Saturday, July 2, 2011

Who was Zapruder?


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Why: In Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby:
Duncan wasn't too concerned about the rape of Crowe's privacy: the fan, Neil Ritchie, had achieved a kind of Zapruder level of fame and respect among the faithful that Annie suspected Duncan rather envied.
Answer: The guy who filmed the Kennedy assassination! Abraham Zapruder.

Zapruder considered himself a Democrat and was an admirer of President Kennedy. Not originally intending to bring his camera to the motorcade, at the insistence of his assistant he retrieved it from home before going to Dealey Plaza.

The camera was an 8 mm Bell & Howell Zoomatic Director Series Model 414 PD—top of the line when it was purchased in 1962. Zapruder waited atop a concrete pedestal along Elm Street, his receptionist Marilyn Sitzman prepared to steady him from behind, and began filming as the President's limousine turned onto Elm Street in front of the Book Depository. The next 26.6 seconds were captured on 486 frames of Kodak Kodachrome II safety film.

And in his own words, in an interview:
JAY WATSON (Station WFAA Dallas): [...] And would you tell us your story please, sir?
ABRAHAM ZAPRUDER: I got out in, uh, about a half-hour earlier to get a good spot to shoot some pictures. And I found a spot, one of these concrete blocks they have down near that park, near the underpass. And I got on top there, there was another girl from my office, she was right behind me. And as I was shooting, as the President was coming down from Houston Street making his turn, it was about a half-way down there, I heard a shot, and he slumped to the side, like this. Then I heard another shot or two, I couldn't say it was one or two, and I saw his head practically open up [places fingers of right hand to right side of head in a narrow cone, over his right ear], all blood and everything, and I kept on shooting. That's about all, I'm just sick, I can't…
WATSON: I think that pretty well expresses the entire feelings of the whole world.
ZAPRUDER: Terrible, terrible.
Source: The Kennedy Assassination, Wikipedia

The More You Know: Like this:
Holy shit, I don't think I'd ever seen that before. Maybe when I saw JFK many years ago... Anyway, I gasped.

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