Betty Reid’s Conversation Piece

Betty Reid’s Conversation Piece

THE VOICE – San Diego, August 1963

[ABOUT PEOPLE AND PLACES]

We received one of our biggest thrills this past week… when James and Janie Kennedy arrived in our town for a three week visit with his charming and attractive mother, Cara Kennedy; and his sisters, Mary McFall and Lillian Beam, and their families.

You see, ‘way back when (in New York)… even better Jim was in command of his coveted Ph.D. from New York University… he and I shared staff honors on one of the Big Town’s largest networks beaming towards the Negro market.

While I was toiling away on the air… Jim would be closed up with folks in the Talent Department coaching them in air-conditioned comfort. Of course, this put Jim next to bigtime actors like Bill Marshall and celebrities such as Althea Gibson. (Jim coached Althea for her first appearance on Ed Sullivan’s Show ‘way back in 1958).

You can just about guess what a whale of a time Jim Kennedy and his pretty wife, Janie, and I are having recapping all those exciting events that used to take place in New York.

And seriously, we’re real proud of Jim because he is doing a much-needed job for the NAACP on a national level… and has agreed to take part of his precious vacation time from his position as professor in the Speech-Theatre Department at Brooklyn College to participate in our Freedom March here in San Diego… because he will be doing something for us that he sincerely believes in.

We hope each one of you… and you… have an opportunity to see and to hear both James and Janie Kennedy while they are with us. They provide a rich and enduring treat in just conversing with them.

Re-printed for research purposes. Copyright remains with the original holder.