The season's not over until Epiphany: Carol of the Bells.
These photos were taken up near the Golan Heights where the Yom Kippor war took place. Below is a bunker.
On top of a Soviet Tank
The Reporter Who Knew Too Much: The Mysterious Death of What's My Line TV Star and Media Icon Dorothy Kilgallen by Mark Shaw
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Since I became addicted to watching What's My Line on Youtube-I mean the old version from the fifties and sixties- I have become interested in the panelists and stars that appeared on the show.
Dorothy Kilgallen was a well-known reporter back then, although obscure today. What intrigued me, though, was that she died from a barbiturate and alcohol overdose. Nowadays that doesn't surprise us at all, since famous people not only make no effort to appear decent, but actually try to seem even more outrageous than they actually are as a way of promoting their career.
We all have come to realize that a famous person dying "unexpectedly" is code for an overdose or suicide.
As clean cut and classy as Dorothy came across on TV, she abused alcohol and drugs, had multiple affairs (one of her children may not even be her husband's) and was a tigress when reporting.
I will take this moment to say that, even though no one was any more innocent back then than they are now, I found the veneer of decency that was required of television shows and personalities back then to be a relief. I don't care who is sleeping with who or who made a video mostly naked. Oh, to return to a time when classy, not trashy, was fashionable.
Mark Shaw has written a book that I suspect he is hoping will get him a Pulitzer, or at least credit for re-opening an investigation on-not only Kilgallen's death- but also President Kennedy's.
According to Shaw, Kilgallen was murdered by the mafia because she knew that JFK was not really killed by a lone crazy person craving notoriety, but a plot by the mob to avenge the push-back Robert Kennedy gave to certain crime bosses.
To be honest, I don't know. But I can't say that Shaw's book persuades me one way or another. It primarily consists of speculation, peppered with a lot of sentences beginning with, "What if...?" and "Common sense dictates..." or "therefore it is logical to infer..."
What I liked came in the first half of the book: a biography of Dorothy Kilgallen. Smutty dark underbelly aside, she was an interesting person. She was also an ambitious, hard-nose, relentless and at times, savage, reporter and writer. One would not suspect that from the sweet persona one sees on What's My Line.
Shaw probably did not intend this, but the conclusion I formed of Kilgallen is that she chased after a Kennedy conspiracy like a pit bull because she couldn't resist seeing her name in lights. No doubt she imagined a Pulitzer or even Nobel Peace prize as the spoils of her efforts. I think she wanted her name to go down in history as the one who blew the lid off the Kennedy assassination cover-up.
Instead, she is primarily known as a panelist on a game show.
The second half, if I may be so blunt, comes across as Shaw's starry eyed notion of himself as Kilgallen's savior. He hopes that justice may finally be served as more and more people, especially "young, educated, intelligent" people come to understand how "ludicrous" and "absurd" the notion is that Oswald acted alone.
By the end of the book, his writing reads like a man who has stayed up late at night, drinking numerous bottles of whiskey. He gets increasingly maudlin and grandiose as he winds up his book. It got a little silly.
It is also interesting to note that Kilgallen's children, all of whom are alive, refused to speak with this author.
As I mentioned before I have no idea if Oswald acted alone or was part of a conspiracy. To me President Johnson had the most to gain from Kennedy's death. He was from Fort Worth and got voted in through corrupt cronyism and organized crime outfits locally. Why has no one suggested him as a suspect? He was a lousy president. Thanks to his "war on poverty" an ever-growing portion of our population has become increasingly dependent on government assistance and we now have generations of families who no longer understand what a work ethic is.
But I digress. In conclusion I found it to be an OK read, hence the two star rating.
View all my reviews
These photos were taken up near the Golan Heights where the Yom Kippor war took place. Below is a bunker.
On top of a Soviet Tank
The Reporter Who Knew Too Much: The Mysterious Death of What's My Line TV Star and Media Icon Dorothy Kilgallen by Mark ShawMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Since I became addicted to watching What's My Line on Youtube-I mean the old version from the fifties and sixties- I have become interested in the panelists and stars that appeared on the show.
Dorothy Kilgallen was a well-known reporter back then, although obscure today. What intrigued me, though, was that she died from a barbiturate and alcohol overdose. Nowadays that doesn't surprise us at all, since famous people not only make no effort to appear decent, but actually try to seem even more outrageous than they actually are as a way of promoting their career.
We all have come to realize that a famous person dying "unexpectedly" is code for an overdose or suicide.
As clean cut and classy as Dorothy came across on TV, she abused alcohol and drugs, had multiple affairs (one of her children may not even be her husband's) and was a tigress when reporting.
I will take this moment to say that, even though no one was any more innocent back then than they are now, I found the veneer of decency that was required of television shows and personalities back then to be a relief. I don't care who is sleeping with who or who made a video mostly naked. Oh, to return to a time when classy, not trashy, was fashionable.
Mark Shaw has written a book that I suspect he is hoping will get him a Pulitzer, or at least credit for re-opening an investigation on-not only Kilgallen's death- but also President Kennedy's.
According to Shaw, Kilgallen was murdered by the mafia because she knew that JFK was not really killed by a lone crazy person craving notoriety, but a plot by the mob to avenge the push-back Robert Kennedy gave to certain crime bosses.
To be honest, I don't know. But I can't say that Shaw's book persuades me one way or another. It primarily consists of speculation, peppered with a lot of sentences beginning with, "What if...?" and "Common sense dictates..." or "therefore it is logical to infer..."
What I liked came in the first half of the book: a biography of Dorothy Kilgallen. Smutty dark underbelly aside, she was an interesting person. She was also an ambitious, hard-nose, relentless and at times, savage, reporter and writer. One would not suspect that from the sweet persona one sees on What's My Line.
Shaw probably did not intend this, but the conclusion I formed of Kilgallen is that she chased after a Kennedy conspiracy like a pit bull because she couldn't resist seeing her name in lights. No doubt she imagined a Pulitzer or even Nobel Peace prize as the spoils of her efforts. I think she wanted her name to go down in history as the one who blew the lid off the Kennedy assassination cover-up.
Instead, she is primarily known as a panelist on a game show.
The second half, if I may be so blunt, comes across as Shaw's starry eyed notion of himself as Kilgallen's savior. He hopes that justice may finally be served as more and more people, especially "young, educated, intelligent" people come to understand how "ludicrous" and "absurd" the notion is that Oswald acted alone.
By the end of the book, his writing reads like a man who has stayed up late at night, drinking numerous bottles of whiskey. He gets increasingly maudlin and grandiose as he winds up his book. It got a little silly.
It is also interesting to note that Kilgallen's children, all of whom are alive, refused to speak with this author.
As I mentioned before I have no idea if Oswald acted alone or was part of a conspiracy. To me President Johnson had the most to gain from Kennedy's death. He was from Fort Worth and got voted in through corrupt cronyism and organized crime outfits locally. Why has no one suggested him as a suspect? He was a lousy president. Thanks to his "war on poverty" an ever-growing portion of our population has become increasingly dependent on government assistance and we now have generations of families who no longer understand what a work ethic is.
But I digress. In conclusion I found it to be an OK read, hence the two star rating.
View all my reviews
7 comments:
My goodness...the world of JFK gets more interesting every decade. I think I vaguely remember seeing the name Kilgallen somewhere. I'd like to someday read about JFK (and that's vague, to say the least. I can go in all sorts of directions.); I've just been too busy trying to catch up with the very distant past. What other books connected with JFK have you read and maybe recommend?
BTW, did you all fair the storm ok that ripped through Texas?
I tend to be very skeptical of conspiracy theories. With that, I am not sure if Oswald acted alone. That is the be situation where at least some conspiracy might be the simpler explanation. There are so many competing conspiracy theories out there. I actually think that there are some folks who blame the Kennedy assassination on Johnson
Have a great week!
i've fond memories of watching John Daly's What's My Line as a youth... DK came across as a witty, humorous, polite, smart lady, somewhat like my mom, as we remarked at the time, so i have a lot of trouble believing any of those things about her... it's telling that her children don't like the author. love those shots of the desert: i experience an urge to start walking in those kinds of locales, just to be traveling through the hills and valleys...
Hi Ruth. Unfortunately, the farther we get from JFK's assassination, the less likely we'll ever know the truth.
I have a book of letters and also an autobiography of JFK, neither of which I've read yet. When I do I'll review them.
The storm turned out to be less scary than foretold. We got some hard rain, but that was all.
Hi Brian,
Frankly Johnson had the most to gain, but I think that being president burned him out pretty quickly. He did not run for re-election. I don't think it was fair to blame the Vietnam War on him, even though I didn't like him.
If you're ever in Dallas, visit the 6th Floor Museum. It's where Oswald shot JFK. It's very interesting.
Have a good week.
Hi mudpuddle.
I am addicted to What's My Line. It was just a classier time than now. Also, I like how they were not limited to celebrities but got some very interesting people on. The one I just watched had Edmund Hilary on as a guest. I thought you'd find that interesting, since you're reading about all these mountain climbers.
You should take a trip to the desert somewhere, although maybe Death Valley might be more accessible. It couldn't be hotter than Israel.
Have a good week!
Hi R.T.
I don't know when Israel or the Middle East has not been a political hot spot.
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