Diamond Doris: The True Story of the World's Most Notorious Jewel Thief

Loved every minute . Victorious. I was tired of reading self help books. I needed a change of setting and book genres this did it! It got me out of my funk ! Go black woman , go! Thank you same Doris for your fortitude.

Decatur Book Festival in Atlanta, GA proves to be one of the biggest book festivals of the Southeast. The good and bad about this is that it's held on Labor Day weekend so there are millions of other events throughout the city. So this means people are drawn and split to other events so many will not get to experience this festival.

This year out of the hundreds of authors appearing at the book festival, there was a lecture and book signing by a woman name Doris Payne. As I read further, I remembered the name from reading the local newspapers. Doris Payne is the world renowned jewel "extractor" whose name was plastered all over the papers and new media at one point or so a year ago. I made it a point to attend her lecture.

The lecture was held at the First Baptist Church of Decatur on Clairemont Avenue. The place was PACKED to see this woman speak.

As I entered I was directed to the balcony to oversee the lower level. The first thing I saw was this beautiful elderly black woman sitting between two people in the front of the church. One was the moderator and I believe the other was Zelda Lockhart - writer and teacher who also assisted the elderly Ms Payne. I loved the eloquence and the savoir faire she exuded. She talked growing up poor and how the idea of getting what she wanted by any means was created. She elaborated about some of her experiences of smuggling a huge diamond out of Europe and how she was caught but they never found the diamond. She also talked about her opinion of what drugs did to the black community and she also answered some very asinine questions from the audience but she was nevertheless a professional about it all.

I stayed around and purchased two books to have her sign, one for me and one for my mother. Unfortunately the line was very long and Ms. Payne was unable to sign all the books as we believe it was too much for her. So I left with two unsigned books as one I mailed to my mother.. She literally read the entire book within 24 hours. She LOVED IT.. She couldn't wait to call and tell me all the bits and pieces and what she gathered from it.

If my mom likes it then I surely know I will when I read it.

Miss Doris Payne commanded the audiences full attention at the DBF 2019. The place was packed as we eagerly await a small nugget of insight into her life and career as a notorious jewel thief.

I have been eager to pick the book up to learn more about what prompted Miss Payne to start her career. Payne wanted independence for herself and vowed to never let a man beat her as she’d seen her father physically beat and abuse her mother. As a young child she figured out a way to snub those who treated her as worthless because of her skin color, a lesson she learned in the store of a Jewish man named Mr Benjamin. When she saw how he changed in front of a white man, but forgetting he’d allowed Doris fo try on some watches, she’d figured out how she’d finance the kind of life she wanted.

Miss Payne has had a full career and spent little time incarcerated. I enjoyed her story but the tone of the book felt unauthentic at times, it seems like the co-author made some of what Payne would have said all those years ago sound too modern. Some of the idioms and terminology felt too 21st century, not authentic to the time period Miss Payne grew up and lived. I have a grandmother a little younger than Payne and I tried to imagine the nuances of her speech from her generation to capture Payne's voice, but it faded in and out.

And there are soooo many instances of the sh*t word, I wanted to ask if someone during could have done a word search when proofing and used do a synonyms because the repetitive use of that word was RIDICULOUS and so UNNECESSARY. A few times, sure, but my goodness, I feel sure Payne had a larger vocabulary. I cringed every time it was fired off back to back to back and again asked myself, does Payne and everyone she knows speak this way. These things took away from the overall tone of the book.

One thing for sure, Payne didn’t “catch a case” that involved her doing any long term jail time. She knew what she wanted, studied her craft and made sure she took care of herself and her family on her terms. I laugh when I think about her saying that, about not catching a case, when someone asked her why she didn't stop her career as she got older. Very sad she lost several family members and friends to cancer.

I have mixed feelings about this book. While it was a quick and engaging read, I couldn't help resenting that the author has no regrets or qualms about stealing jewels for a living her whole life. She felt that she couldn't make it any other way, and that she deserved what she stole because of the prejudice that she experienced growing up. I wondered how many people lost their jobs because they let a woman walk out the door with a $20K or $200K diamond. How did that impact their lives? Maybe the store was insured, but how about the clerks whom she stole from? She has been stealing her whole life, and was arrested in her '80s for shoplifting from Walmart! I received this book as an advance reading copy at a library conference, and the editor talked it up as a fascinating portrait of a woman who got away with so much, as if it were charming, but I didn't feel that way reading it. I'm glad it was a short book! This was my book club's October book; I'll be very interested to see what everyone else thought.

At age 88, Doris Payne (assisted by Zelda Lockhart) looks back at her six decades as an international jewel thief. Diamond Doris is the first time Payne has revealed all aspects of her remarkable life, including the techniques she used to walk out of world-famous jewelry stores with rings worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

She and her five siblings were raised in a poor, segregated coal mining town in West Virginia by her boorish black father and doting Native American mother. Early on, Payne found she had a talent for stealing things. It put food on her family's table and quickly became a lucrative career when she began visiting high-end jewelry stores. By dressing elegantly and wearing an impressive wedding ring set, she became "a woman of class, not a woman on a mission to steal." And her constant chatter kept storekeepers off-balance long enough for her to perform a sleight of hand.

In 1974, she was apprehended in Monte Carlo after stealing a 10.5 carat diamond ring worth $550,000 at the time. She was held for nine months but not charged because the authorities couldn't find the ring she'd hidden. Rather than being intimidated by her incarceration, when she escaped, she devised and executed a four-day plan to steal from three top jewelers in London, Paris and Rome.

Payne is a feisty anti-hero who refused to be defined by the prejudices and mores of a hypocritical society. Even when she was forced to serve prison time in her 80s. Diamond Doris's captivating capers are audacious and entertaining.

I enjoy reading nonfiction books and/or memoirs about jewelry, gemstones, jewelry heists, etc. So, deciding to read Diamond Doris: The True Story of the World's Most Notorious Jewel Thief by Doris Payne was a no brainer for me.

Prior to reading Diamond Doris: The True Story of the World's Most Notorious Jewel Thief, I'd never heard of Doris Payne before. Ms. Payne definitely lived a colorful life and an unconventional one at that for sure. I enjoyed reading how Doris Payne became a jewelry thief and her travels around the world stealing high end jewelry from the likes of Cartier and other well known high end jewelers.

The writing for Diamond Doris: The True Story of the World's Most Notorious Jewel Thief by Doris Payne was mediocre. I think more details could have been added or embellished a bit more in certain areas. But overall, Diamond Doris: The True Story of the World's Most Notorious Jewel Thief by Doris Payne was a worthwhile read.

Disappointed... I wanted to see photos of her from over the years... The cover is the only picture...

first half was very interesting. It got a little redundant.

Haven’t been able to put it down i love it. When I purchase a book it has to be a good read if not I just lose interest very quickly, but this book is good!

Who could love a jewel thief? Me, she grew on me.WoW! A good read couldn't hardly put it down. Passes it on to my sister.