The LuLac Edition #2497, August 18th, 2013

 MID AUGUST ’63 

TRIUMPH BUT MORE TRAGEDY

Our 1963 logo.

1963

The first part of August fifty years ago in 1963 had three events that dominated the news. Two were public, the other personal. As the Civil Rights struggle continued news from the American civil rights movement was progressive when James Meredith becomes the first black person to graduate from the University of Mississippi.
President and Mrs. Kennedy lost their two day old infant child Patrick Bouvier Kennedy to hyaline membrane disease, now more commonly called respiratory distress syndrome. The death of the newborn brought new attention to infantile respiratory diseases. It is also said that the death of young Patrick brought the Kennedy marriage (rumored to be on the rocks) closer together. Biographers have noted that after the death of the child, Kennedy made his wife more of a partner. Of course, this event was overshadowed by a larger one later on in the year which affected not only the Kennedy family but the nation.

Front page of the Hazleton Standard Speaker. 

 One news event that struck closer to home was the Sheppton Mine Accident. From August 13th the nation was riveted by the three miners trapped 300 feet below the earth. For all of Northeastern Pennsylvania, this was a raw wound. Just three and a half years removed from the Knox Mine Disaster, the fate of the trio was huge news. Local radio (WARM's Terrry McNulty was one of the first media people on the scene) TV and newspapers covered the event as a front page item every day. WDAU TV sent reporters down there every day and news director Tom Powell provided hourly updates.
People eagerly watched with concern as rescue workers tried to reach David Fellin, Henry Throne and Louis Bova. Bova’s body was never recovered. The event was sobering because there were still vestiges of the mines left with areas pockmarked by the strip miners. And everyone in my railroad family knew a miner. The bond was emotional and deep. As a nine year old, this was just one of the stories of human drama that got my attention. Another thing that made an impression was that even though the rescue saved two men, one never came out.
This past week, family members of the late Louis Bova gathered at a tombstone above the earth where Bova lost his life 300 feet below. More than 200 people attended a Mass for the fallen miner.
In 1970 a local group, The Buoys had a national chart hit called "Timothy about three men trapped in a mine. It was said that the tune was about Sheppton but the song's composer Rupert Holmes said he had no idea about the incident until the song was soaring to the top twenty.
WYLN TV did a special edition of Topic A on Sheppton. Here's LA. Tarone's work on this.

And fifty years ago this week, amid the big news events of this first part of August, the number one song in LuLac land and America was "My Boyfriend's Back" by the Angels.