Inspired by True Events... Backstory to "Where Are You Going..."

Joyce Carol Oates was inspired by Charles Schmid and Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue"(lyrics).



From "Charles Schmid: The Pied Piper"
BY Katherine Ramsland:

The short story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" written by Joyce Carol Oates and published in 1966, was based on the tale of Charles Schmid. Oates had read part of the article printed in Life magazine and thought this killer was such a strange character, with his stuffed boots and awkward gait. Yet to her mind, he embodied something elusive about adolescent culture and its hidden dangers. That such a man had somehow charmed three teenage girls whom he subsequently killed inspired her to write a short story from the point of view of a potential victim. What would it take, she wondered, for a young girl to be lured by a man who obviously had little going for him? What might he have said and done to win her trust and get her to walk straight into her doom?

Read More:
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/schmid/oates_9.html

Wikipedia.