Modern Sense of "Stalk," v.

[Shapiro, Fred]

The OED's earliest citation for "stalk," in the sense "To harass or persecute (a person, esp. a public figure) with unwanted, obsessive, and usually threatening attention over an extended period of time," is dated 1981.  A correspondent of Harvard Magazine, in the current issue, quotes John le Carre's 1968 novel A Small Town in Germany: "He would never do such a thing.  It was not in his nature. ... He assured me categorically that he was not ... stalking me."

Jesse, does the OED have any earlier evidence for this sense?  Can anyone else produce pre-1968 citations?

Fred Shapiro

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