BuzzMachine

The media pundit's pundit. Written by NYC insider Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine covers news, media, journalism, and politics.

40 years ago

3 comments on 40 years ago

40 years ago
: I was in my classroom in Westfield Friends School in Cinnaminson, NJ. The janitor — who was also the pastor of a poor, black church; the man radiated calm and piece — came to the door and pulled our teacher out. They talked for a few minutes. I remember his stricken face as he pointed his finger at his temple. I think I remember him crying. The teacher came back in and soon we were on our bus, waiting to go home. And I remember thinking only that I did not understand.

: UPDATE: Read Terry Teachout’s reflections. I’m two years older than Terry and thus live just on the other side of the divide he writes about.

3 responses to “40 years ago”

  1. Nema Avatar
    Nema

    Its interesting to note that JFK’s death didn’t just effect Americans, but people’s of all cultures. To this day my mom, who was in Iran at the time of his assassination, still recalls how much she loved to hear the man speak, particularly his now famous remarks in West Germany. Its amazing how US foreign policy has been turned astray. But I guess thats debatable from different points of view. Thanks for the personal recollection Jeff.

  2. Marcel Perez Avatar
    Marcel Perez

    I remember the stunning quiet of the student lunch room in our community college at the announcement of the President’s being shot. No one panicked, probably too shocked to grasp the importance of what was to become an historic moment in history.
    Students were pretty apolitical then and Vietnam wasn’t even a concern at that moment. We were at peace and our primary interest was our studies and worrying about getting a job after graduation.
    I watched, glued to the TV with the rest of the nation as sketchy news updates came in. Television wasn’t very sophisticated in 1963 and I remember that there was an atmosphere of panic around the news reporters and TV crews in the rush to get the latest word.
    For most everyone alive at that time, this event was a totally new experience. We couldn’t comprehend the shooting of our national leader and could not know how significant a historical event this was; and it was happening live, before our very eyes on television.
    I don’t need to describe the developments to follow; that’s part of recorded history. One significant thing I still vividly remember as if it happened yesterday – the live, televised coverage of Lee Harvey Oswald’s assassination by Jack Ruby as Oswald was being transported through the courthouse basement. That was just an amazing thing to witness. A shadowy figure, wearing a hat, coming into the camera’s view from the right; suddenly, a gun fires and Oswald reels from the bullet’s impact; his face distorted as if reacting to a punch in the gut. Mayhem erupts as people pile on Ruby to subdue him. The camera was in exactly the right spot. This was another historical moment in the ensuing development of news broadcast.

  3. Yehudit Avatar
    Yehudit

    I’m three years older than Terry, but I identify more with him than the boomers. More here on being a Jewish kid in Dallas in 1963.