| George Fingold | |
|---|---|
| Massachusetts Attorney General | |
| In office 1953 – August 31, 1958 |
|
| Preceded by | Francis E. Kelly |
| Succeeded by | Edward J. McCormack |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 18, 1908 [1] Boston, Massachusetts [2] |
| Died | August 31, 1958 Concord, Massachusetts |
| Political party | Republican |
| Residence | Malden, Massachusetts Concord, Massachusetts |
| Alma mater | Suffolk University Law School [3] |
| Profession | Lawyer |
George Fingold (born October 18, 1908 in Boston, Massachusetts, attended Suffolk University Law School, a private law school in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, and became a politician who served as Attorney General of Massachusetts from 1953-1958.
Fingold's political career began at the age of 21 when he was elected to the Malden City Council. He later served as Assistant District attorney of Middlesex County and as the Commonwealth's Assistant Attorney General in charge of prosecution of racketeers. In 1952, Fingold defeated incumbent Attorney General Francis E. Kelly.[4]
On December 18, 1953, Fingold, in a burst of indignation, called for the Massachusetts Governor's Council to ban the comic book PANIC within the state, on the grounds it “desecrated Christmas” depicting the holiday in a “pagan” manner. Under his orders the head of the state police, Captain Joseph Crescio, cut off distribution of PANIC throughout Massachusetts, and by December 21, the book had been pulled from nearly all the newsstands in the Greater Boston area. Fingold warned distributors who resisted compliance that they would be susceptible to criminal prosecution. (An idle threat since he had no authority to ban any reading material at all.) Publisher William M. Gaines retaliated by announcing that he was permanently withdrawing Panic from distribution in the state of Massachusetts, (and hearing Fingold was a religious man) yanking his Picture Stories From The Bible from that state (which the state didn’t know hadn’t been published in over five years) “The idea was, ‘If you don’t want us, we don’t want you,’” explained editor and writer Al Feldstein, who said he had felt a “certain literary pride” in having his book banned. (TCP pg.221)
These actions were the predessor to the entire comic book outrage which swept the nation, especially after the publication of Fredrick Wertham's book Seduction of the Innocent.
Fingold died on August 31, 1958 at his home in Concord, Massachusetts. At the time of his death he was a candidate in the Republican primary for Governor of Massachusetts.[5]