Come On Down

Another adult who had influence over what I was seeing and reading as a teenager in the 1960s has now passed away.

James Bellows, 86, a newspaper editor who shaped the design of three major metropolitan dailies, and most memorably for me, The Hearld Tribune, passed away on March 6th. He was credited with starting a new Sunday supplement, New York, a separate magazine now that has long outlived the paper by several Olympiads.

He brought increased white space to the Trib's pages, and arranged stories across columns. The paper had a totally different look than its rival, The New York Times, while still being a broadsheet. There were comics and an editorial cartoon. A paper that could boast Walter Lippmann, Joseph Alsop, Our Miss Peach and B.C. was clearly my favorite. The sports was also great. The whole layout, front to back, was airy and easy to read. Without being dumb.

And then there were those guys that seemed to appear in the lower left, front page, of the second section. The New Journalism people. I don't remember Breslin, or Wolfe as much as I remember Dick Schaap. He wrote about Mr. Pam, the Kosher butcher who had to contend with the city's blue laws that required delis, etc. to close for a few hours mid-day on Sundays. I remember those closing. To imagine that New York City less than 50 years ago was guided by blue laws would, I think, astound people. Delis, etc. were required to close between noon and three, I think, after already opening up in the morning. This was to observe the Sabbath. However Mr. Pam's Sabbath was Saturday, not Sunday. He seemed to run afoul of the blue laws. Dick wrote about that.

Then there was Candy Mossler. She was on trial in Florida, along with her nephew/boyfriend, for knocking her husband off, somewhat of a very rich and famous guy. It was a trial that attained national attention.

Florida, always known for sunshine, had a tourism spokesman on television at the time, Jim Dooley, who was always seen somewhere near those oranges soaking up the sun. Jim looked tan, even on black and white television. By all measures, he looked good.

Well, Jim was enthusiastic about Florida and had a bit of a pitch, or talk-song it seemed that always ended with Jim waving his arm and telling us to, "Come on down." Neither I ,or any members of my family ever did, but by all accounts many others did.

Well, Candy's trial is getting press, and of course attention from that nascent medium, television news. Her first name correctly implied there were decades of difference in her age and her husband Jacques. She was blonde and a former model. She was every stereotype you can pile on when you hear the name Candy. It all added entertainment value to the news. But, like most trials, it does come to an end, the jury deliberates, and a verdict is announced. The jury acquits Candace and her boyfriend in the murder of her husband.

There are always opinions about jury decisions. Dick Schaap's opinion was that the acquittal meant there was still a killer on the loose. Dick urged them to, "Come on down."

I don't know if this was New Journalism or not. It is however still funny to me. I still miss the Tribune.

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