Sometime in the early sixties my father took me to see Pete Seeger at the local High School. It was my first concert, and the first time I’d seen a banjo. What I remember most of that night is my father’s loud baritone as he sang along with Pete, “Oh you can’t scare me, I’m…
FIFTY YEAR AGO TODAY
by John Manchester Most Fridays in the fall of 1963 my father was working at American Education Publications, publishers of “My Weekly Reader.” I was in my eighth grade class. But that Friday, November 22nd, my father picked me up early from school in his green Austin-Healey Sprite. My father loved that car. He’d grin…
Stephen King and My Dad (Part 2)
In researching his alternate history of JFK’s assassination, 11/22/63, Stephen King did his homework – reading “a stack of books and articles on the subject almost as tall as I am.” In researching his non-fiction work on the same subject, Death of a President, my father conducted over 1000 interviews, many made possible by Jackie…
Stephen King and my dad (Part 1)
I was reading Stephen King’s latest – 11/2/63, an alternate history of JFK’s assassination – when I ran into my father. I was using the Kindle app on my iPad, so I can’t say which page it was on, only that it was location 1071, 8% through the book. My father would have been horrified…
Three Christmas Readings
EDITOR’S PICK DECEMBER 17, 2010 7:51AM RATE: 37 Flag It’s coming on Christmas They’re cutting down trees They’re putting up reindeer And singing songs of joy and peace Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on -Joni Mitchell My father loved Christmas. From the time I was very small in the days after…
My Dad and Elgar
“There are places I remember…All my life, though some have changed Some forever not for better, Some have gone and some remain All those places have their moments with lovers and friends I still can recall Some are dead and some are living In my life I’ve loved them all ….” J. Lennon. Thirty years…
Why We Built May Father’s Coffin
Part II –Why We Built my Father’s Coffin Posted by John Manchester on June 3, 2010 at 2:30pm View Blog RATE: 11 Flag This is an excerpt from my memoir: In his last years my father told me, “When I die I want you children to build my coffin.” He’d gotten the idea sometime in the seventies,…
It’s the Sixth Anniversary of my Father’s Death
EDITOR’S PICK JUNE 1, 2010 7:06AM RATE: 19 Flag Part 1: The Reason I’m Here on Open Salon My father with JFK looking over his shoulder, 1964 (Image rights reserved John Manchester) A month ago I started merrily blogging away here and never properly introduced myself. I’m the son of the writer William Manchester. He became well-known when he…
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