Remembering Chappaquiddick...
Visiting Martha's Vineyard over the weekend brought back memories of the two tragedies associated with the island, namely JFK Jr.'s plane going down off shore in 1999 and that day 30 years earlier that Mary Jo Kopechne, a Teddy Kennedy campaign worker, lost her life on Chappaquiddick Island...
28-year old Mary Jo was in the car driven by the Massachusetts Senator that plunged off a bridge. Mary Jo drowned. What unfolded just hours after the tragedy was the stuff that soap operas are made of. Kennedy, wearing a neck brace, went before the public on live television re-telling the story of a car careening out of control, landing in the water and of his valiant attempt to save Mary Jo to no avail...
Almost no one at WRKO believed Teddy's version of events but the public bought it. A TV poll conducted in Boston showed that a majority of those polled believed the Senator. What usually happens in a tragedy like this is that the credibility of whoever survives becomes more important than the event itself. All I know is that a 28-year old woman who had everything to live for, lost her life on July 18th, 1969 and she shouldn't have. And that's the tragedy...
Ten Timeline Memories...
1927] Ty Cobb playing with the Philadelphia A's collects his 4,000th hit against the Tigers (Cobb held the record until Pete Rose broke it. Rose wound up with 4,256 hits vs. Cobb with 4,189)...
1936] A giant day in Wienerville...The 1st Oscar Meyer Wienermobile rolls out in Chicago (IL)...
1960] Hank Ballard and the Midnighters release the original version of "The Twist". Chubby Checker's version wouldn't become a hit until later in the year...
1969] Joe Namath agrees to sell his interest in Bachelor's 3 to stay in the NFL (the commish said sell your interest or "see ya")...
1985] Jack Nicklaus II, 23, makes his pro debut on the golf circuit (can I hear a "Jack Nicklaus III" ?)...
1987] The Yankees' Don Mattingly homers in his 8th consecutive game to tie the major league record set by Dale Long in 1956 (Ken Griffey Jr. also tied the mark at 8 in 1993)...
1992] Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown smile a lot walking down the aisle (I do not want to know what was consumed at that wedding)...
1999] Yankee (and ex-Met) pitcher David Cone pitches a perfect game (the 16th ever pitched) against the Montreal Expos at Yankee Stadium...
2003] Barry White dies of renal (kidney) failure at 58 (according to reports, Barry's last words were "Can't get enough of your love, baby" (for real)...
2003] Kobe Bryant is charged with sexually assaulting a 19-year old woman at a Colorado Spa (the charge is later dropped because the woman didn't want to go to trial)...
#1 on this date...
1977] "Looks Like We Made It" - Barry Manilow...1980] "Glass Houses" (LP) - Billy Joel...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, mulriple reference sources are used in the timeline]...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday"...
Martha Reeves (65), Lonnie "Memphis" Mack (65), James Brolin (66), Joe Torre (66), Dion DiMucci (67), Dick Button (77), John Glenn (85) and Nelson Mandela (88)...
"Happy Trails"...
Mickey Spillane, writer of Mike Hammer mysteries and some-time actor and fulltime character died yesterday of unknown causes. Mickey was 88. Early television comedian Red Buttons who had a hit TV show in the 50's. Red made his high school in the Bronx (Evander Childs) famous. Red died on July 13th from vascular disease at his home in Century City (L.A.) at 87. We thank Mickey for his writing and the character he was and for Red Buttons who made us laugh...
[Today is the 199th day of 2006 with 166 days remaining in the year and 49 days until Labor Day]
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