tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post8036364407007743890..comments2024-03-18T19:00:03.047-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: JFK, the Beatles and the Beginning of the Sixties Leigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-81814265267065378872016-11-24T07:10:05.037-05:002016-11-24T07:10:05.037-05:00Thanks, Leigh. Those are great stories, sort of bo...Thanks, Leigh. Those are great stories, sort of bookends to each other.Paul D. Markshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15466234708772287399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-81947488957555805932016-11-24T00:17:42.676-05:002016-11-24T00:17:42.676-05:00When I was a kid, servicemen returning from Japan ...When I was a kid, servicemen returning from Japan brought back a song titled 上を向いて歩こう… Okay, in English it translated to <i>I Look Up While Walking</i> by Kyu <i>Sakamoto</i>. It was catchy and we kids absorbed the lyrics without knowing what they meant, kind of ironic because the song was protesting American occupation. A year or two later, 1963, that song came out in English and was called Sukiyaki.<br /><br />Cut to decades later. I’m working in Europe where Japanese culture and cuisine hadn’t yet been embraced. I’m visiting a French friend in Switzerland who’d married a Japanese woman. We’re sitting around the dinner table and I mentioned a popular song when I was a kid by Kyu Sakamoto– I remembered the name. To everyone’s surprise including my own, I also remembered fragments of the Japanese lyrics. Jean-Francois’ wife finally explained them to me. She had no idea it had been popular in the US.<br />Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-65274446735355867152016-11-23T23:43:14.743-05:002016-11-23T23:43:14.743-05:00Like Steve, I was in Latin class. I'm still ap...Like Steve, I was in Latin class. I'm still appalled by non-conspiracy theorists.Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-27912805217294291162016-11-23T18:04:22.232-05:002016-11-23T18:04:22.232-05:00That’s kind of spooky, Martin. Wow. Thanks for sha...That’s kind of spooky, Martin. Wow. Thanks for sharing it.Paul D. Markshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15466234708772287399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-83986003377910729692016-11-23T18:04:03.365-05:002016-11-23T18:04:03.365-05:00Thanks for sharing that O’Neil. I’m not sure if it...Thanks for sharing that O’Neil. I’m not sure if it was better to be home alone and be able to watch it all or if it would have been better to share with your schoolmates.Paul D. Markshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15466234708772287399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-46733650229718375332016-11-23T10:16:44.514-05:002016-11-23T10:16:44.514-05:00I was in my grade school classroom when our teache...I was in my grade school classroom when our teacher was called out of the room by the principal. She took us to use the time for free reading. I pulled out the book I was in the middle of reading. Then the teacher came back in and told us the president had been shot. I closed that book and didn't pick it up again for more than a decade. It was PT 109.Martin Hillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16280088186905301196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-12105135878854735512016-11-23T09:18:54.259-05:002016-11-23T09:18:54.259-05:00I was home with a fake cold. Didn't want to go...I was home with a fake cold. Didn't want to go to school that day. I was alone (12 years old) as my mother and aunts were out shopping. I saw it all unfold on CBS. I'll never for forget Walter Cronkite's face and voice. When my mom and aunts came back, I told them and they all started crying. Those of us who were around then felt EXACTLY as you said - it was the "end of innocence for the country." It's never been the same for me. Never will.O'Neil De Nouxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03142721824657611738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-49301924112428158462016-11-23T05:06:22.545-05:002016-11-23T05:06:22.545-05:00Thanks, Rob, for your comment. And I'm sure Mr...Thanks, Rob, for your comment. And I'm sure Mrs. W. never forgot, just like it sounds like you haven't. And everything did change in those few days, sorry to say.Paul D. Markshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15466234708772287399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-75580748400878963212016-11-22T22:50:14.178-05:002016-11-22T22:50:14.178-05:00I was in fourth grade. This static-y radio broadc...I was in fourth grade. This static-y radio broadcast came over the school loudspeaker. The only words I made out were Kennedy... car...shot. As it became clearer our teachere, Mrs. W., leaned her forehead against the blackboard and cried for a few seconds. Then she turned around to face us... I'm sure she never forgot that moment.<br /><br />But the day America changed, irretrievably, was the next day, when Oswald got shot and our chance of getting certain answers disappeared forever.Robert Loprestihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08844889305615182897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-31223803098363040442016-11-22T20:08:30.411-05:002016-11-22T20:08:30.411-05:00Thank you for your comments and memories, Jeff. At...Thank you for your comments and memories, Jeff. At three I can understand how the Flintstones would interest you more. And thanks, re: the story too.Paul D. Markshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15466234708772287399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-87630213000918656332016-11-22T20:04:59.375-05:002016-11-22T20:04:59.375-05:00I was three, apparently we found out that afternoo...I was three, apparently we found out that afternoon while backing out of my Grandma's driveway. (I'd been in that driveway many times on sunny, warmish days but I don't remember that one.)My cousin had just been born, and two kids who would become my best friends were just a few months old. (Of the three, only one is still living!) I barely remember seeing JFK in the flickering B/W of our TV---I was more interested in The Flintstones. And I have since read a lot about that day (Including back issues of my High School paper, where someone lamented that a few kids cheered the announcement of JFK's shooting!) Oh, Paul, congrats on the story!Jeff Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00316081079528920123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-22901260994483329872016-11-22T17:33:35.997-05:002016-11-22T17:33:35.997-05:00Thanks for your comments, Sally. It's interest...Thanks for your comments, Sally. It's interesting to see everyone's different reactions or remembrances.<br /><br /><br />Paul D. Markshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15466234708772287399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-62468124719747307862016-11-22T17:32:29.200-05:002016-11-22T17:32:29.200-05:00Thanks, Janice. I hope you’ll enjoy it. It was a f...Thanks, Janice. I hope you’ll enjoy it. It was a fun one to do.<br /><br />Thanks for sharing that, Jack. I’m sure it was a tough time in your house as in ours and many.<br /><br />Thanks for sharing your memory, Bill. I’m sure it was very emotional and tough time.<br /><br />That’s an interesting alternate take, Gayle, since you were overseas. Thanks for sharing it.<br /><br />Thank you for sharing those memories, Eve. I’m sure it was hard then and now when thinking about it.<br /><br />I haven’t read that yet, Dale, but it’s on my TBR list. Thanks for the recommendation and the memory.<br /><br />Thanks for seconding 11-22-63, John. I’ll have to move it up my list. And thanks, too, for the memory.<br /><br />Thanks for your comments, Allan.<br /><br />Steve, thank you for your comments. As you say, we all remember where we were for various important events. I think it was an introduction to the real world for a lot of us. And personally, I’d like to think that the Beatles would have made it huge anyway, but who knows. And I wonder if it’s difficult for your friend – was his birthday actually on the 22nd or on the 23rd? And, in answer to your question, I definitely mine my past for my stories.<br /><br />Thanks, B.K., for your comments. That must have been scary for you not to find your mom at home think everything was going to hell in a handbasket, which I guess it was.<br />Paul D. Markshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15466234708772287399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-23696111844289465542016-11-22T17:28:27.893-05:002016-11-22T17:28:27.893-05:00I was too young to really understand it. I believe...I was too young to really understand it. I believe I was in fourth grade. In class we watched the funeral procession on a black-and-white TV, but that's all I remember being said about it at the time. My parents didn't say much at home, but they were never ones to show emotion. At that age I wasn't interested in world affairs. I pretty much missed the '60s at the time.Sally Carpenterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00068827626295000653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-1160229240306884212016-11-22T13:08:55.844-05:002016-11-22T13:08:55.844-05:00I was in my sixth-grade classroom. Our teacher (li... I was in my sixth-grade classroom. Our teacher (like John's and Eve's) left the room, then came back and said the President was dead. I remember thinking, "The president of what?"--it didn't occur to me that she could mean President Kennedy. That was unthinkable. The school let us out early, and when I got home, my mother wasn't there (she was at a neighbor's house, watching the news on television). That's when I really panicked. I wondered if she might be dead, too, if the whole world might be falling apart piece by piece.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17673578800047888317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-33070205425069063892016-11-22T12:56:24.737-05:002016-11-22T12:56:24.737-05:00I was a junior, in my third-year Latin class when ...I was a junior, in my third-year Latin class when the principal came on the PA to tell us about Kennedy's being assassinated. I remember that was the word he used because we had a German exchange student in the class who didn't know the word and someone explained it to her with tears pouring down his face. This was my introduction to evil in the world. And yeah, I remember the groups and the characters/celebrities, too. Great list, Paul. I feel like I'm back there.<br /><br />The Beatles revolutionized pop music and most of the world over the next several years, and there's little question they were great. I often wonder if they would have caught on in America as quickly if we were not going through such trauma and needed some good news. We'll never know. One of my best friends from theater will turn 53 years old tomorrow. He was born about 14 hours after JFK was shot. Unfortunately, it's easy to remember his birthday.<br /><br />We all remember where we were at the major event in life, don't we: Kennedy, the Challenger Explosion, 9/11, the moon landing, maybe Woodstock and a few others. How many of us use them for material in our stories?Steve Liskowhttp://www.steveliskow.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-29609657876547804092016-11-22T11:04:55.593-05:002016-11-22T11:04:55.593-05:00I was 17 and a junior in high school. I will neve...I was 17 and a junior in high school. I will never forget that day. November 22, 1963 is burned in my brain. Eve, congratulations on your blog post and your upcoming short story in December's Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. 2016 has been a very successful year for you. All your reading, research, reworking, and writing has paid off. Great job.<br /> Allan Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06173649736440619151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-17621112464140601412016-11-22T11:03:24.141-05:002016-11-22T11:03:24.141-05:00I was fifteen. Like Eve's teacher, ours left ...I was fifteen. Like Eve's teacher, ours left the room, then came back in with tears in his eyes. He said, "Boys and girls, the President has been shot." To this day I can hear old Mr. Hardin's voice, and the silence in the classroom.<br /><br />I agree with Dale--SK's <i>11-22-63</i> is excellent. It's a time-travel novel, a love story, and a history lesson, all rolled into one.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-29496008567213970732016-11-22T10:45:14.765-05:002016-11-22T10:45:14.765-05:00I was in eighth grade. I was working on an articl...I was in eighth grade. I was working on an article for the school newspaper. It is like it was yesterday.<br /><br />I highly recommend Stephen King's 11-22-63 for anyone who hasn't already read it. King at his best -- and he really captures the era and that terrible event.Dale Andrewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10553503281187956955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-90939616677834576172016-11-22T10:33:45.588-05:002016-11-22T10:33:45.588-05:00I was 9, and sitting in class, when the teacher we...I was 9, and sitting in class, when the teacher went out, and when she came back in she was crying. School let out, and the flag was at half mast. I went home, and everyone was crying, and the long 3 days of shock, mourning, and solid TV watching began. <br /><br />Actually, since I was only 9, it wasn't nearly as traumatic for me as 1968 was: I was 14 then, and in shock as Bobby Kennedy (who I idolized) was assassinated, then Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, and then came the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, with all of its violence. That was another bad year.Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-39349746793435267212016-11-22T09:43:33.774-05:002016-11-22T09:43:33.774-05:00Very sobering post. I was living in France then. M...Very sobering post. I was living in France then. My parents watched the news at the bar across the street. We didn't have a television. America was reeling since that was all that was on TV. My dad's Air Force base was on alert in case something bigger was coming, but we actually kept a cool head knowing America would pull through. I was in boarding school and we all stayed cool knowing our military fathers would handle whatever was coming our way. And the Beatles were already pretty big over there. But it was a time to remember.GBPoolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12190573764848658894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-34518115637753615272016-11-22T09:08:22.962-05:002016-11-22T09:08:22.962-05:00I was around. I was teaching HUCKELBERRY FINN in ...I was around. I was teaching HUCKELBERRY FINN in an English class at Corsicana High School when the school secretary came to the door and motioned for me to come outside into the hall. She told that JFK had been shot but that nobody knew any more than that. By the time of my next class, a study hall, everybody knew. The study hall as silent except for a transistor radio that some student had brought. We all sat and listened to the story as it unfolded. There were a lot of tears.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02350478005243505108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-70913021125963537222016-11-22T09:02:25.307-05:002016-11-22T09:02:25.307-05:00I'd graduated from high school the previous sp...I'd graduated from high school the previous spring and worked that fall in a gas station, closing at 11 pm and shooting pool 'til 2 am, eating breakfast and getting to bed at my parents' house around 4 am. All that as to why I rose the next day around noon, only to see my father crying. He was a big Democrat and a big fan of President Kennedy. Never saw him shed tears before or after that day. At 18, I figured the world was coming to an end.Jack Getzehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09516237388744739669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-32833765290130865712016-11-22T08:15:17.906-05:002016-11-22T08:15:17.906-05:00Congratulations on your EQMM story. I look forward...Congratulations on your EQMM story. I look forward to reading it.janice lawnoreply@blogger.com