Outrageous: The Legend of Zesty Sundrops

From criminal to war hero, Zesty’s transformation was unbelievable.

Ernest Hemingway was so impressed, he wrote a book about Sundrops’ exploits: starting with him as a boy tracking down the butchers of his mother and father and hanging them, then leaving behind the role as a hired killer for the Dixie mob, joining the army in WWII and redeeming himself with super human acts of daring and bravery, including assassinating the Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini, for which Sundrops received the coveted “Distinguished Service Cross.”

Even a play about Zesty had a long run on Broadway.

But was it all true? And did it matter if he had become a legend?