The Place For My Writers Notes

Original posting 23 March 2010

LiveJournal provides these writing prompts, updated daily. This one seemed particularly interesting for me, since I have to think back a ways.

What's the first major news event that you remember hearing about as a child? Where did you learn about it? How did it impact your world view?

I think the first one I really remember is JFK's assassination -- Nov. 22, 1963, according to Wikipedia. I was in school, and the principal interrupted everything, announcing that the President had been killed. He closed the school and sent us home, which meant I had to walk home (buses were being used for those who lived further away). And I still remember the sense of fear and loss, both at the announcement and then walking home. Funny, I could swear that I walked home alone, but there were other kids who lived in that same area.

Impact on world view? I think this shook everyone. Here was JFK, the man who gave voice to our hopes and dreams, and he was dead. Was anyone safe? And then the many questions about who was involved, etc. that still continue to be raised. This was kind of the first in several -- JFK, Martin Luther King, others -- that made those of us from that generation feel both the need to stand up and speak out, and that made us aware of the price that such a stance can cost.

Anyway -- what's your first major news event? And what did you learn from it?