[Leica] RETROSPECT4

[Bill Clough]

USA

TEXAS

VICTORIA


Hi there –


This is a bizarre portrait of John L. McCarty – famous Texas author and, at
the time of this 1961 photograph, the editor of the Amarillo Citizen.


He was at the local police department trying to smooth ruffles after one of
his inexperienced reporters did a story on police brutality.


McCarty is famous for, during the Dust Bowl Days, forming “The Last Man”
club in Dalhart, Texas, for those who would agree to stay instead of
leaving for better climes.


He also was a painter. And an historian. One ntire room in his home was
devoted to file cabinets.


I met him in 1961; left the paper in 1964 and reported for acgive duty with
the U.S. Navy a year later.


He had lived through such history; one of the regrets of my life is that I
wasn’t older when I met him. He made a defining mark on the Texas
Panhandle; I wish I had known him better. A West African saying is always
true" When a man dies, a library burns.


–Bill


http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Bill1941/RETROSPECT/John+L_+McCarty+-+00054.jpg.html