SPFLD 2009

A Visit.

On the bus leaving Hamp.

Out the window going past Sylvester's.

 


 

On my arrival I passed through the Peter Pan bus station in Springfield like a blur.

Breakfast at Jake's on Main Street.

This is the Babson Library at Springfield College.

Inside the library are these hot antique statues of nude athletes. 

I haven't been on the Springfield College campus in years, and couldn't remember where the building was that was donated by Art Linkletter. I asked a student walking by and he had a totally blank expression on his face that made me realize he had never heard of Art Linkletter. I asked another student and got the same non-reply. Art Linkletter was a famous TV personality in the so-called golden age of television in the 1950's and 60's. A popular recurring segment of his show had him interviewing cute kids that was called, "Kids Say the Darndest Things."

Finally I saw someone who looked like a faculty member and asked them. They said that the building constructed by Linkletter has been expanded to become the "Wellness Center."

Despite his generousity to Springfield College, Linkletter felt a bitter hatred towards a well-known Springfield native - Dr. Timothy Leary. Linkletter blamed Leary for the death of his daughter, who after reading one of Leary's books decided to experiment with LSD alone in her room. She freaked out and leaped from her bedroom window, falling to her death. Mad with grief, Linkletter hounded Leary for years, even calling into a talk show Leary was appearing on in order to accuse him of causing his daughter's suicide.

Leary defended himself by saying that Linkletter's daughter must have had pre-existing psychological problems that had nothing to do with LSD. Ironically, Leary's own daughter, a heavy acid head herself, also committed suicide. As Leary was dying of cancer, he actually met Linkletter in person at a charity event, but the bitterness could not be overcome, as reported in Timothy Leary - A Biography by Robert Greenfield.

Not until Tim was wheeled up to the head table did anyone realize that he was now sitting across from Art Linkletter. Tim was no longer the vibrant, grinning drug guru whom Linkletter had blamed for the suicide of his daughter. By now, Linkletter must have known that Tim's daughter had also killed herself. Bound together by the worst loss that any parent could imagine, the two men had much in common. 

If ever there had been a moment for mutual forgiveness, or some sort of meaningful communication between them, this was it. Eighty-three years old, Linkletter stared at Tim. "It was such a shock," he later told an interviewer. "I thought it was one of the strangest moments of my life. I was so glad to see him because he was suffering so. It was pretty good evidence about what happens to you when you live that kind of life."

Heartbroken fathers will say the darndest things!

The most beautiful spot on the Springfield College campus is by Lake Massasoit, known to the white man as Watershops.

His star may be fading nationally, but the President is still a hero in the poorer sections of Springfield.

Despite his landslide defeat last month in his mayoral campaign, Bud Williams still has fans, despite the bullethole.

The building that once housed the Pine Point Cafe is now a restaurant called D&G.

Strangely enough, the old Cafe signs are still hanging outside.

Me in the exact same spot in 1993. Photo by Jay Libardi. 

When the most prominent billboard in the Point no longer communicates its message in English, it tells you something about how the old neighborhood has changed. 

Voices of Inexperience

President Obama will soon be holding a summit on job creation. But who in his administration has ever actually created a job? This graph shows the percentage of cabinet officials who have had private sector business experience before joining the administration, as opposed to those who have had only government jobs.




Back Home

The Jefferson Starship is back from their tour of Europe. Here they are backstage in Edinberg, England: L to R, Chris Smith -keys, Tony Morley -drums, Jeff Pevar -lead gtr, David Freiberg -vocals, acoustic gtr, Paul Kantner -vocals, 12 string gtr, -Cathy Richardson, vocals.

 



Today's Video

The rules are the first to go.