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Vivid Memory of November 1970
My most vivid memory is how the special memorial edition of The Parthenon was written, edited and produced during that time of heartache. I was a journalism major, and reporter for the student newspaper and, like everyone I knew, was in some state of shock after hearing about the plane crash on Saturday night. The day before, I’d joked with Jeff Nathan, our sports editor, about going to the East Carolina game. I was in Dr. Brian O’Connor’s office interviewing him for a story about when he looked at his watch and asked if we could get back together on Monday. He had to catch the plane to the game. I never saw them again. When I walked into the newsroom in Smith Hall early Monday morning, that shocked feeling turned to purpose. Already at work, some since early Sunday, editors and faculty were finishing plans for The Parthenon to commemorate the lives of those who died. It was to be distributed Wednesday. George Arnold, then a faculty advisor, told Larry Hurley and me to go to Gullickson Hall and talk to whomever we could about the coaches and players who died. Seeing us stiffen up at the assignment, Wayne Faulkner, editor-in-chief, just a student but with several more journalism courses on his transcript, said “Just talk to them like family. Today we all are.” He was right. As Larry and I moved through the halls and offices in Gullickson, we gathered heartfelt personal stories. It seemed that everyone had something they wanted to share. We learned, among the stories, about the player who missed the flight from Tri-State, the equipment manager who would not fly on Friday the 13th, and about Art Harris Sr. who went to the game from New Jersey to watch his son Art Jr. play and decided to come to Huntington with the team instead of flying back home that evening. Then it was back to the newsroom where we worked tirelessly on our stories, shared information with other reporters and editors, and focused on our tribute. Typically, the newspaper was eight pages, this one would have 24 pages. Every typewriter and telephone had a reporter or editor using it. Stories were finished, edited and headlines composed and changed as new information came in. The Parthenon was distributed throughout campus Wednesday morning. I’ve often thought of how hard and how well everyone worked under such trying times to make a worthy tribute to our fallen friends. Roger Dyer closely follows the Herd and the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism & Mass Communications from Columbus, Ohio. |
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Spurred
by the filming of We Are Marshall, the hearts and
memories of those who were on campus in 1970 have come into
sharp focus.      |