It's been 39 years since Teamster Union Leader and folk anti-hero, Jimmy Hoffa, went missing. It was a balmy summer day in 1975 when Jimmy Hoffa told his wife that he was going to meet a friend at a Detroit area restaurant, got into his Pontiac Grand Ville, drove off and was never seen again. It's one of the most famous missing person cases in the history of the world.
Now, he was most definitely murdered by enemies... or possibly friends... among the nefarious and notorious cast of characters whom he had developed ties with over many, many years in the labor movement. There are a million theories as to who killed him, why he was killed, how he was killed, where the body is or isn't, and some speculate that he wasn't killed at all. Some theories make more sense than others, and many make no sense at all. A death scenario was portrayed in Danny DeVito's 1992 film, "Hoffa", in which he is killed in this extremely elaborate plot involving, ironically, a semi truck. Now while it was well shot and interesting to watch, Hoffa's death was most likely FAR less poetic.
Over the many decades, a number of Teamster officials have been murdered and disappeared, but none have gained the attention that Hoffa's death has. There was something about Jimmy Hoffa -- who had gone to federal prison and upon his release found that he had been ousted by his own following -- that fascinated people, and his death tantalizes, even to this day, that dark place in the psyche. This, despite the fact that if we knew how he died, we would probably be repulsed.
Part of Hoffa's legend, aside from the fact that he broke heads on the picket lines and faced-off against Prince Kennedy, is that he played with demons. He had ties to organized crime syndicates. His legend is part of the larger, greater myth. That myth of bootleggers and silk-suit clad urban bandits... the Mafia. There's a morbid place in our psyche that attracts us to the idea of the Mafia, despite that is really is -- if it ever really existed -- less "The Godfather" and more of a twisted urban feudalism. The idea of living beyond normal society and its rules is a turn-on for some. A social order driven by personal relationships and money, and defined by a swift and brutal sense of justice can lure our imaginations and entice our dark side. Hoffa was part of that legend and that world, and I think that ideal even enticed him... despite reality.
People, even flag-waving federalists, are inspired by the legends that form around certain kinds of folks. Just as some countries have their legends of poet warriors and ravishing damsels, America has cowboys and gangsters. It was an idea about Hoffa, just like an idea about Al Capone, or an idea about Billy the Kid that cemented him into the consciousness. The truth about people, especially dashing, daring, fearless people, is often far less romantic and far more heartbreaking than the man of faith can bare. And it is true that we see what we want to see and we hear what we want to hear.
So, the FBI looks and listens for tips as to where Hoffa's body is. They dig holes and file reports and come-up with nothing. Not many personalities could lure the FBI into chasing phantoms. Hoffa's legend endues, even after his body is long gone. Calcium oxide (quicklime) can destroy the flesh, but it can't destroy the idea and the imagination.
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