With the attention the movie is getting I thought it was important to remember the real life victim, Charlie Howard, and his murder that inspired King to write that chapter in the book.
BANGOR, Maine — Moviegoers from Maine who watch the film "It: Chapter Two" this weekend might recognize a scene that draws on a painful event from the state's history.
The scene involves a gay character named Adrian Mellon being attacked by teenagers and his subsequent encounter with Pennywise the Clown. The scene is based on real-life Bangor resident Charlie Howard, who was attacked and thrown off the city's State Street Bridge in 1984.
Stephen King tells the Bangor Daily News that the killing still had currency when he was writing the book on which the movie is based.
"At the time I started writing 'It,' the Howard murder had just happened. It was fresh in my mind and fitted my idea of Derry as a place where terrible things happened," King said. "And, maybe needless to say, I was outraged. It was a hate crime."
In the summer of 1984, Bangor was brimming with pride, celebrating its 150th birthday with a 10-day party. Residents descended on downtown to enjoy their city. On the night of July 7, there was a performance of "The Music Man" on the riverfront.
...
Charlie Howard, 23, was a native of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He had moved to Bangor from Ellsworth earlier that year. He was a member of the Unitarian Church, now the Brick Church, at First and Union streets in Bangor.
Friends remember Howard as a free spirit who experienced trouble in his schooling and frequently was bullied.
The church was one of the few places in 1980s Bangor where gays and lesbians felt they could be open about their sexuality.
...
On the evening of July 7, 1984, Howard had attended a potluck supper at the church. Later that night, about 10:30 p.m., he was walking along State Street in downtown Bangor, arm-in-arm with his friend Roy Ogden.
That's when three young men crossed their path.
Daniel Ness, 17, Shawn I. Mabry, 16, and James Francis Baines, 15, had spent the day drinking alcohol they had paid acquaintances of legal age to buy for them.
...
Later, they would tell Bangor police they just wanted to beat up a "faggot" — something they claimed to have done before.
...
When the boys saw Howard and Ogden, Mabry pulled over. The three boys jumped out of the car. One of them, according to a book written about the crime, called out loudly, "Hey, are you guys gay?"
The verbal confrontation escalated and Howard and Ogden ran across State Street. The boys pursued them. Howard tripped and fell. They kicked him, grabbed him and threw him over the bridge railing into the Kenduskeag Stream, about 15 feet below.
Howard shouted for help. He reportedly had told his attackers he could not swim.
As the boys pulled away in their car, laughing, Howard was struggling to breathe and to stay afloat in the stream. Ogden ran and pulled a nearby fire alarm.
Howard's body was recovered about 12:10 a.m. Sunday, July 8, in about 3 feet of water south of the State Street bridge. An autopsy determined he died by drowning, with an acute asthma attack as a contributing factor.
...
Charlie Howard's death and the subsequent legal case cast a long shadow over Bangor. The city's response at the time is remembered as muted, a reflection of divided community sentiment.
"There wasn't the outrage of, 'Why did this happen?'" recalls Pat Blanchette, a former state legislator and current Bangor city councilor. "It was people saying it was Charlie Howard's fault because he didn't hide it."
...
As recently as 2011, a vandal scrawled the words "Die Fags" on the small Howard memorial near the bridge where he was killed.
The boys were sent to the Hancock County Jail and later released into their parents' custody. The boys were tried as juveniles and sentenced to the Maine Youth Center not to exceed their 21st birthdays.The boys were sentenced on 1 October 1984. According to the Bangor Daily News, "Baines was released after serving two years and Mabry was released after 22 months."
