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BOB LASSITER AIR CHECK
Station: Newsradio 970 WFLA
Date: 11/22/1988
November 22, 1963. It's one of those dates in
history that, for as long as a person lives, they'll
remember where they were when they heard the news that
President John F. Kennedy had been struck down.
Twenty-five years later on November 22, 1988, radio
talk-shows were filled with tributes, memorials, and
average folks recalling and retelling the same stories
of that horrible moment in time.
But Bob Lassiter had a better question that afternoon...
don't tell us where you were or what you were doing,
what was your "state of mind" on November 22, 1963?
How did Kennedy's death change you as an individual? And
how did it affect our nation as a whole?
The first few segments of this show are classic
Lassiter. His monologue was flawless. He
tells of an eighteen year old searching for answers.
What an amazing job he did telling the story of his
"Summer of '63."
But I gotta tell you, for me, this was one of the most
frustrating shows that I produced for Bob.
He'll argue with me otherwise, but even now, I feel I
let him down in how this show played out.
I knew what he was looking for from the callers, but for
the most part, they weren't able to play along, and
there wasn't a thing I could do to help.
On top of everything else, Tropical Storm Keith was
approaching. (250 miles away) so we had to stop every
ten minutes for a weather update. There was no chance to
string together two good calls and build some momentum.
In listening back, I think I understand why this show in
particular was so bothersome for me.
If you were born after say, 1957, you really
don't have any emotional ties to the JFK
assassination.
There's no way you could remember where you were, or
could identify how it changed you.
Everything you've read or seen about the events of that
weekend come filtered through someone else's
perspective. Someone slightly older. Someone
who was there. Someone who felt something when
they heard the news. You didn't, and so those
horrendous events and more importantly the ramifications
that followed, even to this very day, don't mean quite as much as
they
should.
I'm part of that crowd, born in '61.
I guess it's a generational thing.
We can read the stories, but there's no way for my
generation to fully understand the emotions of October
29, 1929...December 7, 1941... June 6, 1944.
...or that beautiful, sunny day in Dallas, Texas on
November 22, 1963.
It'll be the
same in a few years when we tell youngsters about the
events of September 11, 2001.
They'll just look at us with blank stares.
You just had to be there.
You have to feel
something for it to make an impact on your life.
BTW... I do hope to be alive in 2038 when the files that
Lyndon Johnson sealed are finally opened.
RIGHT MOUSE CLICK on the
links below and select "SAVE TARGET AS" to download the files to
your computer.
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