That Day in Dallas: Three Photographers Capture on Film the Day President Kennedy Died

Richard B. Trask's 1998 publication "That Day In Dallas: Three Photographers Capture On Film The Day President Kennedy Died" represents a follow-up volume (or kind of a 'sequel') to Mr. Trask's earlier and outstanding 640-page book "Pictures Of The Pain", which came out in 1994 and featured many previously-unpublished photographs of the events surrounding President John F. Kennedy's 1963 assassination. The paperback edition of "That Day In Dallas" contains 136 pages of pictures and text on high-quality paper. It's a much shorter volume than "POTP", to be sure -- but in some ways I treasure "That Day" even more than the larger "Pain" book, in that most of the photos contained within "That Day" are larger in size than what can be found in "POTP", and therefore, via this larger-print format, the pictures can be studied in greater detail. Plus, the clarity of virtually all of the more than 110 photographs published in this book is pristine. These pictures, all printed in black-and-white, are clear as the proverbial bell. What author Richard Trask has done in "That Day In Dallas" is to center the book's attention on three individual photographers who each took a series of dramatic (and ultimately historic) pictures "that day in Dallas" ("that day", of course, being Friday, November 22, 1963, the day of JFK's assassination). The three cameramen chosen for this book's subject matter are: Cecil Stoughton (the official White House photographer); James "Ike" Altgens (a photographer for the Associated Press); and ... Jim Murray (a local Dallas free-lance photographer). Among these three photographers, Jim Altgens was the one who was the closest (physically-speaking) to President Kennedy when gunshots filled the air in sunny Dealey Plaza that Friday at 12:30 PM. Altgens was just a few feet from JFK's limousine when the President was fatally struck in the head by the rifle fire. Unfortunately for Mr. Altgens, however, even though he had his eye to his camera's viewfinder the instant that fatal blow to JFK occurred, the veteran AP news photog was unable to squeeze his camera's shutter to capture what may well have been the most important picture he would have ever snapped in his life. Quoting text from this book (page 66) -- "Speaking of the event over two decades later, Altgens's memory was still vivid of the horror of the moment and the later criticism by some. {Altgens said:} "The big showdown came at the time JFK received the shot to the head. I had pre-focused, had my hand on the trigger, but when JFK's head exploded, sending substance in my direction, I virtually became paralyzed. This was such a shock to me that I never did press the trigger on the camera"." Mr. Altgens did, however, capture on film two of the most widely-seen still photographs of the assassination .... one of them being his famous shot of the limousine on Elm Street just seconds before the fatal bullet struck the President; and the other assassination-sequence photo being a vie

(I am on one page, too--the Acknowledgments page, for my help with Secret Service-related inquiries) I highly recommend this excellent book by Richard Trask, author of the masterful "Pictures of The Pain." In fact, this book acts as an abridged version, of sorts, but with better, bigger graphics. Get "Pictures Of The Pain" for the whole story...get "That Day In Dallas" for the graphics. Vince Palamara-JFK/ Secret Service expert (History Channel, author of two books, in over 30 other author's books, etc.) Pittsburgh, PA BEST JFK ASSASSINATION BOOK: ULTIMATE SACRIFICE BEST JFK SECRET SERVICE BOOK: SURVIVOR'S GUILT BY YOURS TRULY :)