question is: how did rock and roll originate? That is one that I would like to answer for you in my own words, or, at least, give you what I think

Transcription

1 Chapter Fifteen The visit with Pastor Barrows had been uplifting, and Oliver was now in a positive frame of mind as he headed towards Gertrude s Campground, which was fairly well-known by many campers as having some of the best entertainment around. When Oliver arrived there, he discovered that Harold, King of the Eighty Eights would be performing that weekend, and that Harold played rock and roll, Oliver s favorite kind of music. It all sounded pretty good to him. He arrived at Gertrude s about noon, secured a tent site and a ticket to see Harold. After his tent was all set up, he met his neighbor, Tony Russell, and found out that Tony and three of his friends were also going to attend Harold s show. Tony invited Oliver to go along with his friends and him; because it was festival style seating-no assigned seating, first come, first served-they went to the show early to get good seats. The venue held probably about 200 people; the show began when an emcee came out and effusively greeted everyone. Hello everyone, and welcome to the show. My name is Howard; I am your host tonight. But enough about me, I know that you are here to see Harold. So, without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together and give a good Gertrude s welcome for Harold, King of the Eighty Eights! The audience applauded as Harold took center stage. Hello everyone, he began, I am so glad you all came out here tonight to see the show. First off, I hope it will be okay with you if I talk-just a little bit-and then I want to play some music for you, with the help of some other musicians that I will introduce to you shortly. Now, obviously you must like music; why else would you be here? Music is really a very special thing to almost everyone in the world, no matter who they are or where they might live. Now, I happen to be a big patron of the arts; whenever I am on the road, and I am almost always on the road, I like to spend part of that time visiting museums, art galleries, and other like places. When I view these lovely paintings, or maybe these intriguing works of sculpture, my first reaction might be, as I say to myself, Wow, that is so beautiful! because there certainly is nothing like a beautiful work of art to me. I also happen to appreciate feats by performers that require tremendous amounts of agility and dexterity, like those of athletes, or maybe acrobats; again I ll say to myself Wow, that is so impressive! But all these things, to me, and to many others, in fact, pale in comparison to the feeling one can get when exposed to the kind of music we find pleasing to the ear. Music, more than anything else in the world, is transformative, by which I mean it can virtually take your mind to another place, a place that you simply love to be. Sometimes it can be a place of pure joy; sometimes it is more of an emotive one, in remembrance of moments in your past that are meaningful to you in some distinct way. It is only music that has this uniquely special and unequaled power. Now tonight, the band and myself will be playing rock and roll for you, and I have two rhetorical questions for you; by the way, by rhetorical, I mean no answer is actually expected to be forthcoming from anyone; the first one is this: what is the definition of rock and roll? The answer, straight from the dictionary, is as follows: a type of popular dance music originating in the 1950 s, characterized by a heavy beat and simple melodies ; the second

2 question is: how did rock and roll originate? That is one that I would like to answer for you in my own words, or, at least, give you what I think the answer is. Before rock and roll came about in the late 1940 s and early 1950 s, popular music could have been divided into two welldefined groups-white people s music, and black people s music. For a very large part, white people s music pre rock and roll was highly structured; consider classical music, for example. The intent of an orchestra when playing a symphony or any like musical composition was to play it exactly as it had been written-note for note. If, for example, a work had been originally written to last let us say twenty minutes and 40 seconds, then that would have been the goal of the orchestra, to play it in that precise amount of time; and, then too, the audience would have been expecting that result as well. Or consider big-band music of the nineteen twenties through the nineteen forties and fifties; again, it was expected that each work would be played as precisely intended, so that the woodwinds, the strings and percussion element would all blend in like clockwork. Even the solos would be carefully scripted. But the black people s music-ah, that was far removed from that scenario. When I picture it in my mind, there is a solitary figure, a black man strumming his guitar, making up the tune and the lyrics as he goes along, whatever it might be that was coming into his head. And, due to the fact that the black race had been so oppressed over the years, the words and the music would often reflect that reality; sad and melancholic laments would be the result. Or, perhaps, sometimes it would be positive and optimistic, expressing the hope that things would someday be better. The words and the music could be passionate or subdued, but most always they were more expressive, far removed from the generally bland music and words the white people played and sang at this time. Harold paused, then continued. So the black music was more heartfelt. And the white music then was generally-though certainly not always-generic and rather plain, intended to not offend, so as to appeal to the most people possible. And this divide between the races reflected the way life was lived in the early 20 th century-two distinct and separate societies. There were white churches-and black churches; white school-and black schools; white playgrounds-and black playgrounds, And so on and so forth. But then, I guess it was in the early fifties, the young white people of that time, intent on finding a brand of music they could call their own-perhaps, in a sense, rebelling against their elders while also embracing the freedom that came without the strictures of the World War Two years, began discovering black music-and found it very appealing. It was, to their ears, rawer, unrefined, and perhaps most of all, authentic. This was noticed by the whites-the white record executives, who were usually focused on the bottom line, and the white musicians-and this new, generally edgier sound was soon being incorporated into the music they were playing. Thus their music became more honest and emotional-in other words, it became more real. And what you ended up with is what we now call rock and roll. And wasn t that just about the greatest thing possible? Two races coming together to make the best music in the world? I happen to think it was; of course, it didn t happen overnight, and it had its share of difficulties-we are probably all aware how challenging changes can be at times; but it was well worth it-right? There was a cheer from the audience. Harold began again. Many people consider the Moon Dog Coronation Ball in Cleveland in 1952 to be the first rock and roll concert in the world; that turned out to be a fiasco, mostly due to managerial mismanagement. Then, in 1956, Elvis Presley came along-and electrified the nation with his energized performances. As was said by more than one in-the-know press agent, he was a white man singing like a black man; it was perfect. He brought a lot of attention

3 to rock and roll. But then he went into the army, and when he was discharged, seemed to want to be an actor more than a singer-even though he still gave some memorable live performances. He had been criticized by some for exuding sexuality, but I don t think that was a really fair judgement; he was a good-looking well-built young man who would move around the stage with wild abandon, but, as he asserted, he couldn t help it-he was unable to sing without moving. Anyway, it was tough for many fans of rock and roll after Elvis was no longer dominating the music scene-no one seemed able to fill his shoes. And that was the way it was when the sixties came along. There were some good performers for sure; but rock and roll seemed to be in a lull in the good old U.S.A. And in England, well, rock and roll was even in worse shape. There was a reason for this over there: you see, in England, there were no commercial radio stations-none. The government controlled radio, through the BBC, and the BBC paid only lip service to rock and roll, at least at first, because few had heard of it, because it was a new phenomenon; so, since few of the music listeners were aware of it, no one was requesting that it be played-in other words, it was a vicious cycle. However, this also meant that if someone did happen to come along-or, let s say, a group came along, and if they were really good, maybe even exceptionally good, and photogenic, and charming and all that-in other words, if they had the whole package; then it was possible that the ramifications could be absolutely tremendous, and could actually become a worldwide phenomenon. And that is exactly how it was with the Beatles. Harold paused, and took a sip of water. Now, began Harold again, Right now I want to be perfectly straight, up front and honest with you. This talk really has been and is all about the Beatles. What I said earlier-while it is true and I fully stand behind it-has really all been the prologue; I now intend to get into what I consider the real meat of the story. Rock and Roll actually did have a presence in England before the Beatles-but it was very limited. In-the-know youngsters could tune in rock and roll radio stations from other countries-like Luxemburg-but the reception was often poor. There were also records and record players for individuals. In the city of Liverpool in the early 1950 sa city that was considered to be nowheresville by the music moguls in London, England s capitol and the center of commerce-well, what happened in Liverpool is that it became a very hot spot for rock and roll, perhaps because it was a seaport closer to the U.S.A. than London was, and therefore a place where American records were easier to attain. It was at a summer celebration at St. Peter s church in Liverpool on July 6, 1957 where John Lennon and Paul McCartney met-a date that myself-and many others, I am sure-feel should be considered to be the most important one in rock and roll history. John at the time was the leader of what was called a skiffle band, playing at this celebration. Skiffle was a poor man s way to make music; its heritage probably was from Appalachia in the U.S., a place that had suffered greatly from the Depression in the 1930 s. Skiffle usually consisted of a guitar player, maybe a banjo player, and someone using a cord running up and down a tea chest-or some like object-to be plucked as a bass, and also someone making noise on a washboard. When this so-called band took a break, Paul began playing a guitar by himself; he was a youngster showing off-and John was impressed. It was not too long before Paul was asked to join the band, and he and John began bonding over their love of music and their intrinsic musical ability. George Harrison, a friend of Paul s, soon became a member of this group, and the core of the group was now in place and on their way. Harold stopped to take another drink of water.

4 Arriving on the Liverpool music scene in the late 1950 s, began Harold again, was a chap by the name of Alan Williams. He was the owner of a club where rock and roll groups played, and he decided to become a promoter as well, and arranged for the Beatles to play a tour of small clubs in Scotland in the winter of He then signed them to play in Hamburg, Germany for a few months. The work there was grueling, playing seven days a week, sometimes for as much as seven hours a night. But this was where the Beatles became a tight rock and roll band. And it all came together for the Beatles one memorable night when they were back in England, on December 27, 1960, where they had been signed to play a Christmas teen dance at Litherland Town Hall in Liverpool, along with a few other bands. This was a teen dance, as I just mentioned, so, naturally enough, the youngsters attending the event were there to dance, of course, and also, if alone, also probably hoping to find someone special. Each of the bands were playing a set that night, and in between sets there was prerecorded music. A few of the teenagers would dance at these intermissions, but most were waiting for the live bands to play before hitting the dance floor. Then it came time for the Beatles to take the stage. The introductions began-but before they were even completed, Paul was shouting out the words to an up-tempo rock and roll song, Long Tall Sally. The three guitarists, George, John and Paul were playing their instruments, with Pete Best pounding away on the drums-and a highly memorable occurrence took place. The crowd of youngsters gathered there took a moment or two to react-and then suddenly rushed headlong to the stage to watch this band up close. They could hardly believe what they were hearing-and seeing; a sight and a sound that they had never heard before. The music was loud, it was raucous; and it was played and sung perfectly. No one was dancing now-they had become transfixed by this sound-and by the Beatles antics as well, for they had learned a lot about showmanship in Hamburg. There perhaps were a thousand teen-agers there, and it truly was an electrifying experience for them all. According to Bob Spitz, author of the excellent book, The Beatles, in his opinion it was the real birth of rock and roll. Now, this did not signify that the Beatles were an immediate success; not at all. But it did indicate to them that it was well worthwhile to continue to keep dreaming their dream. They had become-overnight-perhaps the best band in Liverpool; it remained for events to fall into place for them to take over the rest of England, then Europe, and then the world. Harold paused, and noticed everyone listening to his every word. One of their regular gigs at the time was at a place in Liverpool called The Cavern, he continued. It was really a kind of a hole in the wall, an underground club that had once been a fruit cellar. It appeared to be a real cave; and, with no ventilation, the air was almost stifling. The Beatles played there at noon during the work week; one day a man named Brian Epstein came in to hear them; his family owned a few shops, and he was in charge of the record department at one of them. He was immediately struck by how good they were, and with their stage presence, and, even though he had absolutely no experience in managing a band-he wasn t even a fan of rock and roll-he took them on as his clients. Because his family owned these few stores, perhaps the Beatles reasoned he might be able to help them secure a recording contract. And that is what he did. It also turned out that Paul and John were gifted songwriters-tremendously so. And George, the youngest member of the band, became one in time too. They soon were selling many records in England, and in the rest of Europe too, and headlining concerts as well. But in the United States, recognition was lacking. This is how it was: The Beatles had been signed in England by the record company Paralone, which was owned by

5 E.M.I., and E.M.I., in turn, was the parent company of Capitol Records, which was based in the United States. But Capitol refused to accede to the parent company s wishes to release their records in the U.S.A. Capitol kept insisting to E.M.I. you don t know our market like we know itthe Beatles will never sell in America. Of course they were dead wrong, and I think the real reason they refused to release their records was this: rock and roll had originated in the U.S.A., and Capitol simply refused to believe that an English rock and roll band could ever be any good. It was actually a form of prejudice. Really, doesn t it all depend on the actual sound of a performer, and not where they came from? Of course it does! Because of Capitol s intransigence, while in Europe the Beatles dominated the record charts, in America few had heard of them. Then a horrible incident took place on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas, when the President of the United States, John Kennedy, was assassinated. It was obviously a terrible and horrific catastrophe. The entire world was in a state of shock. And over the next four days, this tragedy was played out in the living rooms of all America, as all were watching the heart-breaking scenes of Jackie Kennedy, usually so elegant and glamorous, now dressed all in black with a veil over her face, clutching the hands of her two very young children. On the black and white TV screens of that era, it was even more depressing. Not too long after that, word got out in the USA about the Beatles, and in just a brief time, Americans were marveling at the Beatles dominance of the U.S. record charts. Then in February, 1964, the Beatles, these four seemingly innocent young men( The drummer was now Ringo Starr) came to America; they were charming and funny at their press conferences, and when they took the stage on the Ed Sullivan show, for the largest TV audience up to that time, and began playing these cheerful, mostly upbeat songs with enthusiasm and verve, appearing so delighted to have the opportunity to play songs for everyone-and that indeed was the truth-the Beatles were a much needed tonic for the entire country, just when it was needed the most. And finally, to sum it all up. Harold paused and took another drink of water. The Beatles, he continued, were also very fortunate in having as their producer George Martin. Martin possessed the perfect image of the proper Englishmen-dignified, well-spoken and well-mannered, yet he was seldom, if ever, haughty or condescending; and he had the ability to bring out the best in them-and their best was very good indeed. And when they had made it clear that they desired to play their own songs, Martin acquiesced, and this, to me, was the most important contribution the Beatles made to rock and roll; more, even than there extremely impressive catalogue of music. For this was confirmation of the idea that the best music originates from the inside, from what the artist really feels within his soul, so to speak, and then expresses in his playing-and not in response to what some so-called marketing genius has decided the public is looking for. For just like how government should work-pardon my editorializing-power should come from the bottom up-and not from the top down. The Beatles served to show the way forward for the music world. And now, having had my say, I d like to introduce Tram Lidwell, who will be playing guitar, and Ken Dewand, who will be playing drums. Without further ado The band soon lit into the song I Feel Fine.

6 Chapter Sixteen The night after the show, Oliver woke up late. Outside his tent, he noticed that his neighbor wasn t there, and then recalled that Tony had mentioned he would be leaving bright and early the morning after Harold s performance. Oliver had cereal for breakfast, and then took a walk, winding up at the activity center watching a lively volleyball game. On his way back to his tent, he stopped to listen to a solitary guitarist, strumming and singing to himself. Oliver gave him a cheer after the song was finished, and then approached the man. That was pretty fine-good for you, said Oliver enthusiastically to the man. Thanks, said the man, as he shook Oliver s outstretched hand. My name is Peter. Mine is Oliver. I love to hear good music-last night I went to see Harold, the piano player, and he was pretty good. No, he was really good. I thought so too, responded Peter. So, you were there too-good show, wasn t it? It was a great show. Hey, why don t you join me and sit down? Oliver sat down, and Peter played a Beatles song. While he was there, two other men came by and joined Peter and Oliver. When Peter finished his song, he introduced the two men to Oliver. It turned out that the two friends, Bill and Walt, had also been at the show last night. You know what I thought about last night s show, said Oliver, was that it was all so good. I mean, I loved the music, but I also thoroughly enjoyed it when Harold was talking about rock and roll and the Beatles. Bill then said, Hey you guys, I d like to tell you what I think the real essence of rock and roll is. I d like to hear it, said Oliver. Bill went on to say, This, to me, is what rock and roll is really all about: There s a band up on stage-rock and roll was meant to be heard live in the first place-and the band is jamming; in other words, they re going off on their own with their instruments, wailing away; anyway, the audience starts getting pumped up, with their energy level expanding higher and higher, and the band can feel the energy from the audience, and soon their energy level starts going up, and up-which then further increases the energy level of the crowd, and now you ve got the audience and the band feeding off each other; man, they are all in another zone. It s all about great music and energy and the band playing whatever it is they are feeling-nothing is programmed-that s what I m saying; that, my friends, is what rock and roll is all about, to me anyway. Peter then said, You know, what Harold said about the Kennedy assassination-that struck a chord with me-pardon the pun. It was so true. You can probably tell by looking at me, I was alive when it happened, and what he said, about how depressed the country was right after the assassination, was exactly how it happened. I mean it was like there was a huge cloud over the entire nation. There weren t many TV stations then, and all they had on, for something like four days straight, was stuff about the assassination. Over and over, you d see Jackie Kennedy and

7 her two young children-and those kids were very young. It was tough; people were going about their lives, but there was no more joy in the land, and it took the country quite a long time to get over it. Well, I can understand what you are saying-even though, of course, I wasn t around then, said Bill. Oh come on man-you weren t around then? scoffed Walt. Okay, I was around, replied Bill. But I was just a kid. I only remember my mother and father being so bummed out. Walt then asked, Hey Peter, what do you think-was it a conspiracy, or what? You mean the assassination? Yeah, what do you think? You think Oswald did it alone? Or did he have help; or maybe you think he had nothing to do with it at all? Peter said, I really don t think about it all that much-but, yeah, I guess I d say it was a conspiracy. And he was involved, definitely; they found the rifle in the building where he worked and they tied it both to him and the assassination; I mean, he definitely was involved in some way. I really don t think about it much, either said Walt. And I definitely wasn t around then. But, if you were to pin me down, I would say you re wrong; there is no question that Oswald did it all by himself. All that stuff about a conspiracy-what a bunch of hooey. No question? responded Bill. Hooey? You seem pretty sure of yourself. How can you say without question? Well, began Walt, I think I know what I m talking about here. My father was big into it, and I ve watched all these documentaries-there s a lot of them by the way; and, also, I listened to what my father had to say, and I think he was one hundred percent right-it was Oswald, and Oswald alone. It doesn t seem like you have any good reasons to back up what you say; My father told me? Oliver was skeptical. He continued, I don t think evidence like that would stand up in a court of law. Without you having been there, it seems to me it would be impossible to know, for sure. This is why I think I am right, responded Walt, As Sherlock Holmes once said, when the facts point to one result, no matter how unlikely it might seem, that conclusion is the right one. It is the only logical, rational answer. For example, Peter just pointed out that the gun that was found in the building where Oswald worked was tied to him, because, it was later found out, it was bought using one of the aliases Oswald used. Obviously he was the one who purchased it. Unless, of course, someone else was framing him. But who is the world is going to take a chance on getting caught framing someone when it comes to the assassination of the President of the United States? I mean, you ve got the Dallas police to deal with, the Secret Service, the FBI-who is going to take that kind of chance? You d never get away with something like that; so it was clear that Oswald was involved. And there was never any evidence-not one tiny sliver of evidence, that anyone beside Oswald had anything to do with it. Well, said Peter, I disagree-strongly, in fact-that it is the only, logical, rational answer, as you said. And this is why: I think it was physically impossible for someone to shoot those shots so quickly and accurately. Those quick three shots-bang! Bang! Bang! Oswald wasn t even that

8 good of a shot. And with that rifle? That was not the kind of rifle you would want to use in an assassination. It was a bolt-action rifle-a very awkward one to use to hit a moving target. So then, said Walt, You re saying it was a conspiracy; right? Yes, it was. But we ll never know for sure who else was involved, because Jack Ruby killed Oswald before he could spill the beans. But you do agree that Oswald had something to do with it? asked Walt. Again I would have to say yes, of course he was. said Peter. Then please answer this for me, said Walt. Why would the conspirators have given Oswald such an awkward rifle to use? But still, why would Oswald have used such an awkward rifle? Peter shot back. That cuts both ways. You intend to shoot the President of the United States; well, the first, number one thing you are going to do is get the right equipment. So it seems we are stuck, on the horns of a dilemma, thanks to Ruby. Ruby had nothing to do with the assassination, asserted Walt authoritatively. Oliver then said, You know, I ve seen some documentaries on TV-the 50 th anniversary was not too long ago-and it seemed to me that it would have been possible-thought highly unlikely, I agree-but it was possible for one man to do it, even with that kind of rifle. I mean, I ve seen expert shooters do a reenactment; it could have been done. But remember: Oswald wasn t an expert shot. Plus, I have to ask myself this one question-why? Why would Oswald have done it? Now, when John Wilkes Booth killed Lincoln, no one was surprised; he had told a number of people that he absolutely detested Lincoln. But I never heard, or read, or saw on TV one single thing about Oswald even disliking Kennedy, never mind hating enough to kill him. And Oswald had to know he would get caught; it probably took the police about half an hour to figure out that Oswald had something to do with it. Right after the assassination, the police determined that the shots came from the Texas Book Depository building; they went there and asked: who among the people working here is not present now? And right away, the answer was Lee Harvey Oswald. He had to know he was going to get caught; so again, what was his reason to kill the President of the United States? It always been a standard kind of thing when proving who committed a murder-motive, means, and opportunity. The way it is, you ve for only oneopportunity. So you too think it was a conspiracy? said Walt. Yes, replied Oliver. To do what was done, there just had to have been some kind of reason; And, because Oswald seemed not to have one, someone else had to have it. In other words, I am saying the important thing here is motivation I agree with you; reason is key, continued Walt. I ve heard that it was the Mafia, or maybe the CIA, but whoever it was, if Oswald didn t have it, somebody else must have had the reason. So now let me ask you, why, at their last meeting where they were finalizing their plans, ensuring that all their shots would be synchronized, why wouldn t Oswald have said to his coconspirators, Hey guys, how about my get-away? Who is going to make sure I get out of there? I don t even own a car! And I am not going to be the fall guy! And you can t believe, not for one minute, not for one second, that the others would not have agreed with him on that, for they would not want Oswald to get caught and then rat them all out-right?

9 The other three men were silent for a moment, then Oliver said, But still, it all comes back to this for me; if Oswald was the lone gunman, as you say he was, you still haven t answered the big question: what is his motivation? Please tell us what it was. Walt looked over the three men, then gravely, with an attitude that conveyed the impression that he really didn t want to have to say this, but, since you demand to hear it, here goes: I ve actually done some research into this, just by using the internet. And I found out that Oswald had a tough upbringing; basically he grew up unloved-and that is a rough thing; isn t it? When your own mother doesn t care for you? That s not a too good situation. Now, it probably isn t all that rare-not every mother is prepared for all that it takes to be a good mother, and even so, kids in that type of situation can still turn out to be productive members of society; however, that wasn t the case with Oswald. As a youngster, he moved around a lot, so I don t think he ever felt like he had a home, and, consequently, he grew up feeling like he didn t belong anywhere. He went into the U.S. Marines-and was dishonorably discharged. Since he was a fan of Karl Marx, the communist, he went to live in Russia-but quickly became disillusioned because of the drab life in a communist state; as he supposedly complained, they don t have much of a night life over there. While he was in Russia, he met and married a Russian woman, and they came back to the U.S.A., where he began physically abusing her. She ended up leaving him and moving in with an American family where the wife desired to learn how to speak Russian. Unhappily living by himself in a rooming house, working at a menial job at the Texas Schoolbook Depository Building, Oswald came to the sad, obvious conclusion he was a complete failure. But at the same time, delusions of grandeur were imprinted in his brain; people who knew him confirmed this. A person with delusions of grandeur believes he is more powerful and influential than actually is the case. Oswald well realized that he was lacking in talent and education; so now, there is a conflict in his mind. And this is where he comes up with the idea of an assassination; for, by successfully assassinating someone of prominence, he could show how powerful a person he really was. And, in fact, it would be a relatively easy task to accomplish; simply aim a rifle and press the trigger-that s it. That is why he purchased a rifle, by mail order, using an alias, for he wasn t necessarily looking for fame; he was only looking to resolve this conflict in his mind. And so one day in the fall of 1963, with all these confusing ideas floating around in his mind, Oswald picks up a Dallas newspaper with this huge headline President Kennedy is coming to Dallas emblazoned on the cover; that is big news, right? Looking inside the paper, he finds a detailed map of the Presidential motorcade, and discovers something that he can hardly believe he is seeing: the very most important person in the entire world will be soon be passing right by the building where he works; and, not only that, but, since the objective of this motorcade is to give everyone the opportunity to wave to the President and the First Lady, they will be travelling at a very low rate of speed; furthermore, furthermore, he realizes that when the vehicle carrying the President passes by his office building, it will be traveling at an even slower rate of speed due to a hairpin turn it will need to make just before it passes by his building. Oswald probably starts getting this eerie sensation that his once almost unimaginable dreams of accomplishing something of huge importance now can come true. He now only needs to master the handling of this rather awkward rifle. So in the days prior to November the 22 nd, he starts spending a lot of time at the rifle range-his wife testified to this. He brings the rifle to work that day-hidden in some kind of wrapping paper-and then, perched on the sixth floor while everyone else in the building is occupied

10 watching the motorcade, the President s limousine comes by, and Oswald shoots his first shotand hits the President of the United States! Lee Harvey Oswald-previously a complete nobodyhas now entered the ranks of other major, historical figures! The President is only wounded, and Oswald, now unable to contain his excitement, shoots the next bullet-and misses the President s vehicle completely. He immediately calms down, determined now more than ever to successfully complete this momentous undertaking, adjusts his aim from the previously missed shot, and shoots the third bullet; and this is the fatal shot. Now, I think it was likely Oswald hadn t given too much thought about his getaway beforehand, perhaps because he purposely didn t want to think too much about it; after all, killing a President is a very big deal, and maybe he feared he might end up changing his mind. So now he leaves the building unobserved while virtually everyone else in the vicinity is focused on the fact that the President of the United States has just been shot. Oswald proceeds to his rooming house to get a revolver that will help him evade capture, and; maybe headed to Mexico? -shoots a police officer who confronts him in the street. Shooting this policeman is a minor matter to him now; after all, he has just killed the President of the United States! Eventually he is captured and put on display, which probably gives him a thrill; no longer is he a nonentity-he is suddenly the most famous man in the world. There was silence now. The other three men were digesting all that Walt had said. Finally, Peter quietly said, I don t know; maybe you do have something there. Bill said, So, I guess the history lesson for today is over; is that right, Walt? The men all laughed. Yes, said Walt, Class is now dismissed. Oliver spoke next, Well, I ll tell you; I like history, and I ve enjoyed it, and I want to thank you. Bill and Peter also said about the same thing that Oliver had, and then they all went on their own way.