How Can You NOT Laugh at a Time Like This?

carlaulbrich.com,
http://www.carlau.com/bio.html

Carla Ulbrich was a guest last week (Nov. 13, 2011) on Gene Shay's Folk Show radio program on WZXL, and proved to be quite good, and funny.

Having come down with some medical problems that were hard to diagnose, and once they were thinking she was doomed to die, she took on a comical persona that continues to make people laught. Her new book is titled: How Can You NOT Laugh at a Time Like This?

Her strong suit is her playing guitar, singing and song writing, as she often performs in hospitials and nursing homes, and has written a number of truly great, funny songs.

And best of all, she recently moved to New Jersey, alas North Jersey, but she's now a Jersey Girl, and should be performing more in these parts.

Here's her bio:

Carla Ulbrich is a comical singer-songwriter and guitarist from Clemson, South Carolina and currently living in New Jersey. Insert your own punchline here.

Carla has a love of wordplay and a keen observational eye. She is primarily known for her humorous songs about such topics as wedgies, Waffle House, Klingons, and how rich she would be if she had the copyright on the 'F' Word. She also dabbles in fingerstyle guitar. Something of a mix between Phoebe and Jeff Foxworthy, she cites her biggest musical influences as Sesame Street, camp songs, and commercial jingles for beer and breakfast cereal.

The Professional Smart Aleck has toured all over the US and England, and has appeared on USA TV, the BBC, Dr. Demento, Sirius XM Radio, and The Bob and Sherrie Show and venues such as the Falcon Ridge and Kerrville Folk Festivals, Club Med, Eddie's Attic, and the Bluebird Cafe.

Carla started out on guitar at age 8, taking lessons from a nice lady down the street who only taught beginners. At age 12, she was told the teacher had nothing left to teach her, so Carla joined the school band, playing the flute. The band was particularly - well, bad, and they played the same music every year, so Carla switched instruments every year to prevent boredom: flute to clarinet to piccolo to tuba to xylophone, finally becoming the drum major her senior year. Had the band been anything worth bragging about, Carla may have ended up being a band director, but hey, we'll always have the memories of "this one time at band camp..."

Instead, she went to college to major in music in performance, where she frequently got in trouble with her professors for wasting time writing her own songs when she should have been practicing scales and listening to 12-tone "music." So, she wrote songs about her professors as well. Those approximately 18 minute and 20 second tapes, much like the Watergate tapes, have been conveniently erased.

College, however, was not a total waste. It was where Carla overcame crippling stage fright. "I used to sign up for open mics and then literally run away before my name was called. One of my friends threatened to never speak to me again if I did not get over myself and perform. If it weren't for her, I'd probably still be working in the mall selling suitcases and dancing flowers. Do they still make dancing flowers?"

Carla's first CD, Her Fabulous Debut, was released in 1999, the same year she won the South Florida Folk Festival Song Competition. In 2002, Carla fell very ill with kidney failure and a stroke. As part of her recovery, she wrote a bunch of humorous medical songs lampooning her frustrating experience with the US health care system, resulting in the CD "Sick Humor."

In 2009, Carla released her 5th CD, “Live From Outer Space,” recorded at Sirius XM Radio's Performance Theater. The CD was chosen as a "Top 10 CD of 2009" by George Graham (WVIA), Festival Radio, and the Serious Comedy Website. The track "Duet with a Klingon" was the #5 most requested song of 2009 on Dr. Demento.

Feb. 1, 2011 saw the release of Carla's book of humorous essays about her medical adventures as "The Singing Patient": "How Can You NOT Laugh at a Time Like This?" (pub: Tell Me Press). This book has received the Lupus Foundation Seal of Approval.

Ulbrich, President of the Difficult Last Name Club and former member of the defunct trio Girls Gone Funny, has shared the bill with such luminaries as Cheryl Wheeler, Vance Gilbert, Modern Man, the Bobs, Chuck Brodsky, Bob Malone, Bill Staines, Greg Greenway, David Massengill, Steve Forbert, Bob Malone, Lou and Peter Berryman, the Austin Lounge Lizards, Rev. Billy C Wirtz, The Boomers, and Twiggy the Water Skiing Squirrel.

Scroll down for the egregious list of awards and venues played.

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SICK HUMOR:
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In 2002, Carla suffered two strokes and kidney failure. Undeterred, she re-learned the guitar from scratch that year.

Under the stress of constant "care," Carla finally snapped and became "The Singing Patient," resulting in her third CD, "Sick Humor."

This collection features songs such as "Prednisone," "Sittin' in the Waiting Room," "On the Commode Again," and "What If Your Butt Was Gone" (a parody of one of Carla's own songs, also featured on Dr. Demento's 2005 "Basement Tapes" collection). Most of the lyrics were written during her many hours in doctors' waiting rooms. (Caution: contains some poop humor. Hey, write what you know. Sorry guys, she's taken.).

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SPEAKING PROGRAM:
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Carla now shares her story of how humor, friendship, alternative therapies, occasional stubbornness, and hanging onto hope helped her beat the odds. Her speaking/ singing program is called "How Can You *Not* Laugh at a Time Like This." She has presented the program for various medical gatherings and company parties, as well as Unitarian fellowships and the Association of Applied and Therapeutic Humor.

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GUITAR INSTRUCTION:
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Carla has taught guitar at Lander University, North Greenville Baptist College, Hummingbird Music Camp, the National Guitar Workshop and her own private studio.

She is currently on teaching staff at Golden Age Fretted Instruments in Westfield, NJ.

She also has written a music instruction book ("Theory for Young Musicians: Notespeller") published with Alfred.

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MORE INFO THAN YOU NEED:
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If you are planning to feed her, she likes gluten-free bread, hummus, dark chocolate, beans, cashews, tofu, green tea, carrots, and salad (gluten free, no artificial sweeteners or MSG, no iceberg lettuce). As proof that all her success has not gone to her head (her butt, maybe), Carla does not drink alcohol, eat red meat or shellfish, but M&Ms are fine - even the brown ones.

Carla uses up excess brain cells watching Wheel of Fortune (which you can view in less than 10 minutes using Tivo), playing Words With Friends, listening to the original Van Halen, and collecting US stamps and bottle caps.

Reclaim Your Health with Humor, Creativity, and Grit
by Carla Ulbrich, The Singing Patient
Tell Me Press, February 2011

Chronic or life threatening illness is no laughing matter, but folk singer songwriter comedian Carla Ulbrich's new book, How Can You NOT Laugh at a Time Like This?: Reclaim Your Health with Humor, Creativity, and Grit, published by Tell Me Press, February 2011, brings a much needed dose of levity to this tough subject with some serious comedy and some sick humor. This book will make you laugh as it inspires and brings hope.

'While writing a great book on how to recover from illness, Carla Ulbrich wrote an even better book on how to live a healthy and fulfilling life. No doubt, you have a good doctor if you see How Can You NOT Laugh at a Time Like This? in their waiting room.''

Michael Stock, "Folk & Acoustic Music," WLRN Radio, South Florida

''How Can You NOT Laugh at a Time Like This? is outstanding....Carla is your guide to navigate the emotionally and technically confusing world of illness with heart, humor, and bite-size chapters. Everyone needs a patient advocate-and now you have one, with this book.''

Robert Aubrey Davis & Mary Sue Twohy, ''The Village,'' Sirius/XM Radio

''As a doctor, Patch Adams brought to mainstream America the concept of a caring, compassionate, and fun medical staff making a profound difference in the healing of their patients. Now we've been given the gift to hear about it from the patient's perspective. Carla Ulbrich is living proof that bringing fun, play, creativity, and laughter to the healing process does wonders for the mind, body, and spirit. Carla's uncanny wit is infectious-and that's an infection we can all benefit from!'

Danny Donuts, CPA (Comic Performance Artist) and member of the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor

''I was completely taken with [Carla Ulbrich's] amazing outlook on life, her tenacity, and her passion.... Carla talks to you honestly, on every level, in her book. She also does it with a fantastic sense of humor.''
LuckyYogini.com

You Only Rock Once

You Only Rock Once: My Life in Music [Hardcover]
Jerry Blavat (Author)

The long-awaited autobiography of entertainment icon Jerry Blavat, You Only Rock Once is the wildly entertaining and unfiltered story of the man whose career began at the age of 13 on the TV dance show Bandstand and became a music legend. Lifelong friendships with the likes of Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra, a controversial relationship with Philadelphia Mafia boss Angelo Bruno that resulted in a decade-long FBI investigation, and much more colors this amazing journey from the early 60s through today.

Now, some 50 years after his first radio gig, Blavat puts it all in perspective in this uniquely American tale of a “little cockroach kid” borne out of the immigrant experience who lived the American Dream.

Jerry Interviewed: http://www.trn1.com/amn-jerry-blavat

Blavat was one of the early rock-and-roll deejays who revolutionized the profession and invented the "Oldies" format. He had national success in the ’60s as host of the popular CBS-TV dance show The Discophonic Scene, but is best known as a high-energy oldies deejay on the air and at live events throughout the Middle Atlantic region. With a successful nightclub outside Atlantic City, NJ (Memories); regular radio shows on 88.5 FM WXPN in Philadelphia, 92.1 FM WVLT in South Jersey, and 98.3 FM WTKU in Atlantic City; and scores of sold-out live dance events every year, Blavat is as popular as ever. He lives in Philadelphia, PA. Please visit him at jerryblavat.com. BOOK: The long-awaited autobiography of entertainment icon Jerry Blavat, You Only Rock Once is the wildly entertaining and unfiltered story of the man whose career began at the age of 13 on the TV dance show Bandstand and became a music legend. Lifelong friendships with the likes of Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra, a controversial relationship with Philadelphia Mafia boss Angelo Bruno that resulted in a decade-long FBI investigation, and much more colors this amazing journey from the early 60s through today. Now, some 50 years after his first radio gig, Blavat puts it all in perspective in this uniquely American tale of a "little cockroach kid" borne out of the immigrant experience who lived the American Dream.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-7624-4215-7

Writing a narrative that teems with zest and hipness, Blavat invites readers to accompany him on the inside track through the early days of doo wop and R&B to his national stature as an influential figure on the pop scene. Bandstand icon Dick Clark, in his foreword, spells out how much clout Blavat wielded in the heyday of the top acts of the '60s and '70s, rising from a teen "committee member" of the popular TV show to a powerhouse DJ on the East Coast from his studio built in his garage in Philadelphia, and later a top-rated TV stint. He discusses his ground-breaking Alan Freed–sponsored shows at the famed Paramount, his friendships with black doo wop and soul groups before the Jim Crow barrier came down, and his hobnobbing with Hollywood royalty including Sinatra, Frankie Avalon, Tony Curtis, and Sammy Davis Jr. He doesn't shy from talking about his wild ways with the ladies and the run-ins with the law concerning his mobbed-up pals. This soulful memoir by a "little cockroach kid from South Philadelphia" offers readers an insider's view into the golden era of rock and roll and pop music and entertainment. (Aug.)

Jerry Blavat
Broadcast Pioneers Banquet
Bala Golf Club, Philadelphia
November 22, 2002
http://www.broadcastpioneers.com/jerryblavat.html

He's the Geator with the Heator; the Boss with the Hot Sauce; the King of Philly Rock & Roll. He's as much a part of Philadelphia as cheese steaks, Tastykakes, soft pretzels, and the Liberty Bell. He has been entertaining the Delaware Valley for over 40 years. He's Broadcast Pioneers member Jerry Blavat.

As a dancer, radio and television disc jockey, performer, entertainer, producer, and nightclub owner, Jerry was born Gerald Joseph Blavat on July 3, 1940. He was raised in South Philadelphia and began his show business career at the age of 13 when he debuted as a dancer on the Original Bandstand hosted by Bob Horn. Two years later, at the age of 16, he became the road manager for Danny and the Juniors, a top Doo Wop group of the late fifties. At the same time, he met Sammy Davis Jr. They became life long friends and when Sammy married his third wife, Altovese Gore, Jerry was his best man. Blavat became Don Rickles' personal valet in his early years and they remain friends until this day.

In 1960, he started his own radio talk show on WCAM (AM), in Camden, New Jersey. In September of that year, the South Philadelphia Review reported that a new radio show would be broadcast live from the Venus Lounge at Broad and Reed Streets in South Philly. The paper said, "The name of the new venture is called the Jerry Blavat Show and features a South Philadelphia personality by the same name." Then on a snowy night in mid January, pulling out a stack of records, he began entertaining listeners throughout the night, and the legend of "The Geator" was born.

In the mid-sixties, reports had his audience at a half million teenagers per month. Much of Jerry's broadcasts in the early days were done on reel to reel tape. Recording the program in his garage studio, the tapes played while Blavat made personal appearances. In the mid-sixties, Jerry's broadcasts were also added for a time to the program schedule of WHAT. On that station, Blavat stated that he only made $18 a week ($1.50 per hour). Most of his audience didn't buy it, but it was true. The real money was at the hops, not on the air. However, Blavat knew he needed the airwaves to promote the appearances.

In 1965, he produced and hosted his own TV show "The Discophonic Scene" on CBS' Philadelphia outlet WCAU-TV. From 1967-70, the show aired on WFIL-TV, Channel Six and was syndicated through Triangle Publications coast-to-coast in 40 markets.

When the British Invasion came along, Jerry never became part of it. He didn't like format radio, never participated in it and has always been his own man. In 1966, Jerry said: "It had been hell during the Beatles reign, when there had been much pressure to get on the bandwagon. But I sensed that it just didn't have enough soul for my kids... So I finally gave in and played a few, and I got bombarded by phone calls saying 'Geator, what you doing, man?'"

In April of 1972 he became one of the first on-air personalities on WCAU-FM, an oldies station. He was on Sunday nights from 7 to 10 pm. He went on WFIL as a regular in the fall of 1983, hosting Sunday nights and quite often weeknights, when WFIL returned as an oldie station with Harvey Holiday as Program Director. In 1987, Blavat moved to "Philly Gold Radio," WPGR. It became "Geator Gold Radio" in April of 1992 when Blavat purchased the station.

Until this day, Jerry is seen on many local and national TV shows. He currently is involved with PBS on their Doo Wop specials working with the show's producer, T. J. Lubinsky. When the shows aired locally over WHYY-TV, Jerry Blavat was the area's host.

Broadcast Pioneers member Gerry Wilkinson, who produced "The Legends of Rock and Roll" featuring Jerry Blavat at WHYY, along with some of the WHYY-TV Doo Wop events said: "One day I stopped down at Jerry's studio while he was on the air. The broadcast still had 15 minutes to go when "Mama Geator" (Jerry's mother) showed up. That was the only time I ever saw his show ever take a back burner. He immediately went into a record (yes, he still plays those old 45's) and ran out to greet her pulling me with him. It was something special to see a 60-year-old man being that devoted to his mom. He's a good guy. He worshipped his mom. To me that was a good trait to see in my friend." His mother passed away in December of 2001.

May 2011
Throughout his career, Jerry has appeared on "The Tonight Show," "The Mike Douglas Show," "The Joey Bishop Show," "The Mod Squad," and "The Monkees." Jerry Blavat has appeared in feature films including "Desperately Seeking Susan," "Baby, It's You," and "Cookie."

After WPGR, the Geator then built studios in Center City and currently broadcasts over five different radio stations throughout the Tri-State area as the Geator Gold Radio Network.

In 1998, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in April of 1998 and was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia's "Hall of Fame" on Friday, November 22, 2002. On Monday, May 1, 2000 Jerry was interviewed by Broadcast Pioneers member Ed Sciaky on our webcast, PIONEERS IN BROADCASTING. You can view it in our video section.

He still owns his own nightclub called "Memories" in Margate, which has celebrated its 30th Anniversary a few years ago. Besides broadcasting five days a week, he works at various clubs most nights. While many refer to James Brown as "the hardest working man in show business," the title should belong to Jerry Blavat.

Jerry Blavat's pages on this website are some of our most popular ones. We are always getting e-mails from people wanting us to put them in touch with whomever sells VHS/DVD copies of the old Blavat TV vehicles. Unfortunately, none of this material exists today. Many of the shows were live and never recorded. Others that were on tape, were broadcast and the tapes re-used. Remember that only television stations used videotape and the cost of a half-hour of tape was almost $500 (in 1965 dollars). They were re-cycled and used over and over.

Do you have audio recordings of any of Jerry Blavat's TV shows? If so, the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia would love to have a donated copy for our archives. Have recordings of Jerry's radio broadcasts before 1990 (especially WHAT shows and early WCAM programs)? Again, we would love to receive a donated copy.

Jerry Blavat said many years ago: "I may not be the best jock in the world, but I've got my own built-in excitement meter." Like the Geator says: "Keep on rockin' 'cause you only rock once."

From the official archives of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia
Written, compiled and researched by Broadcast Pioneers member Gerry Wilkinson
Top photo by Broadcast Pioneers member Gerry Wilkinson
Bottom photo by Barbara Farley-Stone, wife of member Frank Stone

He's the Geator with the Heator; the Boss with the Hot Sauce; the King of Philly Rock & Roll. He's as much a part of Philadelphia as cheese steaks, Tastykakes, soft pretzels, and the Liberty Bell. He has been entertaining the Delaware Valley for over 40 years. He's Cruisin' 92.1, WVLT's Jerry Blavat.

http://www.wvlt.com/blavat.html

As a dancer, radio and television disc jockey, performer, entertainer, producer, and nightclub owner, Jerry was born Gerald Joseph Blavat on July 3, 1940. He was raised in South Philadelphia and began his show business career at the age of 13 when he debuted as a dancer on the Original Bandstand hosted by Bob Horn. Two years later, at the age of 16, he became the road manager for Danny and the Juniors, a top Doo Wop group of the late fifties. Danny & the Juniors is just one of many groups that you can listen to here on Cruisin' 92.1, WVLT. At the same time, he met Sammy Davis Jr. They became life long friends and when Sammy married his third wife, Altovese Gore, Jerry was his best man. Blavat became Don Rickles' personal valet in his early years and they remain friends until this day.

In 1960, he started his own radio talk show on WCAM (AM), in Camden, New Jersey. (He won the show in a crap game). In September of that year, the South Philadelphia Reviewreported that a new radio show would be broadcast live from the Venus Lounge at Broad and Reed Streets in South Philly. The paper said, "The name of the new venture is called the Jerry Blavat Show and features a South Philadelphia personality by the same name." Then on a snowy night in mid January, pulling out a stack of records, he began entertaining listeners throughout the night, and the legend of "The Geator" was born.

In the mid-sixties, reports had his audience at a half million teenagers per month. Much of Jerry's broadcasts in the early days were done on reel to reel tape. Recording the program in his garage studio, the tapes played while Blavat made personal appearances. In the mid-sixties, Jerry's broadcasts were also added for a time to the program schedule of WHAT. On that station, Blavat stated that he only made $18 a week ($1.50 per hour). Most of his audience didn't buy it, but it was true. The real money was at the hops, not on the air. However, Blavat knew he needed the airwaves to promote the appearances.

In 1965, he produced and hosted his own TV show "The Discophonic Scene" on CBS' Philadelphia outlet WCAU-TV. From 1967-70, the show aired on WFIL-TV, Channel Six and was syndicated through Triangle Publications coast-to-coast in 40 markets.

When the British Invasion came along, Jerry never became part of it. He didn't like format radio, never participated in it and has always been his own man. In 1966, Jerry said: "It had been hell during the Beatles reign, when there had been much pressure to get on the bandwagon. But I sensed that it just didn't have enough soul for my kids... So I finally gave in and played a few, and I got bombarded by phone calls saying 'Geator, what you doing, man?'"

In April of 1972 he became one of the first on-air personalities on WCAU-FM, an oldies station. He was on Sunday nights from 7 to 10 pm. He went on WFIL as a regular in the fall of 1983, hosting Sunday nights and quite often weeknights, when WFIL returned as an oldie station with Harvey Holiday as Program Director. In 1987, Blavat moved to "Philly Gold Radio," WPGR. It became "Geator Gold Radio" in April of 1992 when Blavat purchased the station.

Until this day, Jerry is seen on many local and national TV shows. He currently is involved with PBS on their Doo Wop specials working with the show's producer, T. J. Lubinsky. When the shows aired locally over WHYY-TV, Jerry Blavat was the area's host.

Broadcast Pioneers Vice-President Gerry Wilkinson (a consultant for WVLT), who produced "The Legends of Rock and Roll" featuring Cruisin' 92.1, WVLT's Jerry Blavat at Channel 12, along with some of the WHYY-TV Doo Wop events said: "One day I stopped down at Jerry's studio while he was on the air. The broadcast still had 15 minutes to go when "Mama Geator" (Jerry's mother) showed up. That was the only time I ever saw his show ever take a back burner. He immediately went into a record (yes, he still plays those old 45's) and ran out to greet her pulling me with him. It was something special to see a 60-year-old man being that devoted to his mom. He's a good guy. He worshipped his mom. To me that was a good trait to see in my friend." His mother passed away in December of 2001.

Throughout his career, Jerry has appeared on "The Tonight Show," "The Mike Douglas Show," "The Joey Bishop Show," "The Mod Squad," and "The Monkees." Jerry Blavat has appeared in feature films including "Desperately Seeking Susan," "Baby, It's You," and "Cookie."

After WPGR, the Geator then built studios in Center City (rebuilt in the Fall of 2002) and currently broadcasts his Cruisin' 92.1, WVLT daily show from that location. On Thursdays, our own Jerry Blavat originates live from the Trump in Atlantic City exclusively only on your favorite station, Cruisin' 92.1, WVLT, South Jersey's #1 Oldies Powerhouse!

In 1998, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in April of 1998 and was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia's "Hall of Fame" on Friday, November 22, 2002. On Monday, May 1, 2000 Jerry was interviewed on the Broadcast Pioneers' webcast, PIONEERS IN BROADCASTING. You can view it in the Cruisin' 92.1, WVLT video section of this website, WVLT.com!

He still owns his own nightclub called Memories in Margate, which has celebrated its 30th Anniversary. Besides broadcasting five days a week, he works at various clubs most nights. While many refer to James Brown as "the hardest working man in show business," the title should belong to Jerry Blavat, who said many years ago: "I may not be the best jock in the world, but I've got my own built-in excitement meter."

Cruisin' 92.1, WVLT is proud to present Jerry Blavat to the people of the Delaware Valley daily from 5 pm to 7 pm. He's a legend and Cruisin' 92.1, WVLT has him. We have the legends. Like the Geator says: "Keep on rockin' 'cause you only rock once."

CRUISIN' 92.1 - WVLT

IN PERSON; His Patter and Platters Still Rock the Shore
By ROBERT STRAUSS

Published: August 19, 2001
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/19/nyregion/in-person-his-patter-and-platters-still-rock-the-shore.html

GO, Baby! Go, Baby! Go, Baby! Go!''

The crowd at La Costa Cocktail Lounge is going-baby like it is 1965, when Jerry Blavat, the Geator with the Heator, the Boss with the Hot Sauce first played ''Can't Help Myself,'' by the Four Tops.
Though it is 36 years later and teenage denim and litheness may have given way to late-middle-age gray and arthritic joints, there are still multitudes dancing to Mr. Blavat's patter and platters every weekend of the summer at the Jersey Shore.

''They used to be my Yon Teenagers,'' said Mr. Blavat, who started his own career as a 13-year-old dancer on ''American Bandstand.'' ''Now they are Beyond Teenagers.'' Mr. Blavat has been a record promoter, radio personality, road manager and movie and television performer. But mostly, he's been the Geator, a popular D.J. from Philadelphia to the shore for four decades.

''I've known him for 40 years, since I was one of those Yon Teens,'' said Robert Brady, a Democratic Congressman from Philadelphia. ''He's been a friend of all the teens, and now all of us who like the oldies. He never has a down night. He's made a lot of people happy.''

In the summers, most of those people are down the shore, as Philadelphians put it, often following him night after night. On Thursdays at 5 p.m., he is does a two-hour stint at Resorts International casino hotel in Atlantic City. By 9 p.m., he is 30 miles down the Garden State Parkway at Lighthouse Pointe, a club in Wildwood, where he doesn't stop spinning records until 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays, he is at his own club, Memories, in Margate, from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. He wraps up the weekend Sundays from 4 to 8 p.m. here at La Costa. Then it's back to Philadelphia where every weekday from 5 to 7 p.m., and sometimes from 2 to 4 p.m. as well, he does his syndicated radio show on the Geator Gold Radio Network, a half-dozen stations from Vineland to Ocean City to the Philadelphia suburbs.

''I don't know about slowing down,'' said Mr. Blavat, clad in his Sunday D.J. best -- a white Ralph Lauren polo shirt, khaki shorts, dusty New Balance sneakers and an un-logoed baseball cap. He is short and thin and taut-faced, looking much younger than his professed 61.

JERRY BLAVAT
Inducted 1993

Philadelphia radio listeners know him as "The Geator with the Heater" and "The Boss with the Hot Sauce." His mile-a-minute patter still reverberates in the countless dance halls and the radio and TV air waves where he's played the hits for "Yon Teens" everywhere.

Jerry Blavat, a South Philadelphia native, began his show biz career as a dancer on the original Bandstand. At age 16, he became the road manager for Danny and the Juniors. Then, in 1959, Blavat embarked on a career in radio, at WCAM in Camden. Over the years, he's complemented his illustrious radio career with numerous TV projects, including The Discophonic Scene in 1965, which featured live musical performances by some of the biggest stars of the day.

That success led to numerous network television appearances including The Mod Squad (with lifelong friend Sammy Davis, Jr.), The Monkees (where, playing himself, he fell for Davy Jones who was dressed as a girl in order to qualify the band for a mixed-group talent contest), The Tonight Show and The Joey Bishop Show. He's also been seen in several movies such as "Desperately Seeking Susan", "Baby It's You" and "Cookie."

Blavat continues to spin gold and wax nostalgic with shows on several Philadelphia area radio stations and at many club appearances.

Who is Jerry Blavat.... and What is The Geator With The Heator?
http://web.archive.org/web/20080329015535/http://www.mystreamingserver.com/geatorgold/htmldossier.html

Many disc jockeys over the years have claimed a love for the music they play. A few of them have meant it. A fewer still have put their money where their mouths were. And of those, only one (to our knowledge) has been wildly successful in the process: Jerry Blavat.

When rock and roll began to emerge in the early '50s, and with it a rise in the popularity of the rhythm and blues records which led to its sound, radio personalities were successful because of their ears. They had the freedom to pick the music they played and their fans flocked to them because of their knowledge and taste. By the '60s, for a variety of reasons from the payola scandal to a desire for a more uniform sounding station, the radio personality truly became a disc-jockey-- playing songs from an approved list. The disc-jockey's personality came through between the records, not because of them. The 70s brought an approved order of approved songs which were selected largely through research --and liner cards. Liners were pre-written phrases to be parroted directly by the on air host. In other words, most disc jockeys were not only being told what to play, but what to say. But many were being handsomely compensated in the process.

Jerry Blavat took a different route. He was attracted to the business because of his love for the music and it was a relationship he wasn't willing to sever. His first exposure to "fame" came as a dancer on the original Bandstand television program, hosted by Bob Horn. In 1953, less than a year after the show's inception, a 13 year old Jerry Blavat perfected his first scam-- impersonating a 14 year old to get on the program. He became a favorite with the viewers and rose to the head of the coveted "Committee", the group of teens responsible for aiding Horn in the direction of the show. When Bob Horn was fired over very questionable circumstances a few years later, the rest of the teens welcomed new host Dick Clark. Belying his youth, Blavat displayed an early sense of the loyalty that would become his most prized character trait and left the program rather than tacitly approving Horn's ousting. (The two remained close until Horn's passing in Houston in 1966.)

By the time he graduated from high school in 1958, Jerry Blavat was hooked not only on the music, but on performing as well. And he was working on a healthy resume to prove it. Promoting records (for Cameo-Parkway), working with performers (serving as Don Rickles' valet), and traveling with top recording stars (as road manager for Danny & The Juniors) gave him a front row seat for the roots of rock and roll. Living as a "roadie," Blavat amassed a wealth of knowledge and a bank account of contacts. Artists like Jerry Butler, Fats Domino, Lloyd Price, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Gladys Knight and many more became friends and confidantes. The stories they told coupled with the first hand experiences he had, unwittingly prepared Blavat for a career move he never knew he'd make.

Jerry got into radio in 1962, the result of a bet. Given the state of radio today, some might believe he was on the losing end of that wager. But what actually happened was Jerry, full of bravado, bet that he could do a radio show from a nightclub. It wasn't whether it would be technically possible, rather whether Blavat would be able to convince a radio station to go along with it, that the owner of the Venus Lounge bet against. He didn't know Jerry, who promptly went to WCAM in Camden, New Jersey and purchased an hour of radio time (reimbursing himself in part from the proceeds of the bet, no doubt). For most people, an ensuing "act of God" would have ended this story. But for Jerry it was simply a fortuitous beginning.

Since Jerry acquired the radio time, he was allowed to resell commercials within it, which he promptly did. He had this all figured out. And for a while it worked just like he thought it would. What he hadn't counted on was the snowstorm. The one that closed the nightclub. And the city. But nothing could close Jerry. He had sold the time and he was going to air those commercials. (Loyalty may be the trait Jerry prizes most in himself, but onlookers will attest that tenacity by far is the key to his staying power. Nothing will stop this guy. And everything has tried.) So doing the only unreasonable thing, Jerry ignored the 'stay off the road' warnings and made it to WCAM's studios where he, his records (the ones he used to dance to on bandstand, the ones he promoted on Cameo-Parkway, and the ones he just plain liked that no one had ever heard-- the flops and flipsides) and his commercial announcements, set up shop.

If you want to light a radio audience on fire, there is no better propellant that a blizzard. When snow immobilizes a city, kids tune in to find out if schools are closed, adults listen to hear if they've got to report to work, and everyone stays glued to the disc jockey's every word, in part because there's nothing else to do when you're housebound. The only way Jerry Blavat could have had a more captive audience would have been to broadcast to prisons. Captive or not, what they heard was captivating. They'd never heard anything like it. And they'd never heard so much of it. The storm that immobilized the listeners also immobilized Jerry's replacements, so his one hour of evening radio time turned into all night. He continued his frenetic pace until the morning guy showed up at 6 a.m. Listeners didn't know which was better-- his patter or his platters-- but they did know the number of the station and they called.

Just as an exhausted Jerry was ready to fall asleep, the general manager of WCAM phoned and wanted to know what the hell he did. (Usually when this kind of a call comes, it's the end of your career, not the beginning.) After finding out, the GM informed a bemused Jerry that he was a smash. Blavat's club gig turned into a radio gig, and Jerry turned into "The Geator With The Heator".

Just exactly what that meant has been the subject of much discussion. Even long time fans aren't precisely sure. But there is logic behind the seemingly illogical but appropriately rhyming handle (every jock with soul spoke in rhymed couplets back then-- today the records rap... back then the rap came from the disc jockey between the records which contained something now nostalgic-- a melody).

Geator came from alligator-- gator, or geator, depending on your Florida accent. To hear Jerry tell it, 'a geator would lay in the mud and bother no one unless you came close. Then it would snatch you up.' That's how it was with Blavat. Once you dialed by 1310 and caught his act, he snatched you up like an alligator. He was hot, almost too hot. Like a car heater in the dead of winter, he started out warming you but quickly heated you up to the point that you broke out in a sweat. Some felt it was what he said, others claimed it was the way he said it, but for most it was the music, that mesmerizing sound they weren't hearing on the popular stations.

...But make no mistake about it, while Jerry Blavat may well be the best known disc jockey in Philadelphia, he's never worked on a highly rated station. His chosen approach of buying the time outright (and later in his career, an entire station), allows him to remain free to program the sound as he sees fit, answering to no one but his audience. Fortunately, Blavat has a business sense. Because the only way this approach can be viable in the long term is by knowing how to market the airtime-- and yourself. Jerry is a master at both.

The Geator coupled his growing popularity on the air (which by 1963 resulted in regional syndication of his program on small stations throughout the Delaware Valley from Atlantic City to Allentown) with appearances off the air at dances, clubs and events. It was not unusual for Blavat to see 5,000 kids a week in person in the mid '60s, nor too much of a stretch to say he'd remember 3,000 of their names the following week. His appearances became so frequent that for a time he needed to use a helicopter just to make it on time from one gig to the next. (Today the helicopter is gone, but the frantic schedule is still in place. Throughout the year, he can be found somewhere on virtually any night, and in the summer months he's in weekend residence at Memories At Margate, the New Jersey Shore's hottest night spot which he's owned and operated since 1972.)
But Blavat's entrepreneurial spirit didn't stop there. He formed record labels (most notably Lost Nite which issued countless oldies compilation albums treasured by collectors to this day, but also Crimson which had the Soul Survivors'; "Expressway To Your Heart"), opened record stores (the Record Museum chain was his), and arguably began the "oldies" format. A number of people claim that distinction, but to our recollection, no one else in 1962 was playing the music of rock and roll's past. And for top 40 music in the early '60s, there wasn't all that much of a past-- if you were relying on hits, that is. Jerry was relying on a sound. Even before the term was widely used, Blavat and oldies became synonymous to his audience. Then, and to this day, he lived by the phrase, 'where we don't only play the oldies, we create them'. The year didn't matter, the artist didn't matter, the label didn't matter, A side, B side, anything on vinyl qualified if it had the sound. (If we have to describe that sound, you're at the wrong site.)

In 1965 Jerry made a quantum career leap, combining his on air demeanor with his in person style by launching The Discophonic Scene, a television show which took him to a new level of mass appeal respectability. Unlike his radio career, where his show was always the standout segment on otherwise comparatively obscure radio stations, The Discophonic Scene aired on VHF network affiliated television outlets. First on WCAU-TV 10, and later on WFIL-TV 6, the Discophonic Scene was ultimately syndicated through Triangle Publications, seen across the country every weekday in over 40 markets.

Differing from most television shows where behind the scenes the host is but a small part of the action, The Discophonic Scene was in all ways an extension of Jerry Blavat. Relying on the contacts he made earlier in his career, Blavat rose early to personally book the likes of Fats Domino, Wilson Pickett, James Brown, The Supremes, Martha & The Vandellas and many many more. Being a fan himself, the rule was live performances, not the badly mouthed lip-syncing identified with similar offerings. In front of the camera, there was also a difference-- Jerry was more like the kids than their parents. He not only resembled the "Yon Teens" as he referred to his fans, but he danced like them too. After all, it wasn't that long ago that he was in their place on Bandstand.

That success led to numerous network television appearances including The Mod Squad (with lifelong friend Sammy Davis, Jr.), The Monkees (where, playing himself, he fell for Davy Jones who was dressed as a girl in order to qualify the band for a mixed-group talent contest), The Tonight Show and The Joey Bishop Show. He's also been seen in several movies such as "Desperately Seeking Susan", "Baby It's You" and "Cookie".

But the real legacy that belongs to Jerry Blavat is the one he created on the radio. The one that endures to this day. The one where "The Geator With The Heator" jumps out of your dashboard blaring a heart stopping song that you've got to hear. The one where "The Boss With The Hot Sauce" brings back the past. In 1970, Jerry returned fulltime to his radio roots and he hasn't been off the air since --or out of the clubs. It hasn't always been an easy road, but it's the only one he'd choose to travel. As for those of us who consider ourselves fans of that special sound-- the one that takes you where you want to go-- we're just grateful to be invited along for the ride.
Rollye Jamesrollye.net

HEAR THE GEATOR -

MONDAY THRU FRIDAY 5-7 PM:
WVLT Cruisin' 92.1 FM &
http://www.wvlt.com
(click on LISTEN LIVE)
MONDAY THRU FRIDAY 7-9 PM:
WTKU KOOL 98.3 FM &
http://www.kool983.com
(click on LISTEN LIVE)
THURSDAYS, 9-11 PM (July 4 weekend thru Labor Day):
WFNE FUN 106.7 in Wildwood & N. Cape May
http://www.fun1067.com
(click on LISTEN LIVE)
SATURDAYS 6-7 PM - GEATOR'S ROCK & ROLL, RHYTHM & BLUES EXPRESS ON WXPN:
- Philly & South Jersey 88.5 FM
- Lehigh Valley 104.9 FM
- Harrisburg 88.1 FM
- Baltimore 90.5 FM
and worldwide at xpn.org (click on LISTEN LIVE!)
For archived shows:
Go to xpn.org - click on PROGRAMS, then GEATOR R&R, then LISTEN TO RECENT SHOWS

FRIDAY & SATURDAY NIGHTS Memorial Day thru Labor Day:
WTKU KOOL 98.3 FM and kool983.com LIVE FROM MEMORIES IN MARGATE Fridays starting at 8

JERRY'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY - "YOU ONLY ROCK ONCE: MY LIFE IN MUSIC"
PUBLISHED BY RUNNING PRESS JULY 2011
ISBN # 978-0-7624-4215-7
YOU ONLY ROCK ONCE: MY LIFE IN MUSIC - available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble bookstores and bn.com, Walmart.com, other websites, and many local bookstores, including:
PHILADELPHIA: Joseph Fox Booksellers and the Penn Book Center
WEST CHESTER: Chester County Book & Music Co.
WILMINGTON: Ninth Street Book Shop
REHOBOTH BEACH: Browseabout Books
AVALON, OCEAN CITY, & STONE HARBOR: Hoy's Five & Ten

For upcoming interviews, readings, and signings in your area, check the CALENDAR link at left and also the Facebook page for YOU ONLY ROCK ONCE.
Currently the book is #1 on amazon.com in the broadcasting category!

Next book signings:
FRIDAY, NOV. 18, 8 pm at CAFE MADISON in Riverside, NJ
TUESDAY, DEC. 6, 6 pm at BLACK TIE FORMAL WEAR, 1120 Walnut St in Philadelphia (before JERSEY BOYS performance @ Forrest Theater)

NOTE: Books will be available for purchase at all book signings.
WATCH THIS SPOT FOR UPDATES AND ADDITIONS --
also, click on "LIKE" the Facebook page YOU ONLY ROCK ONCE: MY LIFE IN MUSIC –

and join the online Geator Fans group on Yahoo --
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GeatorFans

NEXT KIMMEL CENTER CONCERT: Saturday, Januray 28, 8 pm kimmelcenter.org

Jerry returns from the Malt Shop Memories cruise on Monday and will be at SugarHouse on Wednesday and the Buck Hotel Thursday . . .
Please join him at the following fundraising events:

SUN NOV 27: HARRAH'S, BRIGANTINE - ANIMAL RESCUE BENEFIT
(click CALENDAR OF APPEARANCES at left for locations & details)
REGULAR WEEKLY APPEARANCES - LABOR DAY THROUGH MAY:

WEDNESDAYS 5-7 pm - SUGARHOUSE CASINO, 1001 N. Delaware Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19123 - broadcast live on WVLT Cruisin' 92.1 FM and wvlt.com. For more info: sugarhousecasino.com or 877.477.3715

THURSDAYS, 8 pm - BUCK HOTEL, 1200 Buck Road, Feasterville, PA, 215/396-2002, thebuckhotel.com

REGULAR WEEKLY APPEARANCES - MEMORIAL DAY THRU LABOR DAY

WEDNESDAYS 5-7 pm - SUGARHOUSE CASINO, 1001 N. Delaware Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19123 - broadcast live on WVLT Cruisin' 92.1 FM and wvlt.com. For more info@sugarhousecasino.com or 877.477.3715

THURSDAYS 8 pm (starting the Thursday before July 4 weekend) - LIGHTHOUSE POINTE, 5100 Shawcrest Rd, Wildwood Crest, 609/522-SHIP - live on WFNE Fun 106.7 FM and fun1067.com

FRIDAYS, 5-7 pm (mid-May thru Labor Day weekendt) - CHICKIE'S & PETE'S, 6055 Black Horse Pike, Egg Harbor Township, NJ, 609/272-1930 - live on WVLT Cruisin' 92.1 and wvlt.com

FRIDAYS 8-11 pm MEMORIES IN MARGATE, Madisot & Amherst Ave., 609.823.2196 - with FREE FOOD BUFFET from Barrels and Chickie's & Pete's. Jerry is followed at 11 pm by Joey Marini's Back in the Day dance party at Memories - all live on WTKU KOOL 98.3 and kool983.com.

SATURDAYS 9 pm to 4 am MEMORIES IN MARGATE, broadcast live on WTKU KOOL 98.3 FM and kool983.com till 2 am

SUNDAYS 4-7:30 pm - afternoon jam sessions at LA COSTA LOUNGE, 4000 Landis Ave., Sea Isle City, 609.263.3756

For Jerry's complete schedule of personal appearances, click CALENDAR link at left. Once you're in the calendar, click on any event for more info about it, including location, how to get tickets, directions (click on MAP next to event's location), and more.

IMPORTANT: If you have a QUESTION about an item on the CALENDAR, you will get a faster answer if you post it in the Geator Fans group rather than in the calendar notes. To join Geator Fans, click on this link:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GeatorFans/
and then click JOIN THIS GROUP. The Geator Fans group is very active and you will almost always receive a prompt answer to your question there.

JOIN THE GEATOR ON-LINE FAN CLUB AND MESSAGE BOARD AT
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GeatorFans

LINKS & MORE:
The easy-to-remember link for this website is always geator.net
Join Yahoo's online Geator Fan Club & discussion group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GeatorFans/
Look for Geator's columns -- "ASK THE GEATOR" in the Atlantic City Weekly (acweekly.com - click on 'News & Views,' then 'Ask the Geator')
Want to learn the dance steps? See link at left on this page for tips (sorry, no instructions on line yet)
Check out Bill Smith's Geator tribute at thegeator.com (not up to date but chock full of Geator history & info)
Hear Jerry as Al Bacore, the Tuneful Tuna, narrator of SpongeBob SquarePants' fabulous CD "The Best Day Ever" !!
Check out the brand new Facebook page for Jerry's autobiography, "You Only Rock Once: My Life In Music" - go to Facebook, search for YOU ONLY ROCK ONCE, and click on "LIKE"
and keep on rockin' -- 'cause you only rock once!

For info not listed here, send an email to geatorella@yahoo.com

To buy rare & out of print vinyl recordings, contact:
Jim at Forever Records, Rt 13 South, Levittown Shopping Center, Levittown, PA,215-945-9423 OR
Val Shively's R&B Records,49 Garrett Road, Upper Darby, PA 19082,610/352-2320 Fax: (610) 352-8199 OR Bobby at Pat's Music, 4516 Frankford Ave, Philly, 215/708-0444

Jerry Blavat
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jerry Blavat
Birth name Gerald Joseph Blavat
Born July 3, 1940 (age 71)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,United States
Show Geator Gold Radio
Station(s) WVLT (FM), WTKU (FM), andWXPN
Style Oldies
Country United States
Website Official website
http://geatorgigs.webs.com/index.htm

Jerry Blavat (born July 3, 1940), also known as "The Geator with The Heator", is an Americandisc jockey who is known for promoting oldies music on the radio in the Philadelphia area. Blavat was born in South Philadelphia to a Jewish father and Italian mother.

Career
In 1953, Blavat debuted on the original Bandstand on WFIL-TV with Bob Horn and Lee Stewart. In 1956 he managed a national tour for Danny and the Juniors, and he worked as Don Rickles' valet in 1958-59. He got his start in radio in 1960. By 1963, his show was syndicated in Camden, Atlantic City, Trenton, Pottstown, Wilmingtonand Allentown. During the 1960s, Blavat was a partner in the Lost Nite and Crimson record labels, along with Jared Weinstein and Collectables Records' founder Jerry Greene. Together, the three also owned Record Museum, a now-defunct chain of record stores based in Philadelphia.

From 1965-1967, Blavat produced and hosted a weekly television show called The Discophonic Scene. He also guest-starred on television shows including The Mod Squad, The Monkees, The Tonight Show and The Joey Bishop Show. He has also appeared in the moviesDesperately Seeking Susan, Baby It's You and Cookie.In the early 1970s, Blavat purchased a nightclub in Margate, New Jersey, and named it "Memories."

Mafia connections
In 1981, Blavat was having dinner at a South Philadelphia restaurant with Greek mob boss Chelsais "Steve" Bouras and several other guests when Bouras was shot dead in a contract killing.

In the early 1990s, an investigation by the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation into organized crime's influence in the liquor business made public Blavat's association with the Bruno-Scarfo crime family. During the investigation, Thomas A. DelGiorno, a former Scarfo crime family Capo, testified that Blavat had regularly paid a "street tax" to the crime family, had purchased a $40,000 yacht for crime boss Nicodemo Scarfo and was one of several individuals who purchased a condominium in Florida for Scarfo. In exchange, the criminal organization secured employment for Blavat throughout the state and also kept union organizers out of Blavat's nightclub. Del Giorno also testified that Blavat regularly served as a driver for crime boss Angelo Bruno. Blavat pled the fifth.

Recent activity
In 1993, Blavat was inducted into the Philadelphia Music Alliance's Hall of Fame.[6] In 1998, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fameas part of a permanent exhibit in its Museum of Radio and Records. In 2002, he was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia's "Hall of Fame." In 2011, Blavat is a DJ for oldies radio station WVLT FM 92.1 in the South Jersey area, for the University of Pennsylvania's public radio station WXPN in Philadelphia, and for radio station WTKU 98.3 FM in Atlantic City. He owns the nightclub "Memories in Margate". Blavat is a regular columnist for the Atlantic City Weekly.

On July 23, 2011, Blavat's autobiography, "You Only Rock Once: My Life In Music," was published by Running Press.

References
"Lost Nite Album Discography". Archived from the original on 2008-08-02. Retrieved 2008-06-22.
"Jerry Blavat - Dossier". Archived from the original on 2008-03-29. Retrieved 2008-06-22.
"CRUISIN' 92.1, WVLT - Jerry Blavat Bio". Retrieved 2008-06-22.
Strauss, Robert (August 19, 2001). "IN PERSON; His Patter and Platters Still Rock the Shore". New York Times.
Sullivan, Joseph F. (January 19, 1992). "Mob Sway Over Bars Called Strong". New York Times.
"Philadelphia Music Alliance Hall of Fame Bio". Retrieved 2008-06-22.

Chris Mathews new book on JFK

Chris Matthews Plays Loveball With JFK In New Biography

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/26/chris-matthews-jfk-biography_n_1033273.html

Chris Matthews -- current host of MSNBC's "Hardball" -- was a 15-year-old working as a paperboy for the Philadelphia Bulletin when he found his political loyalties shifting.

Like the rest of his immediate family, he considered himself a Republican, but something about John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign had inspired him, made him question what he stood for. Not only did he find himself suddenly rooting for a Democrat, but he had grown enamored with the entire Kennedy dynasty, and momentarily cheered the possibility of a two-term JFK presidency, and a Lyndon Johnson presidency to follow.

Thus began a lifelong fascination that hasn't ever let up. In 1996, while still the D.C. bureau chief for theSan Francisco Chronicle, Matthews published "Kennedy & Nixon: The Rivalry that Shaped Postwar America," and on Nov. 1 he'll release "Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero," a wide-ranging biography that focuses on the life and dual natures of the 35th president.

Jackie Kennedy famously called her husband both "elusive" and "unforgettable," and in this new work, Matthews seeks to elucidate the conflicting shades of Kennedy's character, while also celebrating a leader who he believes united the American people more than any other president since the 1960s.

In an interview with HuffPost, Matthews reveals the Kennedy traits that caught him off guard, why he made everyone feel "included," and a few essential qualities he thinks Obama -- and other American politicians -- could pick up from Kennedy.

Was there any significance to releasing this book now, or did it just work out that way?
I've been working on it for years. I started back in the 80s, looking at the Nixon/Kennedy rivalry, but since then I've been working on this for a long time. I guess I was thinking about the 50th anniversary [of the assassination], sure, and I didn't know what the current zeitgeist would be. But I think it's the perfect time for it. The country wants to be reminded what a leader is. A hero. We haven't had a hero since Kennedy, really -- a guy who proved himself in battle, a hero in war who had a rite of passage like that. This guy was the guy. He was it.

What surprised you most to learn about him?

How sick he was. I say in the book how he was a greater hero than he wanted us to know. He was sick all the time, had a terrible stomach injury, blood counts all through high school, it went on and on and on. He was always in a hospital. He must have had a record in Choate for the number of days he was in the infirmary. Also, he was always reading. Always. He was a reader, and a hero worshipper, and he became who he became because he was incessantly studying King Arthur, Churchill, the history of World War I, the Times every day in high school. I got this from his classmates.

You repeatedly discuss how much Kennedy loved politics, in general, and how he was proud to be a politician. What about politics appealed to him most?

He loved meeting people, loved campaigning, loved the competition, loved the zest of it. He loved building a party and punishing his rivals. It's all there, what a politician has to be. Even the day he was killed, he was going to the airport in Fort Worth, asking people what the difference was between Dallas and Fort Worth politically. He was always asking questions, always trying to learn more about it.

Was Kennedy feared?

You can't be loved for long if you're not feared. Kennedy did not hold grudges, but he dealt politically with people. I think he'd make Eric Cantor fear him a little if he were [president today]. He was tough on his enemies, he always was. Look at everything he did: He beat Nixon, he beat Johnson, he beat them all. He didn't join those guys, he beat them. You think Johnson wanted to be his running mate? He had this stick, this ability to enforce. He wasn't moved by those emotions around him and he could stand up to people.

You write in the book that Kennedy knew, more than anyone, "that nations die or thrive on the ability and judgment of their leaders to stir them at perilous times." How was Kennedy able to stir people?

Everyone was part of his mission. There was always this inclusion of bringing people in and making everybody participate. It was never, "Let's see how smart he is," it was always him bringing other people in, making people a part of it all. Ask anybody from that generation, they felt included. I think the big Kennedy distinction was the ability to make everybody part of the effort. "We're all in this together."

How did he do that, specifically?

He was all about relationship politics. It wasn't about transactions -- "Once you're with me, you're with me." He stuck with them. Obama's sort of like, "You elect me now, I'll do the job, and watch me do it." The Clintons were all about relationships, too, but the entire Kennedy party -- that was everything. He was always building a team around him, and people trusted him. He had 12 kids in the mud, 12 guys in the military, he saved his crew. When you go out and you carry your 42-year-old engineer on your back for four hours, the strap of his life jacket in your teeth, it creates a certain competence. Those guys loved him.

Because he was strong on the battlefield.

He was a leader! It's not about the ability to give a good speech or to be smart, it's about a talent to really lead people. I don't know if Romney or Obama have showed that kind of leadership, someone who men and women want to follow into battle. "We want to go with him. I want to go with that guy." Kennedy could walk into a room and men and women both would just melt. He was very impressive in terms of personal chemistry.

Have any politicians since Kennedy possessed similar qualities?

Scott Brown got a bit of it in Massachusetts, he connected with that anti-establishment thing in Boston. But that's more parochial. Jimmy Carter in '75, '76, he picked up on the country's mood for a while. I think Reagan picked up on some of it in his time.

Does Obama possess some of those qualities?

Obama hasn't clicked into the zeitgeist the way Kennedy did. Does [Obama] feel what we feel the way Kennedy felt what we felt? Does he get us right now? I hope he does, but I don't know. Kennedy connected with the country. We were losing the Cold War, the world's global map was changing from red and pink and we could see it. He said, "Let's get this country moving again." He knew exactly how to brace us for what was [to come] -- that sense of when to strike something. [Kennedy] always had this fear of complacency, and he knew the times, he knew us. Obama hasn't clicked into the zeitgeist. Is there an Obama party? I don't know.

BK: CHRIS MATTHEWS - WHO USE TO SPEND SUMMERS IN OCEAN CITY NJ DURING HIS COLLEGE DAYS, AND WORKED AT THE CHATTERBOX - MAY HAVE ADMIRED JFK - HE CERTAINLY GETS HIS DEATH WRONG.

Here’s partial transcript of Chris Mathews putting his foot in his mouth again, and Jerry Policoff’s response.

'Hardball with Chris Matthews' for Friday, April 15th, 2011
Read the transcript to the Friday show

http://jfkcountercoup.blogspot.com/

…MATTHEWS: “Let Me Finish” tonight with the grassy knoll. That was the place in Dallas—near the Texas Book Depository—that the crazies believe people shot at President Kennedy from.

Well, to the conspiracist mind, it‘s important to always have a grassy knoll. It‘s their grotto of denial, a place to travel mentally and find deliverance from reality. Those who don‘t like reality need a grassy knoll to get through the night.

I do not wish to do injustice to these desperados. I know exactly why people need grassy knolls. They need them because they cannot bear the suffering that truth brings to the heart and to the mind.

How could some loser—some misfit who went to the Soviet Union because he thought he liked communism and believed he could find a happy life there, then came home and fall hard for Fidel Castro on the rebound, how could this squirt kill the regal Jack Kennedy? It doesn‘t balance out, does it? How could a nobody kill such a great somebody?

Well, worst yet, how could a man of a hard left—a communist—kill Jack Kennedy. Why wasn‘t it a right-winger who killed him? Then we could blame it on them?

I‘ve got it. We‘ll come up with a conspiracy theory—don‘t actually have to prove anything, of course, that says—just say it. Just say it. It really was a right winger. It‘s that guy - oh, those guys over in the grassy knoll. Don‘t you get it? It was the right wing that killed our hero.

Well, a half century later, we‘ve got a new grassy knoll, another place for retreat for those who can‘t stand a hard truth. The truth is that Barack Obama is the president of the United States. Got it! President of the United States, duly elected leader of the country living right there in the White House.

And they can‘t stand it. They can‘t stand that it is, in fact, a fact. No way around it. No way.

Just look at the history books. Look at the newspaper. Dang it! This guy is president. He was elected president. A majority of the people wanted him president and went out and voted for him.

How do we change that? How do we change that reality?

I got it, with this—it didn‘t happen. You see, he wasn‘t born here. He‘s not eligible to be president.
I read it somewhere that he‘s from somewhere else. Can‘t put my finger on it but he‘s not really an American, you see? Not natural born anyway. He‘s from out there somewhere.

So, last night, the boobs in the Arizona legislature voted to require the candidates for president henceforth approved other documents besides the official document that the state of Hawaii issues as a birth certificate. They want circumcision, baptismal records. They want something that nobody‘s ever wanted before from any candidate before.

What they really want is the same thing grassy knoll people want even now—deliverance from the truth they cannot handle.

Donald Trump—take a bow for giving new hope to grassy knollers everywhere. Wow!
That‘s HARDBALL for now. Thanks for being with us.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42647474/ns/msnbc_tv-hardball_with_chris_matthews/


Dear Chris,

I was not surprised by your arrogant and ignorant denunciation of conspiracy theorists who believe JFK was fired upon from the "Grassy Knoll." Of course the last official investigation of the assassination came to that same conclusion, based in part on scientific acoustics tests that virtually proved it (despite claims to the contrary those tests have never been refuted).

I find myself wondering, however, if you ever read your former boss and mentor's book "Man of the House," in which Tip O’Neillwrites:

I was never one of those people who had doubts or suspicions about the Warren Commission’s report on the President’s death. But five years after Jack died, I was having dinner with Kenny O’Donnell and a few other people at Jimmy’s Harborside Restaurant in Boston, and we got to talking about the assassination. I was surprised to hear O’Donnell say that he was sure he had heard two shots that came from behind the fence. "That’s not what you told the Warren Commission," I said. "You’re right," he replied. "I told the FBI what I had heard but they said it couldn’t have happened that way and that I must have been imagining things. So I testified the way they wanted me to. I just didn’t want to stir up any more pain and trouble for the family." "I can’t believe it," I said. "I wouldn’t have done that in a million years. I would have told the truth." "Tip, you have to understand. The family—everybody wanted this thing behind them." Dave Powers was with us at dinner that night, and his recollection of the shots was the same as O’Donnell’s.

So I guess O'Donnell and Powers can be counted among the "crazies," as can Tip O'Neill for passing on what they told him without attempting to refute it."

You are entitled to believe what you want about the Kennedy assassination, but branding people who believe something else based upon eyewitness testimony and scientific evidence as "crazies" says a lot more about you than it says about them.

Jerry Policoff

The Big Year - the Book & the now Movie

The Big Year, a book about birders, has been made into a movie.

http://www.markobmascik.com/the-big-year

Every year on January 1, a handful of people abandon their day-to-day lives to join one of the world’s quirkiest sporting contests. With few rules and no referees, there is one goal: to see and identify the most species of birds in a single year. The few who commit to the full year – known to its participants as a Big Year – will spend a grueling, exhaustive year traveling hundreds of thousands of miles and spending thousands of dollars. In a good year, the contest offers passion and deceit, fear and courage, a fundamental craving to see and conquer mixed with an unstoppable yearning for victory. In a bad year, it drains savings accounts and leaves people raw.

In THE BIG YEAR: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession (Free Press; publication date: February 4, 2004; $25.00), prize-winning journalist Mark Obmascik chronicles the 1998 North American Big Year, the greatest – or perhaps the worst – birding competition of all time. With engaging humor and a sharp wit, Obmascik captures the enthusiasm of the birders themselves, taking readers on a rollicking 275,000-mile odyssey, as each of the three main competitors fight for the title of champion.

The three contestants were perhaps the unlikeliest set of competitors ever to meet. A wise-cracking industrial contractor from New Jersey, a newly-retired executive vice-president of a multi-million dollar company from Aspen, and a painfully divorced software engineer who continued to work full time at a nuclear power plant in Maryland while pursuing his Big Year; they were all passionate about birds.

As they traveled on the grueling, 365-day potholed road to glory, they faced broiling deserts, roiling oceans, bug-infested swamps, rising debt, and a disgruntled mountain lion. From the island of Attu in Alaska to the Florida Keys, from the deserts of Arizona to the Pacific Ocean off the coast of northern California, they crossed time zones and, occasionally, paths on their quests to see once-in-a-lifetime rarities that could mean the difference between winner and second place. Perhaps the most intense birding competition ever, by December 31, one of the contenders had set a record so gigantic – identifying an extraordinary 745 different species by official year-end count – it is unlikely ever to be bested.

Mark Obmascik is the bestselling author of Halfway to Heaven: My White-knuckled — and Knuckleheaded — Quest for the Rocky Mountain High, winner of the 2009 National Outdoor Book Award for Outdoor Literature, and The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession, which received five Best of 2004 citations by major media. The Big Year movie, starring Jack Black, Steve Martin and Owen Wilson, is being released in October 2011 by 20th Century Fox. Obmascik was lead writer for the Denver Post team that won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize, and winner of the 2003 National Press Club award for environmental journalism. He lives in Denver with his wife, Merrill Schwerin, and their three sons, Cass, Max, and Wesley.

Fat, forty-four, father of three sons, and facing a vasectomy, Mark Obmascik would never have guessed that his next move would be up a 14,000-foot mountain. But when his twelve-year-old son gets bitten by the climbing bug at summer camp, Obmascik can’t resist the opportunity for some high-altitude father-son bonding by hiking a peak together. After their first joint climb, addled by thin air, Obmascik decides to keep his head in the cloud and try scaling all 54 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot mountains, known as the Fourteeners – and to finish them in less than one year.
The result is Halfway to Heaven, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Obmascik’s rollicking, witty, sometimes harrowing, often poignant chronicle of an outrageous midlife adventure that is now walk in the park, although sometimes it’s A Walk in the Woods – but with more sweat and less oxygen. Half a million people try climbing a Colorado Fourteener every year, but only 1,200 have reported summiting them all. Can an overweight, stay-at-home dad become No. 1,201?

With his ebullient personality and sparkling prose, Obmascik brings us inside the quirky, colorful subculture of mountaineering obsessives who summit these mountains year after year. Honoring his concerned wife’s orders not to climb alone, Obmascik drags old friends up the slopes, some of them lifelong flatlanders tasting thin air for the first time, and lures seasoned Rockies junkies into taking on a huffing, puffing newbie by bribing them with free beer, lunches, and car washes. Among the new friends he makes are an ex-drag racer trying to perform a headstand on every summit, the lead oboe player in a Hebrew salsa band, and a climber with the counterproductive pre-climb ritual of gulping down four beers and a burrito.

Though danger is always present – the Colorado Fourteeners have killed as many climbers as Mount Everest – Mark knows his aging scalp can’t afford the hair-raising adventures of Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air, and his quest becomes a story of family, friendship, and fraternity. In Obmascik’s summer of climbing, he loses fifteen pounds, finds a few dozen man-dates, and gains respect for the history of these storied mountains (home to cannibalism, gold rushes, shoot-outs, and one of the nation’s most famed religious shrines.) As much about midlife and male bonding as it is about mountains, Halfway to Heaven tells how weekend warriors can survive them all as they reach for those most distant things – the summit of mountains and a teenage son. And as one man exceeds the physical achievements of his youth, he discovers that age – like summit height – is just a number.

The author

Wexler and Hancock write "Awful Grace" on MLK Assassination

On SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2011 at his Justice for JFK blog
http://justiceforkennedy.blogspot.com/2011/10/stuart-wexler-and-mlk-assassination.html

Joe Backes gave us a head's-up on a new MLK book when he posted:

Stuart Wexler and the MLK assassination

FYI, about Stuart Wexler and the MLK assassination. Stu is working on a book with Larry Hancock which is going to say that yes, James Earl Ray shot Dr. King all on his own because he heard about some scheme the KKK had. The KKK was offering a big sum of money, $100,000, if only someone would kill Dr. King for them. Ray heard this in prison and that's why he broke out, to kill King, and to collect the bounty. The book was previously going to be called "Seeking Armageddon: The Effort to Kill Martin Luther King Jr." Now it's got a new title "The Awful Grace of God: Racial Terrorism and the Unsolved Murder of Martin Luther King Jr."

It should be called, "Aw For Fuck's Sake: Two Buffoons Promote a Lone Nut Story That Even Posner Wouldn't Peddle."

POSTED BY JOSEPH BACKES

Don't believe me? Check these out:

"Could James Earl Ray, who pleaded guilty to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., have made contact with the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi? Stuart Wexler and Larry Hancock, co-authors of the upcoming book, Seeking Armageddon: The Effort to Kill Martin Luther King Jr, are investigating that possibility."

"Stuart Wexler and Larry Hancock, authors of an upcoming book, "Seeking Armageddon: The Effort to Kill Martin Luther King Jr.," are exploring evidence that members of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi were involved. FBI records show fingerprints found after King’s killing were checked against thousands of people, but Wexler said he has yet to find documents that show the FBI checked to see if these fingerprints matched any members of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi, which reportedly had a $100,000 bounty on King."

"Stuart Wexler and Larry Hancock, authors of an upcoming book, Seeking Armageddon: The Effort to Kill Martin Luther King Jr., are exploring evidence related to the White Knights".


Larry Hancock responds: “We really won't be able to say anything further until the book is out, other than it is a conspiracy book, not a lone nut book and is based in a series of facts that simply have not been explored before. Arguing its content with anyone who has not reviewed those facts and our analysis would be fruitless. It is a bit upsetting to face what Oliver Stone faced (even in a minor way) which is a total condemnation of your work before its even out, but appaently when you are seen to or even suspected of "breaking rank" in any fashion that's the way it goes.”

In a joint statement in response to Joe Backe’s blog notce Larry and Stu say:

“It is always interesting to find people who tell you what your book is about before they read it. Judging by the number of factual errors, and errors of nuance, in the above posting, I think Joe is someone who has made up his mind, facts be damned. It would be nice if Joe were to bother to write us and ask us-- he does know how to contact both of us-- before he wrote this. He would have realized the following: (1) We don't commit to Ray as a shooter (2) We don't say Ray broke out of prison to pursue a King bounty (3) We don't say Ray was a lone nut.”

“Kind of kills the entire essence of his post. Do we favor Joe's pet theory, informed perhaps by the uncritical acceptance of work done by people who support his preconceived political agenda? I guess we will have to wait for the book to come out. What we will say is that anyone who bases their view of the King assassination on the reliability of James Earl Ray is displaying the same degree of critical skepticism as those who believe David Phillips testimony before the HSCA. We will be more than happy to engage in a serious debate once the actual book is out.” -Stuart Wexler and Larry Hancock

The Awful Grace of God; Racial Terrorism and the Unsolved Murder of Martin Luther King Jr.by: Stuart Wexler and Larry Hancock

ISBN: 9781582438306 | 1582438307
Format: Trade Book
Publisher: Counterpoint
Pub. Date: 4/10/2012

Summary

Awful Grace chronicles a multi-year effort to kill Martin Luther King Jr. by a group of the nation’s most violent right-wing extremists. Impeccably researched and thoroughly documented, this examines figures like Sam Bowers, head of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of Mississippi, responsible for more than three hundred separate acts of violence in Mississippi alone; J.B. Stoner, who ran an organization that the California attorney general said was more active and dangerous than any other ultra-right organization; and Reverend Wesley Swift, a religious demagogue who inspired two generations of violent extremists. United in a holy cause to kill King, this network of racist militants were the likely culprits behind James Earl Ray and King’s assassination in Memphis on April 4th, 1968. King would be their ultimate prize a symbolic figure whose assassination could foment an apocalypse that would usher in their Kingdom of God, a racially “pure” white world. Hancock and Wexler have sifted through thousands of pages of declassified and never-before-released law enforcement files on the King murder, conducted dozens of interviews with figures of the period, and re-examined information from several recent cold case investigations. Their study reveals a terrorist network never before described in contemporary history. They have unearthed data that was unavailable to congressional investigators and used new data-mining techniques to extend the investigation begun by the House Select Committee on Assassinations. Awful Grace offers the most comprehensive and up-to-date study of the King assassination and presents a roadmap for future investigation.

T. Carter of COPA has also come out with a new book about the MLK assassination, published by Trinday, who had previously considered Larry and Stu's book, but they couldn't publish competing books. I will review T. Carter's book as soon as I read it.

Since Larry Hancock is one of the main organizers of the annual JFK Lancer Conference in Dallas, which competes with the annual regional COPA conference, there is bad blood between these two organizations. Nevertheless, these two books should present new and valuable information about the assassination of MLK and such petty bickering should not prevent each of them from being read and given a proper hearing and honest review.

Larry Hancock has earned his stripes in researching and writing Someone Would Have Talked (JFKLancer, 2010), one of the best and most important books on the assassination of President Kennedy, which has been updated and will be re-released again this year.

Foreign Burial of American War Dead

The Foreign Burial of American War Dead – A History by Chris Dickon (McFarland, 2011) [http://theforeignburialofamericanwardead.com/]

As Chris Dickon so vividly demonstrates in his new book The Foreign Burial of American War Dead – A History, it wasn’t always the policy of the US government and military to not leave anyone behind, to account for all combat casualties and provide an honorable burial for those who have given their lives for their country

Rather it is a tradition that was only slowly and painfully realized and a policy that must be continually explained to each new generation so those who sacrificed their lives for the benefit of the living are not forgotten

This long neglected subject caught the interest of Chris Dickon and he has done a masterful job of researching the facts and presenting them in an interesting and readable way. Well documented with extensive footnotes, a reliable index, appendix and many photos, Dickon’s book will certainly be the primary reference work on this subject for many years to come.

While this book chronicles the changes in attitudes about the care for the graves of those killed in combat, it is also timely and pertinent in regards to the graves of the first known combat casualties abroad – the remains of the 13 officers and men of the USS Intrepid who were buried in Tripoli in 1804 and remain there today.

As Dickon explains in his recent OpEd article Bring U.S. naval hero home to America [http://hamptonroads.com/2011/09/bring-us-naval-hero-home-america], “The right of return for American war dead wasn't fully implemented until after the Civil War, and it excluded those who had died in earlier years. Until that time, there had been just two apparent official attempts to bring home military members buried abroad.”

That would be John Paul Jones, who Teddy Roosevelt had repatriated from his grave in Paris and reburied at Annapolis, and Richard Somers and the men of the Intrepid, who still remain buried in Tripoli today, five in marked graves at a walled cemetery and eight buried under a Martyr’s Square outside the walls of the old castle fort.

From the Shores of Tripoli to the Halls of Montezuma, Flanders Field and Normandy, Dickon’s book chronicles the fascinating story of the burial of American war dead, and describes how the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) owns and oversees the maintenance of the foreign cemeteries, though not the graves in Tripoli.

As Dickon returns to the status of the situation in Tripoli at various times in the chronology, it is a recurring theme that brings the history into the realm of current events that are still happening in revolutionary Libya.

As explained in the first of a number of fact-filled Appendix on various sites around the world, he notes the names of the three officers buried in Tripoli – Richard Somers, Henry Wadsworth [Longfellow’s uncle] and Joseph Israel, and names the ten seamen and their ships. He explains: “It is believed that ten seamen were buried on the beach, and three officers buried together on land above the beach. Known and possible reburials since 1804 have resulted in five unnamed Intrepid crew being [re]buried in a Protestant cemetery near the beach and the belief that five crewmen are buried at one location under Green Park [now Martyr’s Square]. Richard Somers and two other officers are believed to be buried in another location beneath [the Square], approximately 500 feet from the west gate of the Old Castle Fort.”

While Dickon’s subject is brought up on Veteran’s and Memorial Day every year, when flags are placed on the graves and those veterans who have died are remembered, their sacrifices are also recalled whenever our traditions and values are threatened, or when taken for granted.

As expressed in Archibald MacLeish’s poem “The Young Dead Soldiers Do Not Speak,” – “They have a silence that speaks for them at night,...They say: We were young. We have died. Remember us…We have done what we could, but until it is finished it is not done…Our deaths are not ours, they are yours, they will mean what you make of them…Whether our lives and our deaths were for peace and a new hope or for nothing we cannot say, it is you who must say this. We leave you our deaths. Give them some meaning. We were young, they say. We have died; remember us.”

It is up to us to speak, and as Dickon concludes, this fascinating story must be taken to the children, so the living remembers the dead and what they died for.

[William Kelly is the author of “300 Years at the Point – A History of Somers Point, NJ” and “Birth of the Birdie,” a history of golf. He can be reached at billkelly3@gmail.com]

David Talbot's Pulp History - Devil Dog - The Amazing True Story of the Man Who Saved America

Pulp History

Devil Dog – The Amazing True Story of the Man Who Saved America (Simon & Schuster, 2011) by David Talbot, Illustrated by Spain Rodriguez and Shadow Nights

After founding Salon.com, one of the first successful and influential internet magazines, David Talbot has started what may become a new literary genre – Pulp History – which combines classic comics and the novelized pulp paperback adventure story with real biography and history, thus opening up a whole new world of opportunities for bringing fresh topics to a new audience.

Best known for his critically acclaimed Brothers – The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years (Free Press, Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2007), Talbot and his sister Margaret thought of the Pulp History idea as “a way to bring untold history stories to life, working with comics artists and illustrators and designers to fully exploit the lush possibilities of the printed pages.” They then convinced the Simon & Schuster publishers of its validity and potential.

It’s hard to say whether the audience for Pulp History will be young people who are just waiting to be inspired by such works, or older adults who were themselves inspired by comics and paperback adventures and who find these books almost nostalgic.

For starters, Talbot tells the story of US Marine Corps General Smedley Butler, who fought his way through China’s Imperial City, the Panama Canal and the trenches of World War I in establishing a reputation for bravery and integrity that was admired by all Americans, especially veterans.

In the course of his fighting wars, Butler came to understand the financial and industrial forces that instigate and fuel most wars, and eventually came to conclude that “war is a racket.”

“As a youngster, I loved the excitement of battle,” Butler said. “It’s a lot of fun, you know, and it’s nice to strut around in front of your wife, or someone else’s wife – and display your medals and your uniform. But there’s another side to it.” As Talbot notes, because of this other side, “he devoted the rest of his life to stopping war – and to exposing those who grew as fat as ticks off the endless blood.”

So in the early 1930s, during the course of the Great Depression, when a group of men decided President Franklin Roosevelt’s economic reforms were too radical and leading America towards socialism, they decided to stage a coup. They thought they could strip the power of the presidency from Roosevelt if an army of veterans would march on Washington and call for the resignation of the president, setting the stage for a coup.

First they went to Douglas MacArthur, who would later have his own run-ins with Presidents, but he declined to lead the charge, and instead suggested Smedley Butler.

When the men in suits visited Butler and made the pitch, Butler was certainly disenchanted with the state of affairs, but he was more suspicious of the men who were plotting against the president and played along in order to learn who was behind this conspiracy. Eventually he learned their identities, but instead of leading the veteran’s march on Washington, Butler instead testified before a Congressional committee and told them everything he knew.

Rather than investigate the sensational charges however, the committee didn’t do anything, and the mainstream media of the day, especially Time Magazine, the Washington Post and New York Times ridiculed Butler as a paranoid conspiracy theorists. Independent reporters however, confirmed much of what Butler had to say, including the identities of those bankers and industrialists he mentioned, as well as their plans, which Roosevelt took security measures against.

Few people today have ever heard of Smedley Butler, but David Talbot hopes to change that with his first Pulp History book Devil Dog -“the amazing true story of the man who saved America.”

In order to help establish more than a new genre, but a series of books, they published a second volume in the same vein - Shadow Knights – The Secret War Against Hitler by Gary Kamiya, with illustrations by Jeffrey Smith. Kamiya was Talbot’s partner in creating Salon, and Jeffrey Smith’s illustrations are a bit more realistic than those by Rodriguez in Devil Dog, though they both do the job of graphically portraying the riveting action of the text.

Shadow Knights concerns the secret and daring World War II exploits of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) – the Baker Street Irregulars, who were ordered to engage in covert operations behind the enemy lines and commit sabotage against the Nazis in Europe before D-Day.

While Devil Dog is a colorful, biographical portrait of one man – Smedley Butler, Shadow Knights scans the exploits of a number of interesting characters, including Colin McVeigh Gubbins, Jens Poulsson, Gus March-Phillips, Harry Ree, as well as vivacious women like Pearl Witherington, Christine Granville and Noor Inayat Khan, some of whom were caught, tortured and died in Nazi concentration camps.

There still might be a place for dry, academic history and biographies, but Pulp History is here, and whether its audience is old comic book patrons or a new, young audience ready to be inspired, there are certainly a lot of historical that could lend themselves to the pulp history treatment.

characters and topics

http://www.salon.com/books/excerpt/2010/10/05/devil_dog_slide_show

[William Kelly is the author of 300 Years at the Point and Birth of the Birdie – a history of golf. He can be reached at billkelly3@gmail.com ]

David Talbot

The Eleventh Day by Tony Summers and Robbyn Swan

If a clear and concise report on any subject, however complicated, is needed, I would trust Tony and Robbyn Summers to research, analyze, write a report that I would believe to be as complete and accurate as any that could be produced.

They are pretty much the most thoughtful and meticulous researchers and writers I know. When that topic is bin Laden and 9/11, then what they have to say is truly important as I know they will focus on the important issues, determine what happened as best they can, answer what questions they can and point to those issues that remain outstanding.

Of course there are going to be those who claim that no planes hit the WTC or Pentagon, that it wasn’t terrorists who hijacked those planes but they were remotely controlled by the White House, an inside job to bring about wars, a national security state and decades of repression.

And all those who disagree with this perspective are government minions and disinformation agents, like me, Tony and Robbyn Summers and other reasonable people who actually have studied the events of 9/11 in more than just an offhand manner.

Perhaps there is a forum where this book can be rationally discussed by those who get to sit down and read it, but I can see the storm a comin’, and those who know that 9/11 was perpetrated by the Bush White House, MI6 and the Jews will make sure it doesn’t get a fair hearing, as they already know what really happened.

But it is getting a fair hearing in other, more reasonable quarters.

BK

Tony and Robbyn Summers' new book - The Eleventh Day - The Full Story of 9/11 and Osama bin Laden will be out on July 19, and excerpted in the August issue of Vanity Fair.

Synopsis

September 11 2001 is a date no-one can forget. On that day, the largest terrorist attack the world had ever seen sent two passenger aircraft crashing into New York's famous twin towers, a third into the Pentagon, and a fourth, believed to be headed for the White House, crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. Three thousand people lost their lives that day. And the world changed forever. The consequences of those attacks have shaped the first years of the twenty-first century. The world is a less safe place because of them. War in Afghanistan and Iraq followed. Thousands more have now died. But what exactly happened on that day ten years ago? Reports have been written and dismissed. Conspiracy theories abound. This book has been four years in the writing. Leading investigative writer, Anthony Summers has pored through thousands of documents, hundreds of hours of interviews, and examined all possible testimony and evidence to produce this definitive history of what really happened on that tragic day.

Writing with access to thousands of recently released official documents, fresh interviews, and the perspective that can come only from a decade of research and reflection, Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan deliver the first panoramic, authoritative look back at 9/11.For most living Americans, September 11, 2001, is the darkest date in the nation's history. What exactly happened? Could it have been prevented? How and why did so much acrimony and bad information arise from the ashes of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a quiet field in Pennsylvania? And what remains unresolved? What is certain: Discord and dissent continue to this day.

Beginning with the first brutal actions of the hijackers aboard American Airlines Flight 11, The Eleventh Day tracks the precise sequence of events and introduces the players: pilots, terrorists, the airliners' passengers, and the innocents who died on the ground. Drawing on previously classified records and raw transcripts, Summers and Swan investigate the response of President Bush and the U.S. military that day, and the failure to intercept the hijacked airliners. They document the untruths told afterward by U.S. officials and, as a counterpoint, thoroughly consider the contentions of the "9/11 truth" movement. With meticulous research, they examine the personalities of the men behind the onslaught, analyze the motives that drove them, and expose the U.S. intelligence blunders that preceded the attacks. They note how afterward—without good evidence—the Bush administration persisted in trying to link 9/11 to Iraq. And they confront, finally, the question the 9/11 Commission's report blurred: Were the terrorists backed by powerful figures in another foreign nation—one the U.S. had long viewed as a friend?

Riveting, revelatory, and unforgettable, thoroughly sourced and complete with extensive endnotes, The Eleventh Day is the essential one-volume work on a pivotal event in our history.

September 11, 2001 is the darkest date in the memory of most people alive in the West today. The day ten years on when Osama bin Laden was killed was one of jublilation in the United States, yet uncertainty about what may come in the future.

What exactly happened on 9/11? Could it have been prevented? How and why did so much acrimony and bad information arise from the ashes of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a quiet field in Pennsylvania? And what remains unresolved?

Beginning with the first brutal actions of the hijackers aboard American Airlines Flight 11, The Eleventh Day tracks the precise sequence of events and follows the players: pilots, terrorists, the airliners' passengers, and the innocents who died on the gound. Drawing on previously unreleased records and raw transcripts, Anthony Summers and his co-author Robbyn Swan investigate the response of President Bush and the U.S. military that day, and the failure to intercept the hijacked airliners. They document the untruths told afterward by U.S. officials and, by counterpoint, thoroughly consider the contentions of the "9/11 Truth" movement. They analyze the motives that drove the men behind the onslaught, and expose the U.S. intelligence blunders that preceded the attacks. They note how afterward - without good evidence - the Bush administration persisted in trying to link 9/11 to Iraq. And they confront, finally, the questions the 9/11 Commission's report blurred: Were the terrorists backed by powerful figures in other foreign nations - including some that have long been treated as friends?

Riveting, revelatory, and unforgettable, thoroughly sourced and complete with extensive endnotes, The Eleventh Day is the essential one-volume work on a pivotal episode in our history.

Anthony Summers - Home

Best selling biographer and journalist Anthony Summers has covered the pivotal stories of the past hundred years, and in many cases forced a rethink.

He has reported on the conflict in the Middle East; the Vietnam War; the Kennedy and Martin Luther King assassinations; Watergate; the rise and fall of the American Mafia; the Hiss and Profumo espionage cases. He has explored the lives and deaths of the powerful and the famous: from Tsar Nicholas II to Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, J. Edgar Hoover and Richard Nixon. Now in 2011 he brings the sharpest focus yet to a full account of 9/11, the events that led up to it, and the troubling questions that remain.

Posted on Wed, Sep. 07, 2011
Link to 9/11 hijackers found in Sarasota
By Anthony Summers and Dan Christensen
Special to The Miami Herald

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/09/07/v-print/2395698/link-to-911-hijackers-found-in.html

Just two weeks before the 9/11 hijackers slammed into the Pentagon and World Trade Center, members of a Saudi family abruptly vacated their luxury home near Sarasota, leaving a brand new car in the driveway, a refrigerator full of food, fruit on the counter — and an open safe in a master bedroom.

In the weeks to follow, law enforcement agents not only discovered the home was visited by vehicles used by the hijackers, but phone calls were linked between the home and those who carried out the death flights — including leader Mohamed Atta — in discoveries never before revealed to the public.

Ten years after the deadliest attack of terrorism on U.S. soil, new information has emerged that shows the FBI found troubling ties between the hijackers and residents in the upscale community in southwest Florida, but the investigation wasn’t reported to Congress or mentioned in the 9/11 Commission Report.

Former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, the Florida Democrat who co-chaired the congressional Joint Inquiry into the attacks, said he should have been told about the findings, saying it “opens the door to a new chapter of investigation as to the depth of the Saudi role in 9/11. ... No information relative to the named people in Sarasota was disclosed.”

The U.S. Justice Department, the lead agency that investigated the attacks, refused to comment, saying it will discuss only information already released.

The Saudi residents then living at the stylish home, Abdulazzi al-Hiijjii and his wife Anoud, could not be reached, nor could the then-owner of the house, Esam Ghazzawi, who is Anoud’s father. The house was sold in 2003, records show.

For Graham, the connections between the hijackers and residents raise questions about whether other Saudi nationals in Florida knew of the impending attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people.
The FBI investigation began the month after 9/11 when Larry Berberich, senior administrator and security officer of the gated community known as Prestancia, reported a bizarre event that took place two weeks before the hijackings of four passenger jets that originated in Boston, Newark and Washington.

The couple, living with their small children at the three-bedroom home at 4224 Escondito Circle, had left in a hurry in a white van, probably on Aug. 30.

They abandoned three recently registered vehicles, including a brand-new Chrysler PT Cruiser, in the garage and driveway.

After 9/11, Berberich said he had “a gut feeling” the people at the home may have had something to do with the attacks, prompting the FBI’s probe that would eventually link the hijackers to the house.

As an advisor to the Sarasota County sheriff — Berberich was with the group that received President Bush during his aborted visit to a Sarasota school on the morning of 9/11 — he alerted sheriff’s deputies. Patrick Gallagher, one of the Saudis’ neighbors, had become suspicious even earlier, and had fired off an email to the FBI on the day of the attacks.

Gallagher said law enforcement officers arrived and began an investigation, with agents swarming “all over the place, in their blue jackets,” he recalled.

Jone Weist, president of the group that managed Prestancia, confirmed the arrival of the FBI, which requested copies of the Saudis’ financial transactions involving the house.

Berberich and a senior counterterrorism agent said they were able to get into the abandoned house, ultimately finding “there was mail on the table, dirty diapers in one of the bathrooms … all the toiletries still in place … all their clothes hanging in the closet … opulent furniture, equal or greater in value than the house … the pool running, with toys in it.”

“The beds were made … fruit on the counter … the refrigerator full of food. … It was like they went grocery shopping. Like they went out to a movie ... [But] the safe was open in the master bedroom, with nothing in it, not a paper clip. ... A computer was still there. A computer plug in another room, and the line still there. Looked like they’d taken [another] computer and left the cord.”

The counterterrorism officer, who requested his name not be disclosed, said agents went on to make troubling discoveries: Phone records and the Prestancia gate records linked the house on Escondito Circle to the hijackers.

In addition, three of the four future hijackers had lived in Venice — just 10 miles from the house — for much of the year before 9/11. Atta, the leader, and his companion Marwan al-Shehhi, had been learning to fly small airplanes at Huffman Aviation, a flight school on the edge of the runway at Venice Municipal Airport.

A block away, at Florida Flight Training, accomplice Ziad Jarrah was also taking flying lessons. All three obtained their pilot licenses and afterwards, in the months that led to 9/11, spent much of their time traveling the state, including stints in Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale and Delray Beach, among other areas.

The counterterrorism agent said records of incoming and outgoing calls made at the Escondito house were obtained from the phone company under subpoena.

Agents were able to conduct a link analysis, a system of tracking calls based on dates, times and length of conversations — finding the Escondito calls dating back more than a year, “lined up with the known suspects.”

The links were not only to Atta and his hijack pilots, the agent said, but to 11 other terrorist suspects, including Walid al-Shehhri, one of the men who flew with Atta on the first plane to strike the World Trade Center.

Another was Adnan Shukrijumah, a former Miramar resident identified as having been with Atta in the spring of 2001. Shukrijumah is still at large and is on the FBI’s Most Wanted list.

But it was the gate records at the Prestancia development that produced the most telltale information.

People who arrived by car had to give their names and the address they were visiting. Gate staff would sometimes ask to see a driver’s license and note the name, Berberich said. License plates were photographed.

Atta is known to have used variations of his name, but the license plate of the car he owned was on record.

The vehicle and name information on Atta and Jarrah fit that of drivers entering Prestancia on their way to visit the home at 4224 Escondito Circle, said Berberich and the counterterrorism officer.

Sarasota County property records identify the owners of the house at the time as Ghazzawi and his American-born wife Deborah, both with a post office box in al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, and the capital, Riyadh.

Ghazzawi was described as a middle-aged financier and interior designer, the owner of many properties, including several in the United States, said the counterterrorism agent.

While Ghazzawi visited the house, the people living there were his daughter Anoud and her husband al-Hiijjii, who appeared to be in his 30s and once identified himself as a college student, said Berberich, who met the son-in-law.

The couple’s sudden departure two weeks before 9/11 was tracked in detail by the FBI after the attacks, the agent said.

First, they traveled to a Ghazzawi property in Arlington, Va., then — with Esam Ghazzawi — via Dulles airport and London’s Heathrow, to Riyadh.

The counterterrorism agent said Ghazzawi and al-Hiijjii had been on a watch list at the FBI and that a U.S. agency tracking terrorist funds was interested in both men even before 9/11.

“464 was Ghazzawi’s number,” the officer said. “I don’t remember the other man’s number.”

About a year after the family abandoned the home, the FBI made an attempt to lure the owner back.
Scott McKay, a Sarasota lawyer for the Prestancia homeowners’ association in its claim for unpaid dues, said the FBI tried to get him to bring the Saudis back for the transaction.

McKay said he tried to get the Ghazzawis to sign the necessary documents in person, but the ploy failed because the documents could legally be signed elsewhere using a notary. Records show Ghazzawi’s signature was notarized by the vice consul of the U.S. embassy in Lebanon in September 2003. Deborah Ghazzawi’s signature was notarized in Riverside County, Calif.

During an interview on Sunday, Graham said he was surprised he wasn’t told about the probe when he was co-chair of Congress’ Joint Inquiry into 9/11 — even though he was especially alert to terrorist information relating to Florida.

“At the beginning of the investigation,” he said, “each of the intelligence agencies, including the FBI, was asked to provide all information that agency possessed in relation to 9/11.”

The fact that the FBI did not tell the Inquiry about the Florida discoveries, Graham says, is similar to the agency’s failure to provide information linking members of the 9/11 terrorist team to other Saudis in California until congressional investigators discovered it themselves.

The Inquiry did nevertheless accumulate a “very large” file on the hijackers in the United States, and later turned it over to the 9/11 Commission. “They did very little with it,” Graham said, “and their reference to Saudi Arabia is almost cryptic sometimes. … I never got a good answer as to why they did not pursue that.”

The final 28-page section of the Inquiry’s report, which deals with “sources of foreign support for some of the Sept. 11 hijackers,” was entirely blanked out. It was kept secret from the public on the orders of former President George W. Bush and is still withheld to this day, Graham said.
This in spite of the fact that Graham and his Republican counterpart, U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, both concluded the release of the pages would not endanger national security.

The grounds for suppressing the material, Graham believes, were “protection of the Saudis from embarrassment, protection of the administration from political embarrassment … some of the unknowns, some of the secrets of 9/11.”

Anthony Summers is co-author of The Eleventh Day: The Full Story of 9/11 & Osama bin Laden. Dan Christensen is the editor of the Broward Bulldog, a not-for-profit online only newspaper created to provide local reporting in the public interest. www.BrowardBulldog.org