Clever Confidential Ep. 1: The Strange Disappearance of Norman Jaffe
On the morning of August 19th, 1993, quintessential mid-century architect, Norman Jaffe, parked his car in his client’s driveway, walked to Ocean Beach in Bridgehampton, New York, stripped down, neatly folded his clothes, and dove into the Atlantic. He never returned.
Was it murder? Was it suicide? Did he fake his own death? What happened to Norman Jaffe?
New York Post article, August 22nd, 1993
Despite a frantic search initiated within a few hours of his disappearance, his body was never recovered. Almost four weeks later, a pelvic bone was found washed ashore in Mecox Bay a mile or so from the beach where Jaffe’s clothes were discovered. Eleven days later, a forensic pathologist and a radiologist would match some markings on the bone to an x-ray from years earlier. Surprisingly, this was enough for the medical examiner to determine that Jaffe had drowned and the case was closed.
But so many questions lingered — and continue to linger to this day. Why was Jaffe’s body never recovered that day despite helicopter and Coast Guard searches in addition to the full force of the Southhampton Police Department? Why was there no DNA test performed? Why the rush to close the case?
Frontispiece outtake from Romantic Modernist, by Alastair Gordon, Monacelli Press, 2005
And if we’re to accept that that was indeed Jaffe’s bone and he did drown, was it accidental or was it suicide? Could Jaffe, an architect equally loved and loathed — by clients, contractors, and colleagues alike — have been murdered? If so, by who and why? Or could Jaffe, a life-long seeker, have decided to fake his own death to pursue another life?
Join Amy, co-host and partner in crime, Andrew Wagner, and very special guest, Norman Jaffe expert, author Alastair Gordon, on this first episode of Clever Confidential, our offshoot podcast where we dig into the lesser told stories of the darker side of design. Hear the stories of the shadowy—sometimes sordid—tales hiding under a glossy top coat of respectable legacy.
Harold Becker House facade, Wainscott, New York / Photo by Jeff Heatley
Exterior, Gates of Grove, Easthampton, New York
Interior, Gates of Grove, Easthampton, New York
There are many more stories like this that need to be told, including the Taliesin Axe Murders, The Bradbury Building’s Words from Beyond the Grave, and Louis Kahn’s Untimely Demise in New York City’s squalid Penn Station.
We are excited to make Clever Confidential a series but we need to hear from you! Please drop us a line via social media (@cleverpodcast), or via email [email protected]. Tell us what you like. What you don’t. And what other stories we should pursue. We can’t wait to work with you, our amazing listeners, to make the stories on Clever Confidential, ummmm, not so confidential.
We need your support! Click here to donate to Clever so we can keep this series going!
Credits:
Hosts: Amy Devers & Andrew Wagner
Guest: Alastair Gordon
Writing and research: Amy Devers & Andrew Wagner
Production: 2VDE Media
Editing: Rich Stroffolino
All Sound Bites: from Alastair Gordon's documentary film "Beyond the Beach: The life and Death of Norman Jaffe, Architect"
Theme Music: “Astronomy” by Thin White Rope courtesy of Frontier Records.
Logo: Laura Jaramillo
For more on Norman Jaffe please grab a copy of Alastair Gordon’s Romantic Modernist, The Life and Work of Norman Jaffe, Architect, published by Monacelli Press in 2005. It is fantastic :)
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