I was walking down the sidewalk on 6th Avenue in New York City heading uptown during rush hour and being jostled by the throngs of people who shared the pavement with me. It was May 13 in 1981 and I was headed to my sister's apartment. I remember being in a hurry to get there but not the reason why. I was across from Radio City Music Hall and just passing by a news stand when I glanced down at a stack of newspapers and saw part a headline that read OPE SHOT. I could not see the rest of the paper since it was covered by a big rectangular steel bar the newsie was using to keep the papers from being blown away by the wind.
I stopped dead and stood rooted to the sidewalk as people hurriedly brushed by me. What I had just read stunned and dumbfounded me. I though, "My God! Who in their right mind would shoot Bob Hope?
Then someone reached down to grab one of the papers and I could see the complete headline:
This was also shocking news but, in a way, less shocking than the idea of someone shooting Bob Hope. With all the religious turmoil in the world the fact that someone tried to kill the leader of the Catholic Church was all too plausible but killing a comedian? No one's jokes are that bad.
UPDATE 6/4/10: This post may seem to be in bad taste with the shootings that happened in England two days ago but I have been on vacation for the last week and only learned of the deaths this morning. This post was written a week ago and set up to publish today. My thoughts and prayers are with the families and victims today.
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