Looking back: 41st anniversary was a busy day

      On November 14 of every year, there’s always cause for me to pause and push the rewind button in my memory bank.  But things were quite different this past November. It was the 41^st anniversary of the Marshall University crash, which killed most of the school’s football team. Since I played defensive back for the Thundering Herd for two seasons, I knew most of the guys who were on that plane.

      The day of the anniversary turned out to be a lot busier than I ever imagined. Guess I should have planned on that. After all, it was only a few months earlier that my memoir – November Ever After – was released. The book, which reveals many aspects of the tragedy that had never been covered, attracted much media interest.

       Things started to buzz around 9 that morning when I got a phone call from one of the local TV stations (WXII-12) who wanted to come to my home to do an interview that would air on the 5 o’clock news. The interview and filming took place right before noon.

      A few hours later, I got a call from one of the National Public Radio affiliate stations. WFDD-FM put together a short segment that was broadcast on one of its news shows later that afternoon.

      The media activity didn’t end with WFDD. By 3:30 p.m., I was on the phone with a news director who wanted a story for his radio network in Idaho. For sure, it was a hectic day. But I thoroughly enjoyed sharing my perspectives with viewers and listeners who live in different parts of the country.

       To get a sampling of some of the memories I shared, scroll down and click on the mp3 file entitled “WFDDNews11-14.”