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THE ZAPRUDER EFFECTby Eva Pasco 
The Zapruder Film as defined by my run-on sentence is as
follows: the 26 second, silent, 8 mm, color, home movie of thirty-fifth president of the United
States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, during his presidential motorcade in a 1961 midnight blue Lincoln with the bubble top removed and
bulletproof side windows rolled down, inching through Dealy Plaza, Elm St., Texas, on November 22,
1963; filmed by private citizen, Abraham Zapruder, it is the most complete visual recording of JFK's
assassination, signifying the end of a mythical Camelot.
JFK's assassination and the sequence of events to follow would leave imprints in our
minds impervious to heat, moisture, or chemical breakdown--the Zapruder
Effect. Jackie's pink suit, her stately composure, John John's salute, and the cadence of
the funeral procession are part of our repertoire, though the real Zapruder
reel is that of the 8 mm chronology played out for each of us old enough to recall
that ill-fated day in history --our own "grassy knoll," if you will.
In 1963 I was a seventh grader at Lincoln Junior High. Last period of the day,
right up until dismissal, would capture footage of me in Social Studies. I sat in
the third seat of the second row from the window flanked by Martha in front of me, Nancy to my
left, Lois to my right, and Kay behind me. Before class officially started, we'd trade gossip
and pass jokes to insulate us from the regimen and rigors perpertrated by a teacher who must
have laid claim to OCDs. Mr. B made sure our rows were aligned before initiating instruction
and during lessons, often stopping mid-sentence to correct any misalignment in the aisles.
He'd frequently adjust his tie, clear his throat, and smooth the lone strand of hair over his bald
pate in no particular order. By rote, each of us read a paragraph from our history
books, followed by discussion and discourse.
12:30 CST, 1:30 EST in Rhode Island: a shot was fired at JFK's limousine. Shortly
thereafter, our principal made an announcment over the PA system which created a shock wave in the
classroom and visibly upset Mr. B...
Dismissal occured at 2:15, and I boarded my bus as usual. Si,
our bus driver, a regular no-hassle, go-with-the-flow sorta guy, tuned his radio
to rock n' roll, talked chicks with the guys, tolerated loudness, and permitted smoking in
his caboose. He could get tough when he needed to and no one gave him any guff. The bus rolled
past the junior high, made it through the redlight at the cross section, and crawled along Great
Road.
1:00 CST, 2:00 EST: Assistant Presidential Press Secretary, Malcolm Kilduff made his
press announcement. "President John F. Kennedy died at approximately 1 p.m. Central
Standard Time today here in Dallas. He died of a gunshot wound in the brain. I have no other details of
the assassination."
I remember Si pulling the bus over to the side of the narrow, rural, country bumpkin
thoroughfare of Great Road. Bare bony tree branches scraped along the windows until the bus
came to a halt. Si, got out of his seat, adopted the uncharacteristic persona of a
parson, signalled for silence and got it quick. Without ceremony, the man at the helm
announced that President Kennedy had just died and we'd all better say a
prayer.
The tragic event that felled a president only two years in office would
scar the Kennedy family and shake America to its core. This political assassination created
its own Zapruder effect as each of us bowed our heads in silence, for who knows,
maybe 26 seconds...enough time to replay the surreal events of November 22, 1963 from the
perspective of a twelve year old, forever preserved in the archives of my mind.
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