Jones Harris

[Michael Hogan]

Recently, Jim Fetzer conducted a podcast interview with Jones Harris, a first-generation critic. Although it was mostly about Harris' work on Billy Lovelady

and the Altgens photo, there were some other moments. I urge members that are interested to take the time to listen to the interview in its entirety. In my opinion,

it's time well spent. More on that at the end of my post.

Maurice W. Schonfeld was the managing editor of UPI NewsFilm. He later was the founding president of CNN, and has had a long career in television news and production. In 1975 the Columbia Journalism Review published Schonfeld's article The Shadow of a Gunman; An account of a twelve-year investigation of a Kennedy Assassination Film.

In that article, Schonfeld writes extensively about Jones Harris and the Nix Film.

Excerpt:

Stills from the Nix film appeared in the UPI/American Heritage book Four Days, and some of the footage was used in a David Wolper documentary feature movie of the same title. UPI made money on the footage, but no one found it particularly noteworthy until, early in 1965, an assassination buff named Jones Harris came upon stills from the Nix film in the Report of the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, commonly known as the Warren Report. Harris, a New Yorker of independent means, did not believe that Lee Harvey Oswald had pulled the trigger. He had found a picture that had led him to believe that Oswald was standing in the street in front of the Book Depository at the time of the shooting. Working with Bernie Hoffman, a talented film technician and photographer, he had sought to prove that the man in the street was, indeed, Oswald, but their findings were inconclusive.

In some of the pictures published in the Warren Report, Harris found something new. First off, he saw a station wagon with a machine gun mounted on the roof. Such a station wagon did exist in Dallas—it was used to advertise a Dallas gun shop—and it was Harris’s theory that the station wagon and the shop were involved in some way in the Kennedy assassination. Then he found a curious shape on the grassy knoll, a shape that could be read as a man aiming a gun at John F. Kennedy.

We gave Harris some of the key stills made from the Nix film. They showed the knoll and, atop the knoll, “the pergola”—a concrete structure consisting of two octagonal towers connected by a wall thirty-eight inches high and 100 feet long. In the process of enlarging these stills, two things happened: the station wagon went away and the head, shoulders, arms, and gun of the rifleman was standing behind this car, leaning on it, as he took aim....

Thanks to Paul Rigby for originally posting the link to the above article years ago: http://www.cjr.org/f...nman.php?page=2

In a 1992 article that appeared in The New Yorker, Edward Epstein wrote:

Early the next morning, I went with my research associate, Jones Harris, to his office suite in the Criminal District Court Building, where Garrison had left word with his assistant, district attorney, James C. Alcock, that I "should start going through the evidence." He brought in six cardboard cartons that contained such Shaw's personal paraphernalia as letters, photographs, manuscripts, checkbooks, address books, calendars, blueprints for the renovation of houses in the French Quarters (which had been one of his civic projects) and a Mardi Gras costume and, before leaving us alone with it, he explained that the staff had yet to fully examine it. Even though a Judge's order had forbidden disclosure or discussion of the evidence in the case, Garrison apparently had no compunction about turning it over to a journalist to peruse.

Though none of this material, as far as I could see, had any bearing on the conspiracy Garrison had described to me the night before, Harris discovered a striking coincidence between a 5 digit number in Shaw's address book and one in Lee Harvey Oswald's book. Oswald's phone book contained the number 19106 preceded by the Cyrillic letters DD. Shaw's book contained the same number in an entry "Lee Odom, PO Box 19106, Dallas, Tex". It was of course only a partial match since the prefixes were different, but, if it proved to be more than a coincidence, it could provide a connection between the two men. Apprised of this discovery by Harris, Garrison immediately announced to the press that he had linked Shaw to Oswald. He stated without equivocation that Shaw and Oswald's address books had the identical entry in them "PO 19106" (which was untrue), that this number was "nonexistent" (which he had not yet determined) and that the number was a code, which when deciphered, produced the unlisted telephone number of Oswald's killer, Jack Ruby, and "no other number on earth" (which was also false). When asked by a reporter for the Times-Picayune how "PO 19106" became Ruby's number "WH 1-5601," Garrison, without missing a beat, explained that one simply transposed its third and last digit (so it became PO 16901) and then arbitrarily subtracted 1300. Since this nonsensical hocus-pocus still did not produce the "WH" portion of the number, Garrison added that the code was "subjective."

http://www.edwardjay...ed/garrison.htm

In 1977 Harold Weisberg wrote the following to George Lardner:

The "recently released" memo on Hoover and an Oswald imposter is not in context, not recent, not unpublished. Ben A. Fankling was conned into an unfair story based on it in 1975 by one Jones Harris, a secret Nixonian pretending to be a Bobby Kennedy man. (The best I can say for Jones is that his mother refused to marry his father even after she was carrying Jones. Ruth Gordon-Jed Harris.)

http://jfk.hood.edu/...ael/Item 10.pdf

The editor of Gallery Magazine wrote in May, 1976:

You are quite right about the significance of the fact that Jim Hicks, the JFK murder "communications man," and the "umbrella

man" stood right across the street from each other. It is also important to note that the President was killed at a point almost between

them. It was Jones Harris, a lawyer and JFK assassination researcher, who.identified and talked with Hicks. Hicks told Jones that he

had been the "communications man."

http://jfk.hood.edu/...her/Item 16.pdf

From John Armstrong's article that appeared in a 1998 issue of PROBE:

Researcher Jones Harris interviewed Julia Postal in 1963. When Harris asked Julia Postal if she had sold a ticket to "Oswald" (the man arrested), she burst into tears and left the room. A short time later Harris again asked Postal if she sold a ticket to "Oswald" and got the same response. From Postal's refusal to answer this question and her reaction to same, Harris believes that Postal did sell "Oswald" a theater ticket. On February 29, 1964 Postal told FBI Agent Arthur Carter "she was unable to recall whether or not he bought a ticket." (A few months later, when the Warren Report was issued, Postal's memory had improved. She was now certain the man did not buy a ticket. See page 178 of the report.)

http://www.ctka.net/pr198-jfk.html

As I mentioned, Jim Fetzer recently interviewed Jones Harris. In that interview Harris explained why he went to Dallas in the first place. I found this account fascinating:

Harris: Yes, if your audience would like to know I was seeing a great deal of Jackie’s press secretary, the wonderful Pamela Turnure, and when she came back, I had been with her the weekend before they left for the trip and then I came down the following weekend and outside her little house in Georgetown she said I’ll tell you one thing Jones and then I’m never going to discuss this with you or anybody else on the face of the earth, and she pretty well stuck to that, she knew all the Secret Service people very well, and she knew Clint Hill, and everybody loved Pammy, she was very pretty and very intelligent, and very charming, and the President was fond of her, and a lot of people, she was just a terrific person, but what she said to me on the front steps of her townhouse was, ‘The Secret Service believes that there was gunfire from more than one position.’ That puts you and I a little bit at odds, Jim, for obvious reasons, and so forth and so on, your theories and my theories-

Fetzer: Well, I believe there was-

Harris: as often as they come together. But, it was on the basis of that that a few days later I took off and went to Dallas, I had never, I had been in Texas before but I had never been in Dallas and then the man that was prominent in the newspapers of that time was the Ford dealership and so forth, and I talked to the great big charming Texas manager of the thing who had seen Oswald coming in dealing with his man, Bogart, I think his name was, and so forth, and had seen him plenty of times around and that was my first opening-

Fetzer: Now was this in December, was this in December?

Harris: This would have been, yes, the second week of December.

(Later in the interview, Fetzer clarified his position on the sources of the shots for Harris. The above was taken from a transcript produced by an EF Member on another blog site; bolds were added)

Finally, there are some interesting anecdotes about Jones Harris in John Kelin's book, Praise From A Future Generation. The back story on the researchers' meeting at Sylvia Meagher's home is a classic.

Edited March 13, 2013 by Michael Hogan

[William Kelly]

Thanks for that Michael,

Jones Harris used to call me on the phone every once in awhile and then stopped.

I think he's pals with Peter Janney.

He's certainly an eccentric.

I call him the Truman Capote of critics.

And I think he's right about one thing - Honest Joe's Pawn Shop truck with the machine gun rack on back was certainly suspicious, not only for being near Dealey Plaza at the time of the assassination but for being outside the DPD when Oswald was being transferred.

BK

[David Andrews]

The editor of Gallery Magazine wrote in May, 1976: You are quite right about the significance of the fact that Jim Hicks, the JFK murder "communications man," and the "umbrella man" stood right across the street from each other. It is also important to note that the President was killed at a point almost between them.

Where is Jim Hicks in Zapruder or in other films of the shooting sequence? I have only seen him in the often-reproduced photo taken after the shooting, where Hicks is seen from behind while walking toward the triple underpass. That photo doesn't suggest where Hicks was during the shooting, other than "east."

Edited March 13, 2013 by David Andrews

[Robin Unger]

The editor of Gallery Magazine wrote in May, 1976: You are quite right about the significance of the fact that Jim Hicks, the JFK murder "communications man," and the "umbrella man" stood right across the street from each other. It is also important to note that the President was killed at a point almost between them.

Where is Jim Hicks in Zapruder or in other films of the shooting sequence? I have only seen him in the often-reproduced photo taken after the shooting, where Hicks is seen from behind while walking toward the triple underpass. That photo doesn't suggest where Hicks was during the shooting, other than "east."

I think the guy standing next to the man with the hat, appears to be a hicks look alike.when compared to Bond

This man i believe is also visible in Betzner3

Don's plat appears to have Hicks on the other side of the road ?

Edited March 14, 2013 by Robin Unger

[David Andrews]

Thank you, Robin.

[Larry Hancock]

Robin, if you look into Hick's various statements (which are a bit inconsistent) you find that he describes his view of the shooting

as being from across the street, looking across the road from its south side.

If you read them you also find that he claimed to have learned the real details about the conspiracy in a bar some time after

the shooting - one thing we do know is that he spent a lot of time in bars, even calling the FBI from one once to offer

information. So that part is consistent..

I think Don has it right though, if anything he was across the street - from the other photos which appear to show him from the

rear, he would have been much further east, probably walking down towards Elm from being nearer Houston at the time

of the shooting.

-- Larry

[Robin Unger]

Cheers

Thanks Larry

As i understand it, this is supposedly Hicks.

Seen in Willis 7 the man closest to the camera

Click on the image to view FULL SIZE

Edited March 14, 2013 by Robin Unger

[Pat Speer]

Is Hicks remotely credible? Do we know for sure that's him in ANY of the photos? My understanding was that he CLAIMED he'd been in Dealey Plaza with a radio, and that researchers later associated him with any person they thought might be carrying a radio...

Just asking...maybe he's more credible than I believed...

[Larry Hancock]

Robin's Willis photo is the man supposedly identified as Hicks.

Pat, I spent a good bit of time on Hicks at one point...he ended up doing a stretch in a mental institution (Fort Supply, no not an Arny base,

a hospital named for a former cavalry post) for alcohol abuse, later after release he made calls to the FBI from bars....its a long, sad story,

When Garrison brought him to New Orleans, Hicks went out drinking and brought a couple of guys he met in a bar back to his

room and got beat up in an ensuing brawl.

I don't find him at all credible but he told such entertaining stories that I doubt he will ever be given up as a figure in the conspiracy.

I'm pretty sure the radio thing came from somebody else not Hicks. But as I said, his story evolved from supposedly having

seen a suspicious figure behind a car off Elm to getting details from someone in a bar. It's been years since I looked into him, like

most from that period he didn't make the cut....well my cut at least.....grin..

-- Larry

[Bernice Moore]

Thanks for that Michael,

Jones Harris used to call me on the phone every once in awhile and then stopped.

I think he's pals with Peter Janney.

He's certainly an eccentric.

I call him the Truman Capote of critics.

And I think he's right about one thing - Honest Joe's Pawn Shop truck with the machine gun rack on back was certainly suspicious, not only for being near Dealey Plaza at the time of the assassination but for being outside the DPD when Oswald was being transferred.

BK

Hi Bill; I realize the info re the station wagon goes way back, i think it was mentioned by Mary Moorman..??, that had the machine gun on top...it has been known for many years, also the Nix gunman,which both disappeared upon close examination, there has been reported a photo taken showing the Joes station wagon with machine gun, taken within Dealey before the assassination, i am thinking from the Harris info it was to have been in a Nix frame also, perhaps, any knowledge of which or where it is available, the same with the station wagon being outside when LHO was being transferred..within what photo or film was it seen,?? ..thanks very much I appreciate any info you may have to pass along, take care...best b

Edited March 14, 2013 by Bernice Moore

[David Andrews]

If people search the back pages of the Education Forum, the machine gun-topped car and the pawn shop have been discussed in past threads, with pictures posted (at least at the time - the pictures may have been removed since).

Edited March 14, 2013 by David Andrews

[Robin Unger]

Credit: James Richards

Click on images to view full size:

Edited March 14, 2013 by Robin Unger

[Robin Unger]

Hicks

Click on image to view full size

Edited March 14, 2013 by Robin Unger

[Bernice Moore]

Here is past information on Hicks...

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=4886

Hicks v. Saul

[Michael Hogan]

Robin's Willis photo is the man supposedly identified as Hicks.

Pat, I spent a good bit of time on Hicks at one point...he ended up doing a stretch in a mental institution (Fort Supply, no not an Arny base,

a hospital named for a former cavalry post) for alcohol abuse, later after release he made calls to the FBI from bars....its a long, sad story,

When Garrison brought him to New Orleans, Hicks went out drinking and brought a couple of guys he met in a bar back to his

room and got beat up in an ensuing brawl.

I don't find him at all credible but he told such entertaining stories that I doubt he will ever be given up as a figure in the conspiracy.

I'm pretty sure the radio thing came from somebody else not Hicks. But as I said, his story evolved from supposedly having

seen a suspicious figure behind a car off Elm to getting details from someone in a bar. It's been years since I looked into him, like

most from that period he didn't make the cut....well my cut at least.....grin..

-- Larry

Hi Larry. It's always a pleasure to read your posts.

Did you ever research Joseph Cooper, a Baton Rouge policeman whose story was definitely a strange one?

If so, could you post your comments here: http://educationforu...255#entry269137

Thanks Larry.