A DAY THE WORLD CHANGED

NOVEMBER 22

LOSING LIONS

1963.  Senior year of high school. The bulletin

came before our last class of the day, sociology.

Stunned as we filed into the class room, no one spoke, a few were in tears. Teacher Wendell Roberts, usually at his desk, was not there.  A kid, a member 

of Young Americans for Freedom and a Goldwater supporter

went to the chalk board and wrote Revolt!

Roberts walked into the classroom, saw the board and asked who did it. The kid lifted his hand.

Roberts moved to the boy's desk, grabbed him by the collar

and walked him into the hall.

That was how the emotional and tragic weekend began for me.

I was stringing for the Indianapolis Times and our 

high school basketball game with a southern Indiana team was not, like most, cancelled.  I covered the game and called in the score.  A kid by the name of Kennedy scored a lot of points.

JFK was young, dynamic and he engaged a generation.
Politics and government was no longer the province
of only gray men.

I couldn't believe that he, or any American President

could be gunned down, not in modern America.

The world changed that day in ways we would not 

understand for years.

CS Lewis

Pretty much lost to history is that Author CS Lewis passed away on that same November 22, his death overshadowed by the assassination of Kennedy.  My appreciation for Lewis came later.  He was one of the 20th Centuries most remarkable thinkers as well as writers. Most know him

for the Narnia Chronicles.  He wrote and lectured volumes
of more important work; philosophy, classical scholarship,
theology and adult literature.
In the halls of history, Lewis touched and will touch and will have more influence than the man whose passing eclipsed news of his own.
And on this November 22nd I sadly note the 
passing of Ann Dennis, our neighbor on
the ridge top.  She was a gracious, vibrant community activist and leader.  Lana saw her yesterday as she
was leaving to teach a stretch class at the community 
center.  Ann was 92, perhaps 93.  It was never 
polite to ask. Her wonderful smile was ageless.
DAY BOOK
MORNING LIGHT &
RAINBOWS

SOMEWHERE, OVER

See you down the trail.

THE WEEKENDER :) A WIT

DO YOU REMEMBER MORT SAHL?

Sahl was on the cover of Time Magazine in
1960, hailed as the best of the new school of
comics.  I first connected with his brand of
social commentary seeing him on TV.  In an
age when most comedians did a line of jokes,
Sahl seemed to be plucking observations from 
the paper under his arm, or from daily life.
He wrote jokes for JFK and later his obsession with the Kennedy assassination turned some against him.
He was the first comic to record a live album and recently
a new generation has come to appreciate his observational 
wit and humor. 
Here is a brief BBC profile, featuring some other
great comics.

Here for your weekend enjoyment
are three clips of Sahl over the years.
Enjoy. 
A TELEPHONE CALL TO GOD

SAHL ON LIFE IN VEGAS

AN AGING SAHL ON LA AND MALIBU

Thanks Mort.  You've made us laugh and think. Yep,
you are a dangerous man!
See you down the trail.