July 28, 2002
THE TEXAS TOWER SNIPER
SOME MEMORIES WILL NEVER GO AWAY !
I'm sure everyone retains vivid, living images of various events in their lives ... pleasant, not-so-pleasant, in-person, or second-hand
... but nonetheless, live mental pictures of events that just seem to re-appear out of a lifetime of experiences. These "never to be erased" recollections of five or six such
"events" can be sparked by anything from a calendar date to a weather situation, to, well, whatever turns on the light-switch to our "mental bulletin board."
And, so, August 1st, each year, is one of those for me.
Let me say at the top, "NO", I wasn't there. In
person, that is. But I was the anchor of live coverage on Austin radio station KNOW, which at the time, was the top rated station in the city. Our studios were seventeen blocks
south of "The Tower".
It was 1966. A Monday of a new month. Our station had an average size news department for a top-40 station at the time, and I had the 5 a.m. 'till noon
slot -- which I cherished for its "morning drive" status. Big deal for a 21-year-old cub in the radio bidness. But, on that day, it would be the "noon hour" that would go into the
books.
The day started routinely, I suppose. But while I was writing and delivering "News at :55" during the morning hours, some fellow who had
already killed his mother and wife, decided to climb the Texas Tower for target practice. The rest is history -- it made all the papers.
"...SOMEONE'S THROWING FIRECRACKERS ON 'THE STACKS'."
The first "inkling" that something was going on was funny. Funny-ha-ha, that is. Just before the 11:55 news began, I answered a "news
hotline" phone call from a lady working in an office on a lower floor of the Tower, who said that someone was throwing firecrackers on the roof of the library, next door. The
library would later be the Harry Ransom Center on the West Mall, but we called it "the stacks". Firecrackers on the "stacks", with its easily accessible roof, wouldn't be too
unusual... I chuckled that someone probably had a "stash" left over from July Fourth, and I began the five-minute newscast.
During a commercial break, the police monitor squawked a flurry of transmissions, with units heading for the University. I finished the
newscast, the DJ - Mike Lucas - started the next record, and in the next ten seconds, I heard the police radio blurt out: "gunshots... maybe on the Tower...". "GIVE
IT TO ME, NOW, LUCAS !"
With all of the bells and whistles (and computer screens) in today's radio stations, I'm not sure if the following is true (or even
possible), but at that moment in time -- 1966 -- the newsman on duty was "God" with respect to transfer of control of the airwaves on such an occasion. NO QUESTIONS ASKED. Heck, I
was "Alexander Haig", 20-years before "Alexander Haig" !! But in this case, I really was in charge !
What started out as a bulletin about a flurry of activity near the UT Tower, possibly involving "gunshots", with extreme care on my part
to temper inflection and tone so as to guard against panic and sensationalism, turned out to be a marathon broadcast into the evening hours, involving almost everyone at the
station, and even some spouses who staffed the hospitals.
Now, 36 years later, and only six WEEKS after seeing a beautifully orange-draped National Championship tower, another August 1st
approaches, and 1966 is still there on my mental "bulletin board", as it is with many thousands of others. I guess it's just one of those things that will never
go away.
ENOUGH. HAVE A GOOD WEEK, EVERYONE...
...IT'S TIME TO PULL UP SOME GOOD MEMORIES !
O'C
Read Mike Lucas' account of August 1, 1966, at
KNOWReunion.com.
