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This 88-Year-Old Grandmother Was an International Jewel Thief
Doris Payne’s life is now the subject of an upcoming film starring Tessa Thompson, and a new book
International Jewel Thief. Granny Gem Thief. Heist Master. These are some of the nicknames media outlets have used to describe 88-year-old Doris Payne. But don’t ever tell her that she steals, an action that is carried out through artifice and lies. To her, acquiring a piece of jewelry is a matter of business, to take care of herself or her family, a skill that she has developed and honored over six decades and across continents.
In a time where it seems as if the United States has a fascination with “scammers,” whether it’s Elizabeth Holmes, Anna Delvey, or Billy McFarland, Payne undermines these archetypes in that she is Black, a woman, and older. Even further, she does not consider what she does a con — though her story of undermining the law across the world has spawned a documentary, a forthcoming movie with Tessa Thompson as the lead, and now a book, Diamond Doris: The True Story of the World’s Most Notorious Jewel Thief.
In this memoir, Payne begins with her humble yet proud upbringing in a cloistered West Virginia town, then the hustle and bustle of Cleveland, and eventually whisks us away to jewelry stores in Europe and…
