Newspapers rarely print extra editions unless something of monumental importance has happened after the p
aper has already been circulated. Unfortunately, the events of Nov. 22
, 1963, met the criteria. The first editions of the Beacon Journal had already been distributed when the news of the shooting of President John F. Kennedy came in. Compositor Cecil Santoferraro was called upon to remake Page One for the extra. He retired from composing in 1983 after 42 years of service‘Extra’ signals end of era
Compositor records assassination
It was right around lunch time when word came over the wire that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas. We didn't know he was dead at that time, just that he'd been shot and it was bad.
We were an afternoon paper then and were printing about seven or so editions. The early ones had already gone out to the outlying areas and we were just finishing the preparation of the final edition when we got the news.
Ben Maidenburg, who was the managing editor, decided that the shotting warranted an extra. So we scrapped the last editions and set about redoing Page One.
Red Rowan, who was the Page One makeup man at that time, wasn't around for some reason. He may have been at lunch or something, but he wasn't there when Maidenburg came to composing to see to the extra.
So I stepped in. I would do Page One when Red wasn't in, so I had done it before, but not with the editor watching every move.
I was engrossed in making up the page when Red returned. Even though it was really his privilege, since we had already started, he just stayed back.
We weren't too affected by what happened right then, because we were so involved with getting our jobs done. We didn't have time to think or worry about it.
You've got to be a certain breed of guy to set hot type. You just can't get nervous, even when the president is killed and the editor is hanging over your shoulder. You just get into a groove.
We got that extra to the presses immediately. As soon as the story was set on the linotypes, we had it out in a half-hour or so. It was then we had time to think about what happened.
William "Red" Rowan retired from composing in 1972 and died in 1991.
I was at the Dayton Daily News, also an afternoon paper, when the AP teletype started going crazy with bells ringing and ringing. So many people crowded around the teletype that Editor Jim Fain ordered everyone out of the wire room except the one guy responsible for tearing off the story and bringing it to the main copy desk. The Dayton paper also came out with an extra.
ReplyDeleteThe rest of us stood near the perimeter of the copy desk and tried to soak in this momentous event.
I was getting ready to start the night final and looking for a play story.
ReplyDeleteruss mclean, a mild-mannered fellow was watching the wire. the bells went off in the wire room, but with all the other noise in the place (we were one big open, happy family at that time) so when they sounded it just more background noise.
Unflapped Russ handed me a small piece of wire copy he had just torn off a machine.
"maybe you can use this," he said.
It was a bulletin saying the President had been shot.
Before I could move to inform others, somebody (I think it was chief artist Joe Grace came running out of the next room hollering about the shooting he had just heard about it on the radio.
And the race was on.
News editor Ed Shcenloeb took over, the copy was handed to veteran copyeditor Bob Ryan who handled it in takes, shooting it to the slotman who put it into the tube leading to the composing room.
folks gathering around bob trying to look over his shoulder. that included Ben Maidenburg.
Bob got a big aggitated and finally hollered for the folks to step back and let him do his job.