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Feb. 17, 1961: The death of Burdette E. Lowery, 67, was an accident – or was it? Lowery, a retired engineer, was tenant in a home at 514 Via De La Paz occupied by Turner Ashby Martin, 41, and his wife, Julie. The Martins told police that Lowery had fallen and hit his head. However, psychologist Dr. Elias Porter told the coroner’s inquest that Turner Martin had admitted during a counseling session “I crushed his head like an egg shell and I haven't been able to sleep since.” This made the investigation doubly complex because not only was the admission made during what was supposedly a confidential counseling session, but Porter was Julie Martin’s ex-husband. The deputy coroner eventually testified that Lowery died of a condition caused by an old injury, and murder charges against Turner Martin were dropped. And Paul Coates has some pointers for novice columnists like Al Capp: A columnist who wants to keep his readers must never malign, criticize, ridicule or write harshly about: Dogs, Debbie Reynolds, Clifton's Cafeteria, Norman Vincent Peale, the Alamo, Toots Shor, Knott's Berry Farm, the Reader's Digest, Carl Sandburg, Whittier, Irene Dunne, Knute Rockne, Lady Bird Johnson, "What's My Line?", Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. |
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ladailymirror.com 
Let me register high umbrage at Mr. Coates’ disdain of copyboys — having been one just a few short years before his column fouled the atmosphere along Spring Street. Copyboys were the bedrock and spine of the newspapers and none could be published without us. Yes we took their copy and sometimes mislaid it; we went out for coffee for them and distributed turkeys at Thanksgiving and bottles of booze at Christmas to editors and reporters. Envy? We thought we had the world’s greatest job. Drive to Vincent X. Flaherety’s house and have a little drink while he was sweating out the end of his column, go to Lolly Pop’s (Louella Parsons’) Spanish style mansion in Beverly Hills and wait while the flibbertygibbet finished her own column — she would share the Christmas baskets of goodies from the stars with you if you were a regular); drive out to Brentwood to Melvin Durslag’s house and take a small detour to see if the two Tucker Torpedo cars were still sitting in the street in front of a house; pick up copy at the cop shop[ and have several drinks … you get the idea.
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And check out that story on the front page, bottom right – that’s right: it’s a prediction of a manned flight to Mars, with eight astronauts, in May 1971, ten years in the future when this was printed! Realize this: in February 1961, we still had not sent a man into space (John Glenn’s flight would happen in a year), and yet here we were imagining in 10 years sending men to Mars! Now THAT was imagination!
Today, we have a government that is broke and spending money on things that will do nothing for the future. We have blown our past, our present, and our future, and the world is passing us by. In 2021, China will send men to Mars, and we will have to sit here and watch a Chinese flag being planted on the red planet. Have we no imagination anymore? What happened to “American innovation”?
Reading this story made feel sad and sick at the same time. It is disgusting how we did this to ourselves.
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A minor correction, Ron Emmis, the US sent two astronauts (individually) into space before John Glenn in 1962, both in 1961, as Larry will be having us read in a few months, first with Alan Shepherd, followed by Gus Grissom.
Glenn’s was the first ORBITAL trip (3 orbits!!).
And a trip to Mars?? The Moon landings stopped due to lack of money more than lack of interest. A trip to Mars in this Deeperession?? Maybe $2 trillion for the sake of adventure? The Chinese can do it cuz they own America. All they have to do is cash in a few trillion of their US savings bonds.
Unrequited suggestion: Anyone who wants to go to the Moon or Mars, finance it yourself, and have a nice trip.
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