{"id":17070,"date":"2016-02-01T12:30:27","date_gmt":"2016-02-01T17:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/?p=17070"},"modified":"2016-02-22T10:53:35","modified_gmt":"2016-02-22T15:53:35","slug":"listen-american-chronicles-episode-18-ride-the-falls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/listen-american-chronicles-episode-18-ride-the-falls\/","title":{"rendered":"[LISTEN] American Chronicles Episode 18 &#8211; Ride the Falls"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"sc-type-small\">\n<div>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F244906124&auto_play=true&hide_related=false&visual=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&color=ff5500\"><\/iframe>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>AMERICAN CHRONICLES: RIDE THE FALLS<br \/>\nCopyright: John C. Merino 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_17071\" style=\"width: 272px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/merino-2.jpg?ssl=1\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-17071\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17071\" data-attachment-id=\"17071\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/listen-american-chronicles-episode-18-ride-the-falls\/merino-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/merino-2.jpg?fit=262%2C144&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"262,144\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"merino 2\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;American Falls at Niagara, circa 1969&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/merino-2.jpg?fit=262%2C144&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/merino-2.jpg?fit=262%2C144&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-full wp-image-17071\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/merino-2.jpg?resize=262%2C144&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"American Falls at Niagara, circa 1969\" width=\"262\" height=\"144\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-17071\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>American Falls at Niagara, circa 1969<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/wrfaradio\/american-chronicles-episode-18-ride-the-falls\" target=\"_blank\">MOBILE APP USERS: LISTEN HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There\u2019s been recent talk about \u201cshutting off\u201d Niagara Falls. I was there the first time\u2026\u2026..back in 1969 when the Army Corp of Engineers dammed the Niagara River between Goat Island and the main land.<\/p>\n<p>Their objective was to inspect the face of the falls itself. Centuries of erosion had collapsed over 2000 tons of rock to the base of the falls, and the precipice was beginning to look like it would simply erode into a rapids.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, the Corp removed the rock at the base of the American Falls, though there was discussion about structurally installing steel and concrete to curtail future erosion.<\/p>\n<p>The public went nuts\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026.and after the rock was removed, the dam was exploded and the water flowed again.<\/p>\n<p>We were detained by State Park Police, a friend and I, when we decided to walk to the edge, sit down and look around. It was an incredible sight. We were brought downtown, threatened with arrest\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026but ultimately all the cops wanted to know was what the view was like.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_17072\" style=\"width: 106px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/merino-1.jpg?ssl=1\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-17072\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17072\" data-attachment-id=\"17072\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/listen-american-chronicles-episode-18-ride-the-falls\/merino-1\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/merino-1.jpg?fit=96%2C144&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"96,144\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"merino 1\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Jean Lussier, circa 1929&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/merino-1.jpg?fit=96%2C144&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/merino-1.jpg?fit=96%2C144&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-full wp-image-17072\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/merino-1.jpg?resize=96%2C144&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Jean Lussier, circa 1929\" width=\"96\" height=\"144\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-17072\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Jean Lussier, circa 1929<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p>All of that got me thinking about Jean Lussier. Jean was a \u201cDaredevil.\u201d He went over Niagara Falls on July 4, 1929 in a rubber ball he claimed was designed by old man DuPont himself.<\/p>\n<p>I first met him in the late 1950\u2019s. I was a kid\u2026..maybe 9 or 10\u2026\u2026taking the bus downtown to the Saturday matinees at either the Strand or Cataract theater(s). Three Stooges shorts and a feature\u2026\u2026\u2026..a candy bar, soda and pop corn\u2026\u2026\u2026all for 35 cents. It was a deal at twice the price.<\/p>\n<p>Jean would stand in front of the shows as they let out. He\u2019d hustle tourists telling them his story, selling them autographed post cards that featured his picture kneeling next to the craft he had trusted. They were charged a dollar, and on the back he\u2019d write\u2026\u201dOver the Falls in a Rubber Ball\u2026.that\u2019s me, Jen Lussier\u201d\u2026\u2026and he\u2019d recite it as he wrote it, in a thick French Canadian accent.<\/p>\n<p>When the tourist\u2019s thinned out, he\u2019d gather a group of kids and retell the entire story. How he\u2019d met old man DuPont and convinced him to design and build the ball\u2026\u2026a sphere of light weight aluminum framing approximately 5 feet in diameter. It was double coated with thick milled rubber sheets, torch fused, and it had a small oxygen tank on the inside, where Jean sat on a swiveling platform, strapped in and in theory, he was always upright because the bottom was weighted with lead bars.<\/p>\n<p>The ball, Jean inside, had been rolled down the bank of the Niagara River on the Canadian side, some 500 yards above the falls. It pitched and bobbed its way to the brink\u2026\u2026\u2026.and within seconds, he had reached the precipice, plunging over the edge\u2026.188 feet to the lower river\u2026..lost momentarily in the foam and crash of water below\u2026.popping up a few hundred yards down river where his co-conspirators waited to retrieve him. He\u2019d made it and became history\u2026\u2026..all 5 foot 5 inches of him.<\/p>\n<p>On Sundays he would stand in front of the Daredevil Museum. The curators would wheel the remains of the ball out front on a pallet \u2026..and for $2.00 tourists could take his picture standing next to the ball\u2026\u2026\u2026..and get an autographed post card.<\/p>\n<p>I didn\u2019t see him for over a decade. Beginning in the mid-sixties the urban renewal plague hit Niagara Falls and the museum, old theaters, historic train station, tourist traps and offices were all torn down.<\/p>\n<p>He had nowhere to corral tourists after that.<\/p>\n<p>When I returned home from my wanderlust that found me in Kansas and Mexico, hitching around the mid-west with a guitar and dining at the finest truck stops, I was hired as a maintenance man with the Niagara Falls Housing Authority.<\/p>\n<p>Mainly, I mopped the hallways on each of the 14 stories of the low income senior citizen apartment complex called Spallino Towers. Occasionally, I\u2019d be invited to a birthday luncheon in the rec-room. Someone had reached 75 or 80 and the residents would sup on pot luck and guzzle cheap wine.<\/p>\n<p>It was at one of these soirees, when I looked over to a table in the corner. A slight man sat alone at a table of four\u2026\u2026\u2026..head down, sipping his wine.<\/p>\n<p>I went over to join him, saying hello and when he raised his head the first thing that crossed my mind was the phrase, \u201cThat\u2019s Me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was Jean\u2026\u2026worn and old\u2026\u2026his smile gone\u2026\u2026his clothes, sized for a younger man, must have come from the Goodwill. I told him where I had met him and when. We spoke about old Falls Street and the shops, clubs and tourist traps. He again, told me the story about his feat. I got him to smile.<\/p>\n<p>I went to work early every day after that\u2026.and stopped by his apartment on the 11<sup>th<\/sup> floor. I\u2019d stick my head in when my shift was over to see if he needed anything from the store\u2026\u2026Milk or bread or coffee.<\/p>\n<p>The other old men ignored him. \u201cI\u2019m so damn tired of that story, I don\u2019t even want to talk to him anymore\u201d, Tony said.<\/p>\n<p>For me, it was even more reason to listen when Jean would re-tell his story, recount the lunch he had with Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio at the Como Restaurant when she was filming the movie Niagara in 1951, and show me the letter he\u2019d received from President Eisenhower after, he claimed, he was a guest on What\u2019s My Line.<\/p>\n<p>When Jean died in 1971, it wasn\u2019t like Walter Cronkite reported it on the news. It wasn\u2019t peaceful nor pretty.<\/p>\n<p>I made my usual morning stop and knocked on his door. There was no answer and the tenant next door said she hadn\u2019t seen him for a couple days.<\/p>\n<p>I went down to the maintenance garage and told Tom the mechanic that I was concerned about Jean. He grabbed a pass key and we went back up to the 11<sup>th<\/sup> floor and let ourselves in.<\/p>\n<p>Jean\u2019s apartment was barely furnished\u2026..a lawn chair and plastic table that held a small radio. No TV. An army cot with a surplus blanket, a coffee pot on the stove and a toaster I had picked up at a garage sale.<\/p>\n<p>Here he was\u2026\u2026the Daredevil\u2026\u2026..it seemed worse to me than the ride over the falls, itself.<\/p>\n<p>Tom went in first. He opened the bathroom door and told me to go downstairs to the office and call an ambulance. He didn\u2019t want me to, but I looked through the door and Jean sat, in a tub of red water, clothes on, his head bent to its side.<\/p>\n<p>Jean chose to slit his arms with a razor, rather than live the indignity of it all. He was alive still, but barely.<\/p>\n<p>He was rushed across the street to Memorial Hospital. I visited that night, but couldn\u2019t get in to intensive care. Jean held on for a couple days.<\/p>\n<p>When Walter Cronkite reported his death from natural causes on the news, I cried.<\/p>\n<p>I picked up my guitar that night and wrote the ballad of Jean Lussier. I never play the song anymore\u2026.but here\u2019s the opening line:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJean Lussier was kind of small, but he rode the Falls in a rubber ball.<\/p>\n<p>Why he came here at all, is still not clear to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m John Merino and this is American Chronicles.<\/p>\n<p><em>American Chronicles is a bi-weekly locally produced feature on WRFA written and produced by retired Gebbie Foundation CEO, John C. Merino. Currently, John is an Adjunct Professor of Micro-Economics, Organizational Management, and 20th Century World History at Mercyhurst University. American Chronicles airs twice monthly, Friday mornings at 7:15 and Friday Afternoons at 4:35. American Chronicles features original stories (partly fact and partly fiction), commentary on local, state , national, world conditions and more.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>For past episodes and transcripts, visit <a title=\"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/tag\/american-chronicles\/\" href=\"https:\/\/exit.sc?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wrfalp.com%2Ftag%2Famerican-chronicles%2F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">www.wrfalp.com\/tag\/american-chronicles\/<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/American-Chronicles-logo.jpg?ssl=1\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-14215\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"14215\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/american-chronicles-logo\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/American-Chronicles-logo.jpg?fit=640%2C640&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"640,640\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"American Chronicles logo\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/American-Chronicles-logo.jpg?fit=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/American-Chronicles-logo.jpg?fit=640%2C640&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-14215 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/American-Chronicles-logo.jpg?resize=300%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"American Chronicles logo\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/American-Chronicles-logo.jpg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/American-Chronicles-logo.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/American-Chronicles-logo.jpg?w=640&amp;ssl=1 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<br>More Posts for Show: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/listen-american-chronicles-episode-18-ride-the-falls\/#show-posts\"><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AMERICAN CHRONICLES: RIDE THE FALLS Copyright: John C. Merino 2016 MOBILE APP USERS: LISTEN HERE There\u2019s been recent talk about \u201cshutting off\u201d Niagara Falls. I was there the first time\u2026\u2026..back in 1969 when the Army Corp of Engineers dammed the Niagara River between Goat Island and the main land. Their objective was to inspect the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":14240,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"[LISTEN] American Chronicles Episode 18 - Ride the Falls","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[2],"tags":[5310,1270,1707],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/American-Chronicles-web.jpg?fit=290%2C290&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3YlJ4-4rk","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15008,"url":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/listen-american-chronicles-episode-9-i-figured-id-see-you-later\/","url_meta":{"origin":17070,"position":0},"title":"[LISTEN] American Chronicles Episode 9 &#8211; I Figured I&#8217;d See You Later","author":"WRFA Radio","date":"August 25, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"http:\/\/media.soundcloud.com\/stream\/3CO5ix6O5Agz.mp3 \"I FIGURED I'D SEE YOU LATER\" \u00a9 2015 John C. Merino I use to be able to tell, by the sound, what coin fell out of my pocket. I just dropped a quarter and thought it was a dime. \u2026.and the dime reminded me of swimming at Dufferin Islands\u2026\u2026..just\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/category\/news\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/American-Chronicles-web.jpg?fit=290%2C290&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14423,"url":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/listen-american-chronicles-episode-4-on-aging\/","url_meta":{"origin":17070,"position":1},"title":"[LISTEN] American Chronicles Episode 4 \u2013 On Aging","author":"WRFA Radio","date":"June 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"American Chronicles 4. originally airing June 26, 2015. ON AGING \u00a9 2015 John C. Merino The note pinned to my paternal grandfather\u2019s vest read, \u201cmy name is John Merino. I live at 1517 Ashland Avenue. If you find me wandering, please call a cab and send me home. The fare\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/category\/news\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/merino.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/merino.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/merino.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/merino.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14828,"url":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/listen-american-chronicles-episode-7-woodstock-part-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":17070,"position":2},"title":"[LISTEN] American Chronicles Episode 7 &#8211; Woodstock: Part 1","author":"WRFA Radio","date":"August 10, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"American Chronicles 7 Part 1, originally airing July 31, 2015 (Listen to Part 2) WOODSTOCK 1969 \u00a9 2015 John C. Merino PA\u2019S CAR It was August of 1969. I had just graduated from Niagara Falls High School that June and was two weeks away from leaving for college on the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/category\/news\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/American-Chronicles-web.jpg?fit=290%2C290&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14830,"url":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/listen-american-chronicles-episode-7-woodstock-part-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":17070,"position":3},"title":"[LISTEN] American Chronicles Episode 7 &#8211; Woodstock: Part 2","author":"WRFA Radio","date":"August 10, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"American Chronicles 7 Part 2, originally airing Aug. 7, 2015 (Listen to Part 1) WOODSTOCK 1969 \u00a9 2015 John C. Merino PA\u2019S CAR It was August of 1969. I had just graduated from Niagara Falls High School that June and was two weeks away from leaving for college on the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/category\/news\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/American-Chronicles-web.jpg?fit=290%2C290&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14337,"url":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/listen-american-chronicles-episode-3-john-f-kennedy-assassination\/","url_meta":{"origin":17070,"position":4},"title":"[LISTEN] American Chronicles Episode 3 \u2013 John F. Kennedy Assassination","author":"WRFA Radio","date":"June 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"JOHN F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATION \u00a9 2015 John C. Merino On November 22, 1963 I was twelve years old, seated in Mr. Uri\u2019s Mechanical Drawing class at Niagara Falls New York\u2019s North Junior High School, when my concentration\u2026hand drawing arrow heads on graph paper\u2026.was broken by the squelch of the school\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/category\/news\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/American-Chronicles-web.jpg?fit=290%2C290&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15434,"url":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/listen-american-chronicles-episode-12-the-tricks-of-the-trade\/","url_meta":{"origin":17070,"position":5},"title":"[LISTEN] American Chronicles Episode 12 \u2013 The Tricks of the Trade","author":"WRFA Radio","date":"September 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Tricks of the Trade\" \u00a9 2015 John C. Merino MOBILE APP USERS: CLICK HERE TO LISTEN When my father returned from World War II in 1945, he picked up where he had left off. He was a \u201cBrickie\u201d\u2026\u2026\u2026having done his apprenticeship as a stone mason with Scrufari Construction in Niagara\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/category\/news\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/American-Chronicles-web.jpg?fit=290%2C290&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17070"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17070"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17265,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17070\/revisions\/17265"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}