George,

I was a senior in high school [when JFK was assassinated] and it really put me into another emotional zone. I was tubeside for four days.

I can easily call up the sound of those drums and the images of the Kennedy family walking, behind them the dramatic tableau of Haile Selassie, DeGaulle and Adenauer.

However, what I want to share is an occurrence this year on Nov. 22, 39 years later. Late in the afternoon I wrote the date and I realized for the first time the significance of the day had not crossed my mind.

Probably just too much on the public and personal level that it's gotten pushed aside. Certainly a much diminished opinion of Kennedy on the private side has been an influence. The same has happened with Dec. 8, John Lennon's day.

Jim Barns (electronic mail, November 24, 2002)