of the Southern past and civil rights era—Seletzky links her present with her father’s past by seeking to learn the truth about both, no matter how untidy or unpleasant that might be. This is a brave book." —W. Ralph Eubanks, author of A Place Like Mississippi and Ever Is a Long Time

"A searing portrait of a man divided between his country and his identity. At once historical and timely, Seletzky gifts us a captivating, charged and wholly nuanced narrative that grips you from the first page and does not let go." —Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, author of A Kind of Freedom and On the Rooftop