The JFK Assassination: Me and John F. Kennedy

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Forty-six years ago, today, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. That much is known. The rest, pretty much, is speculation.

When I was 11, I found myself browsing through the used books section of the Value Village in New Westminster, B.C. My eyes stopped on a weathered copy of the Warren Commission findings — the U.S. government’s official report on the Kennedy assassination. It was a buck, so I bought it. I started reading it that night and I don’t think I put it down until I’d gone through all 718 pages of it.

More than 25 years later, I’m still constantly reading books about the assassination. And in that time, I’ve ended up with a pretty substantial collection of materials. I’d venture to say I have one of the largest private collections in B.C. Some of my favourite acquisitions:

  • Every letter about the Kennedy assassination sent to the Dallas Police Department in the two years following November 22, 1963 (digital copies)
  • A three-inch piece of the infamous wooden stockade fence behind the grassy knoll
  • An autographed copy of JFK: The Case for Conspiracy (Robert Groden, author)
  • More than 20 hours of live uninterrupted television coverage from the first bulletin

Several weeks ago, I finally had the chance to get to Dallas in person, thanks to a speech booking. Definitely went down as a highlight in my life. Here’s a short video I shot of my walk through Dealey Plaza, including when I run into famous assassination researcher Robert Groden.

Of course, when I tell people about my fascination (obsession?) with the Kennedy assassination, many people ask if I think Lee Harvey Oswald did it. I do have a theory. (“Well Chris, what is it that it is – this theory of mine. Well, this is what it is – my theory that I have, that is to say, which is mine, is mine.”)

Like the Warren Commission found, I think Oswald fired shots from the sixth floor of the TSBD building. Except don’t think he was aiming at Kennedy. (To be fair, I don’t really believe my own theory. But everyone’s gotta have an oddball theory, right?)

I’m going to finally write out my theory in the coming day or two and will post it here.

In the meantime, here’s a partial summary of my collection.

Official Findings

  • Report of the Warren Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy (complete text)
    Paperback, first printing, October 1964, 718 pages (32 pages of B&W photos)
  • The Witnesses: Highlights of Hearings Before the Warren Commission
    Paperback, first edition, December 1964, 626 pages
  • The Final Assassinations Report: Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations (complete text)
    Paperback, first printing July 1979, 676 pages

Live News Coverage

  • NBC Television, 4.5 hours
    Homemade DVD, uninterrupted live coverage from first bulletin (A&E Television production)
  • ABC Television, 2 hours
    Beginning with bulletins during “Father Knows Best.” No commercials.
  • WFAA Television, Dallas, 14 hours
    Including JFK’s arrival in Fort Worth on 11/21/63, his speech on the morning of 11/22/63, his arrival in Dallas & the program interruption on WFAA. The first reports are made by Program Director Jay Watson & Jerry “Mr. Peppermint” Greene, who both saw the assassination. One of the people they interview in studio is Abraham Zapruder. The reports prior to the assassination are strange to hear as the reporter gives a rundown of what President Kennedy will be doing during the rest of his time in Texas. He also gives the route of the motorcade a number of times. No commercials.
  • CBS Television, 7 hours
    Begins with the first bulletins during “As The World Turns.” Has a few commercials until the wall-to-wall coverage begins about fifteen minutes into the footage.
  • Various JFK Newscasts & specials
    11/23/63: WLS-TV Chicago with Frank Reynolds
    11/24/63: NBC-TV Oswald shooting caught live
    11/24/63: WABC-TV New York
    6/19/67: JFK: The case of Jim Garrison
  • KNX/CBS Radio in Los Angeles
    CD format, morning of November 22, 1963.
    (It’s a little errie. The station was carryng the network broadcast of the Arthur Godfrey Show. The covers the first ten minutes of this 70 minute CD.  At one point, they break away for a station ID. The time given was one minute before the assassination took place. The Godfrey show had to have been taped, because after the first couple of bulletins from CBS News, they went back to the show & everyone was still laughing it up and having a good time. A few moments later, CBS began their wall-to-wall coverage.)

Non-Fiction Books

  • They’ve Killed the President, Robert Sam Anson
    Paperback, first printing, November 1975, 363 pages (16 pgs colour/B&W photos)
  • They’ve Killed the President, Robert Sam Anson (second copy)
    Paperback, first printing, November 1975, 363 pages (16 pgs colour/B&W photos)
  • Inquest: The Warren Commission and the Establishment of Truth, Edward Jay Epstein
    Paperback, October 1966, 175 pages (4 pages of B&W photos)
  • Six Seconds in Dallas, Josiah Thompson
    Paperback, 1967 (1976 edition), ~410 pages
  • JFK: Conspiracy of Silence, Charles A Crenshaw, M.D.
    Paperback, first printing April 1992, 203 pages (8 pages of B&W photos)
  • Dallas and the Jack Ruby Trial: The Memoirs of Judge Joe B. Brown, Sr.
    Soft-cover, first printing, 2001, edited by Diane Holloway, Ph.D, 218 pages
  • Mrs. Paine’s Garage and the Murder of John F. Kennedy, Thomas Mallon
    Hard-cover, first printing, 2002, 209 pages
  • JFK: Breaking the News, Hugh Aynesworth
    Hard-cover, first printing, 2003, 252 pages
  • The Unanswered Questions About President Kennedy’s Assassination, Sylvan Fox
    Paperback, fourth printing, 1975, 228 pages
  • Appointment in Dallas: The Final Solution to the Assassination of JFK, Hugh C. McDonald
    Paperback, first printing, October 1975, 215 pages
  • The Ruby Coverup, Seth Kantor (1978)
    Paperback, second printing 1992, 418 pages
  • The Assassination Tapes (1977)
    Paperback, first printing, July 1977, 323 pages
  • The Assassination Chain, Sybil Leek and Bert R. Sugar
    Paperback, first printing, October 1977, 342 pages
  • Best Evidence: Disguise and Deception in the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, David S. Lifton
    Paperback, first printing April 1982, 891 pages (34 pages of B&W photos)
  • High Treason, Robert J. Groden and Harrison Edward Livingstone
    Paper, second edition November 1990, 477 pages (including 4 pages of colour and B&W photos)
  • LBJ and the JFK Conspiracy, Hugh McDonald and Robin Moore
    Paperback, second edition, January 1979, 230 pages
  • Legend: The Secret World of Lee Harvey Oswald, Edward Jay Epstein
    Paperback, first printing 1978, 407 pages (16 pages of B&W photos)
  • Mortal Error, Bonar Minninger
    Paperback, first printing October 1992, 404 pages (24 pages of colour and B&W photos)
  • JFK: The Case for Conspiracy, F. Peter Model and Robert J. Groden
    Paperback, first printing 1976, 299 pages (32 pages of colour and B&W photos)
  • On the Trail of the Assassins, Jim Garrison
    Paperback, first printing December 1991, 361 pages (8 pages of B&W photos)
  • Assassination of JFK: By Coincidence of Conspiracy?, Bernard Fensterwalf, Jr.
    Paperback, first printing April 1977, 580 pages
  • Contract on America: The Mafia Murder of President John F. Kennedy, David E. Scheim
    Paperback, first printing April 1989, 485 pages (16 pages of B&W photos)
  • Dealey Plaza National Historic Landmark, Conover Hunt
    Soft-cover, second printing 1997, two-colour (orange and black), 87 pages
  • Kennedy Assassinated!: The World Mourns: A Reporter’s Story, Wilborn Hampton
    Hard cover, first edition 1997, 91 pages
  • JFK: First Day Evidence, Gary Savage
    Hard cover, first printing 1993, 408 pages
  • Assignment: Oswald, James P. Hosty, Jr.
    Soft cover, first printing 1996, 318 pages (16 pages of B&W photos)
  • The Day Kennedy Was Shot, Jim Bishop
    Hard cover, first printing 1968, 531 pages
  • The JFK Assassination: The Facts and the Theories, Carl Oglesby
    Paperback, first printing May 1992, 316 pages
  • The Death of a President, William Manchester
    Paperback, 1967, 763 pages

Books Not Directly About the Assassination

  • A Day in the Life of President Kennedy, Jim Bishop
    Paperback, eighth printing, October 1964, 145 pages
  • Kennedy, Theodore C. Sorenson
    Paperback, sixth printing, 1966, 858 pages
  • The Making of the President 1960, Theodore H. White
    Paperback, seventh printing (some time after July 1967), orig. published 1960, 428 pages
  • With Kennedy, Pierre Salinger
    Paperback, first printing, October 1967, 452 pages (8 pgs B&W photos)
  • Assassination: 20 Assassinations That Changed the World, Lee Davis
    Hard cover, first edition 1993, 139 pages
  • The United States Secret Service, Walter S. Bowen and Harry Edward Neal
    Paperback, third printing, May 1960, 227 pages
  • The Kennedy Imprisonment: A Meditation on Power, Garry Wills
    Paperback, first printing, February 1983, 312 pages
  • The Dark Side of Camelot, Nelson Thompson
    Paperback, first printing 1976, 172 pages
  • Portrait of a President, William Manchester
    Paperback, first printing October 1964, 158 pages
  • A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
    Paperback, seventh printing April 1967, 940 pages
  • A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
    Hard Cover, first printing 1965, 1031 pages
  • Profiles in Courage: President John F. Kennedy, (no author credited), forward by Allan Nevins
    Paperback, 25th printing December 1963, 211 pages (8 pages of B&W photos)
  • The Kennedy Wit, edited by Bill Adler
    Paperback, seventh printing 1964, 127 pages

Novels

  • A Time to Remember, Stanley Shapiro
    Paperback, first printing 1986, 274 pages
  • The Plot to Kill the President, Jack Pearl (not about Kennedy)
    Paperback, first printing August 1972, 288 pages
  • Executive Action, Donald Freed and Mark Lane
    Paperback, fourth printing December 1973, 250 pages
  • Libra, Don Delillo
    Paperback, first printing 1989, 456 pages

Documentary Films

  • Who Killed JFK: Facts, Not Fiction
    VHS, CBS News, 70 Minutes, 1992, hosted by Dan Rather, from a “48 Hours” production
  • The Murder of JFK: Confession of an Assassin
    VHS, 76 minutes, interview of James E. Files
  • The Men Who Killed Kennedy: The Truth Shall Set You Free
    VHS, 50 mins, A&E Television/ The History Channel
  • JFK: The Case for Conspiracy: The Assassination and Medical Evidence
    DVD, 113 minutes, New Frontier Video, editor Robert Groden
  • JFK: The Case for Conspiracy: Vol II
    DVD, 90 minutes, New Frontier Video, editor Robert Groden

Fictional Films

  • Ruby
    VHS, 206 minutes, Polygram, 111 minutes
  • JFK (Director’s Cut)
    VHS, Oliver Stone director, 208 minutes
  • Executive Action
    MP4 file, 90 minutes, Warner Bros., starring Burt Lancaster, David Miller director

Audio

  • Assassination: The Death of JFK
    Audio CD, ~35 brief interview clips from various JFK experts, critics, etc.
  • Audio interview of Lee Harvey Oswald on New Orleans WSDU Radio, August 17, 1963
    Interviewed by William K. Stuckey about the Fair Play for Cuba Committee
  • Audio interview of Jim Garrison
    Interviewed by Johnny Carson

Newspapers and Magazines

  • Dallas Times Herald, November 22, 1963
    Reprint, Headline: “President Dead, Connally Shot”
  • Dallas Morning News, November 23, 1963
    Reprint, Headline: “Kennedy Slain on Dallas Street: Johnson Becomes President”, 3 sections
  • Fort Worth Star-Telegram, November 25, 1963
    Reprint, Headline: “Ruby Plea: Insanity; Kennedy Rites Held”, 1 section, 16 pages
  • The Globe and Mail, November 25, 1963
    Reprint, Headline: “Oswald Slain in Dallas Jail”, single front page (printed Nov 25, 1999)
  • Life Magazine, November 25, 1966
    Original, Cover: “A Matter of Reasonable Doubt” (first publication of Zapruder film images)
  • Life Magazine, 1963
    Reprint, Cover: “John F. Kennedy Memorial Edition”
  • Saturday Evening Post Magazine, November 23, 1963
    Original (publication deadline was prior to assassination, so no JFK content exists in magazine)
  • Saturday Evening Post Magazine, November 21, 1964
    Original, Cover: “The Undying Heritage of J. F. K.”
  • Saturday Evening Post Magazine, December 14, 1963
    Original, Cover: “In Memoriam: A Senseless Tragedy”

Misc.

  • Small piece of wooden stockade fence from Grassy Knoll
    About 3” long, brown, not original 1963 material
  • JFK: The Case for Conspiracy
    Robert Groden, 48-page full-colour photo magazine, autographed by author
  • “Be a Member: The Sixth Floor Museum”
    Four-panel brochure, orange and black
  • Every letter about the Kennedy assassination sent to the Dallas Police Department
    in the two years following November 22, 1963 (digital copies)
  • http://topsy.com/tb/ping.fm/li8Fp Tweets that mention The JFK Assassination: Me and John F. Kennedy | Tod Maffin — Topsy.com

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Tod Maffin, Foster Carr – Prez. Foster Carr – Prez said: RT @todmaffin: My private collection of JFK assassination materials (one of the largest in Canada?) http://ping.fm/li8Fp [...]

  • http://twitter.com/thompsonpaul ThompsonPaul

    Fascinated with the assassination since I was a kid as well. Loved the video tour of the plaza – also surprised that it seems as shabby as it does, given its significance.

    Always wondered about why Oswald wouldn’t have taken the shots as the motorcade approached as well. Only thing I can think is that Kennedy was blocked and Oswald didn’t want to try a “through-shot”.

    Keep in mind though, re: having to shoot nearly through the tree – that tree has 46 years more growth to it now.

    I’m curious whether further advancements in digital enhancement techniques will ever yield more information from the Zapruder and other films. (Original background is a pro photographer, so this area fascinates me.) Also curious whether the death of someone involved after all these years will lead to release of significant info (as happened with Deep Throat revelations, for example).

    Are you familiar with the theory (sorry, author escapes me atm) that a bodyguard in a following vehicle accidentally discharged a rifle as the kill shot? The guy did fascinating research on how standard protocols for managing the Secret Service weapons present at the assassination were intentionally breached, and the proposed bullet trajectory makes far more sense, especially compared to the supposed “magic bullet” trajectory.

    Looking forward to your description of your theory!

    Paul

  • Neil Gorman

    Let me say, on the record, I will show your theory to the US history classes I teach.

    (This is going to be awesome!)

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/todmaffin Tod Maffin

    :-)

  • http://twitter.com/podcaststeve @podcaststeve

    We definitely need to talk about JFK assassination. I have several audio airchecks from some of the programs that were aired in the US in the mid-1970s when Bob Groden got access to the Zapruder film. I actually met Groden and got to introduce him when he made a presentation at Monmouth College (now Monmouth University) about the assassination.

    One memorable episode of Tom Snyder's Tomorrow Show that was about the JFK assassination opened with Tom, in his inimitable style, telling a great story about a great broadcasting gaffe that had happened that day. I memorialized it when Gerald Ford passed away. You can hear it at http://www.lubetkin.net/blog/2006/12/lobp27-remem…

  • John Macintosh

    The book being referred to above is "Mortal Error" written by a ballistics 'expert' by the name of Bonar Menninger. It was indeed a fascinating theory of the assassination, albeit a bit dry in parts. The thought that JFK was fatally shot by accident by the very people assigned to protect him — the Secret Service — is an incredible story. JSM

  • Franco

    Hello, Sorry I could not find your email so I am using your Comments section. Many years ago a saw a documentary about JFK assassination. In it, were many people talking about the train track and the grassy knolls and how police did not take their deposition. But what surprise me the most was a man saying he was questioned and filmed by one of the big 3 us tv station (i dont remember which). He was ask many time: “Where do the shot came from” and he repeatedly said they came from the grassy knolls and one time they asked him where everybody think the shot came from and he answered the Book Depository. That was the only part the used in the news coverage. Do you know what is the name of the documentary, I am trying to find it. I think there was also a deaf person who saw many thing but he deposition was not taken.

    Thank you for your help

  • http://www.todmaffin.com/ Tod Maffin

    I think this is the clip you're talking about:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpsDrzzGjfc&feature=player_embedded

  • http://twitter.com/todmaffin/status/67280155990695939 Tod Maffin

    I am an expert on the #JFK #assassination. #50thingsaboutme – http://ht.ly/4segt

  • http://twitter.com/aboutcbc/status/133352242974699522 All About the CBC

    @jianghomeshi Good to know it's a good read. I'm eerily transfixed by the JFK assassination — have been since a kid: http://t.co/W2COUuBq

  • http://twitter.com/todmaffin/status/200036634312458241 Tod Maffin

    @sarabartley But then I wouldn't have time to maintain my slightly eerie collection: http://t.co/ZGSxCJmO :)