In 1963 I was a young, wide-eyed, Marlboro-puffing television reporter in Aberdeen, South Dakota.
Early in the morning of September 14th, I was awakened by a telephone call from UPI Movietone in Chicago asking if I had any film of the quints they could buy.
I was then made aware that five new babies had come into the world on that day - the Fischer Quintuplets, the first surviving quintuplets ever born in the United States.
A large part of the national and international news media soon swarmed the small town, many of them coming from only a short distance as they had been in Bismarck, North Dakota, covering a speech by Bobby Kennedy.
The rest of that time is a mystery lost in the shrouds of time. I can only remember a few incidents.
But it did launch me into a new job in Bismarck and many more adventures in a career that lasted some 30 years.
The picture above was taken as we, the media, waited for a news conference to begin in St. Alexius Hospital, where the four girls and a boy were born.
After only a few years of publicity and attention by the Pope and President Kennedy, among others, the quintuplets retreated to a quiet life with their protective parents and the SIX other children in their family.
Riding the news wave. Good on you.
ReplyDeleteSteve
The idea of smoking in a hospital seems odd, now.
ReplyDeleteSmoking in a hospital does seem strange. When my little sister was born I remember visiting Mom in the hospital and she and her friends were smoking and laughing. Baby Sis was safe in the nursery. My ex is a Nurse Practitioner specializes in cardiology and she says the number of cardiologists and chest crackers who smoke is pretty damn high. They have a smoker's tent outside the hospital where she works.
ReplyDeleteWhen I drive by the hospital in "our town", I see nurses standing way back from the Emergency Entrance puffing on their cigarettes. Makes you wonder.
ReplyDeleteGreat anecdote...you were a true eyewitness to history
ReplyDeleteIt's exciting to see you in the thick of breaking news.
ReplyDelete