The Story that Inspired "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been"


Joyce Carol Oates(1)
Background

        Joyce Carol Oates published the short story titled "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" in 1966. Oates wrote "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" after reading an article written by Don Moser that was published in Life Magazine on March 4, 1966. The article titled "The Pied Piper of Tucson: He Cruised in a Golden Car, Looking for the Action" was the story of Charles Howard Schmid Jr. aka Smitty. Smitty was a suspect in the murders of three girls in Tucson Arizona in the late 60s. He was later found guilty of two of the murders (1).

The Murders

Alleen Rowe(4)
        The first girl was Alleen Rowe who was 15 at the time of her death. One of her neighbors named Mary French was friends with Smitty. On the night of May 31, 1964, Mary convinced Alleen to go to the beach with her, Smitty, and another boy named John Saunders. Mary later testified in court that the four of the went and sat at the beach together. Eventually, as Smitty and Mary began to go back to the car they heard a cry from the beach where John and Alleen were. Mary went to the car while Smitty returned to the beach. Eventually, Smitty went back to the car and told Mary that they had killed Alleen. About a year and a half after the murder of Alleen, Smitty killed again. The next two victims of Smitty were Gretchen Fritz, who was 17, and her 13-year-old sister Wendy. Gretchen and Smitty had been dating for about a year and according to Richard Bruns, who was a close friend of Smitty's, "were made for each other," because of their constant arguing and controlling tendencies. On August 16, 1965, Gretchen and Wendy left home to go to a drive-in movie, which was the last time either girl was seen alive. Bruns reported that a week after the girls disappeared Smitty admitted to killing the girls and leaving their bodies half buried. A few days after that Bruns and Smitty were picked up by members of the Mafia who were hired to look for Gretchen and Wendy. After their run-in with the Mafia,    Bruns and Smitty went and finished burying the bodies of the girls. After months of paranoia being convinced that Smitty was going to kill Bruns's ex-girlfriend Kathy he eventually reported Smitty to the police (2).

Finally caught

Charles Howard Schmid Jr. (5)
        Bruns told the police of the burial site of Gretchen and Wendy. Police later arrested Mary and John who confessed to their part in the death of Alleen. (2) After the trials for the murders Smitty was sentenced to the death penalty via lethal injection. While he was on death row Arizona ended the death penalty and he was sentenced to fifty years in prison. He had multiple escape attempts over the years, one of which proved partially successful. After nine years in prison, he was attacked by two other inmates and stabbed over 20 times in the head and torso. 10 days after the attack he died due to his injuries on March 30, 1975 (3). 

The Short Story

    Within Oates' story of "Where Are You Going Where Have You Been" there are similarities to the story of the Pied Piper. The main character in the story is named Connie and she is 15 years old, the same age as Alleen Rowe was. She tends to be rebellious from her parents and gets herself into some trouble, this seems to reflect the rebellious nature of Gretchen Fritz. There are also many parallels between the character of Arnold Friend and Smitty. Arnold Friend wears lifts in his shoes and make-up which Smitty did in real life in order to appear more attractive. In the story Arnold arrives at her house and harasses her until she goes out to him. While we know what happened with Alleen, Gretchen, and Wendy there is no definitive answer to what happened to Connie in the end of the story because the story ends with her going to Arnold Friends car (1)(2).

(1) Charters, Ann. The Story and Its Writer. Available from: VitalSource Bookshelf, (10th Edition). Macmillan Higher Education, 2018. p. 682--694, 1216-1218
(2) Moser, Don. “The Pied Piper of Tucson.” Weebly.com, 4 Mar.
1966, http://altsclass.weebly.com/uploads/3/8/8/0/38808759/lifemagazinepiedpiper.doc.pdf
(3) Allen, Paul. “Vicious ‘Pied Piper’ Butchered in Prison in ’75 - Tucson Citizen Morgue, Part 2
(1993-2009).” Tucsoncitizen.com, 11 July 2005, tucsoncitizen.com/morgue2/2005/07/11/69875-vicious-pied-piper-butchered-in-prison-in-75/. Accessed 4 Apr. 2023.
(4)https://thisistucson.com/morguetales/tales-from-the-morgue-the-pied-piper-of-tucson-part-2/article_dcabcb60-e2ff-11df-b719-001cc4c002e0.html
(5)---. “Tales from the Morgue: The Pied Piper of Tucson, Part 11.” This Is Tucson, 6 Nov. 2010, thisistucson.com/morguetales/tales-from-the-morgue-the-pied-piper-of-tucson-part-11/article_e8b65d72-e943-11df-a3cb-001cc4c03286.html. Accessed 4 Apr. 2023.

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