1987 was a ho-hum year for me, but it was a great year for my daughter Joy. He became a teenager at the end of 1986, a thirteen-year-old. Suddenly, she went from being a little girl to a teenage girl. I know that it did not happen overnight, but I suddenly realized it. She was an eighth grader. I remembered being an eight grader and feeling like the most important person in the school, since all the other grades were below me. First, she had to take a test to get into Marian Catholic HS in December. Then, she got the results in January, with a positive yes. Then she continued with her eighth grade High School Algebra Class at Marian HS. In June, 1987, we had the big celebration of her eighth-grade graduation. I felt that she was leaving Margaret’s hands into mine. Margaret had been a teacher at O’Toole all the years that Joy was going there from first to eighth grade. Now, she would be Margaret free, as she started HS. She would be a high school teenager. In grade school, Joy started taking flute music lessons from a Marian music teacher once a week. Now she was ready to join the Marian HS Band. For the next four years, Joy would learn about the world of music and competition from the famous Mr. Greg Bimm, the music director at Marian Catholic HS. I never knew what commitment was until I saw what he expected from his students. They started practicing a month before high school started. They had a music class every school day. They had rehearsals before classes and after classes. Joy would become part of the Marian Catholic Marching Band. Then they went to competitions. One after another, they kept winning these Marching Band competitions. Margaret sat in the rain in Bloomington, Illinois, to watch them win the Illinois State Championship. I never even knew that there was a state High School Marching Band Championship. By November, I took some time off to watch my thirteen-year-old freshman daughter compete at the national level. I was just happy that they had made it out of the regionals and the sectionals. I gained a whole new respect for music and marching bands. Then to my surprise, she and the Marian Band won the National Championship, something that I had never dreamed about. My daughter at age 13, not quite 14, had won a national championship. All I could remember as a 17-year -old was getting my driver’s license, winning a New Jersey state championship in debating, and losing the New Jersey state championship mile race. This was not just a state championship. This was a national championship. I do not know how much prouder I could be. When the first semester rankings came out in January for the first semester, Joy was ranked second, probably the highest ranked of all the band members. Clearly, she had made the transition from grade school to high school easily. I knew that she was going to have a great life. Do you have a daughter that you are proud of?
Category: memories
TV in 1986
In 1986, News Corporation completed its acquisition of the Metromedia group of companies, thereby launching the Fox Broadcasting Company. FBC launched as the fourth commercial broadcast television network, the first such attempt since 1967, with its very first program “The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers.” NBC unveiled its current peacock logo at the finale of its 60th anniversary special. General Electric completed its acquisition of RCA, the owner of NBC. Three new networks also launched: Festival Cable, C-SPAN2, and QVC Cable. Merv Griffin sold his company, Merv Griffin Enterprises, to Coca-Cola for 250 million dollars. The second annual WrestleMania event was broadcast on pay-per-view. Disney Channel began broadcasting on a 24-hour-a-day schedule. CNN was the only news service to nationally broadcast NASA’s Space Shuttle Challenger spacecraft disintegration. Rod Roddy became the permanent announcer of the CBS daytime game series “The Price Is Right,” replacing Johnny Olson, who had died the previous October. MTV broadcast “Pleasant Valley Sunday,” a 22-hour marathon of Monkees episodes. After four seasons, NBC canceled “Remington Steele,” that led to the announcement that Pierce Brosnan was being named the newest James Bond. NBC broadcast “Return to Mayberry,” which reunited sixteen original cast members from “The Andy Griffith Show,” that became the highest-rated television film of 1986. Geraldo Rivera hosted a live two-hour syndicated special “The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vault,” infamously coming up empty-handed. NBC broadcast the two-part miniseries “The Deliberate Stranger,” starring Mark Harmon as the real-life serial killer Ted Bundy. Al Michaels made his debut as the new play-by-play announcer for Monday Night Football, as Frank Gifford was transferred to a color commentating role. The opening ceremonies for the first annual Goodwill Games, an international multi-sport event created by Ted Turner in response to the Olympic boycotts of the period, was broadcast on TBS. A tornado was broadcast live by NBC affiliate KARE in Minneapolis when the station’s helicopter pilot makes a chance encounter. The film-review program of Siskel & Ebert made its debut in syndication that lasted until 2010. The local Chicago show Oprah Winfrey went national. ABC aired the broadcast network television premiere of Raiders of the Lost Ark. While walking to his New York City home, CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather was accosted and beaten on the sidewalk by two men. The game show “Double Dare” premiered on Nickelodeon, and it became the most watched cable channel. Liberace made what turned out to be his last public appearance on a prerecorded interview with Oprah Winfrey. Popular shows like “The Cosby Show,” “Family Ties,” and “Cheers” dominated the ratings. There was a revival of Card Sharks with new shows such as “Matlock,” “Fast Times,” “The Flintstone Kids,” “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show,” “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” “Crime Story,” “Head of the Class,” “L.A. Law,” and “Too Close for Comfort.” Ending in 1986 were “Diff’rent Strokes” (1978-1986), “Benson” (1979-1986), “The Love Boat” (1977-1986), “The Merv Griffin Show” (1972-1986), “The Paper Chase” (1978-1986), and Trapper John, M.D. (1979-1986). What was your favorite TV show in 1986?
Music in 1986
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, held its first induction ceremony with many rock pioneers attending. The 28th Annual Grammy Awards were presented in Los Angeles, hosted by Kenny Rogers. Phil Collins’ No Jacket Required won Album of the Year, while USA for Africa’s We Are the World won both Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Sade won Best New Artist. Also, Whitney Houston won her first Grammy as Best Pop Vocal Female Performance. The 31st Eurovision Song Contest, held in Bergen, Norway, was won by a Belgium with the song “J’aime la vie”, performed by Sandra Kim, a 13-year-old, the youngest-ever Eurovision winner. The Monkees began one of the biggest grossing tours of the year. Bob Geldof was awarded an honorary UK knighthood in recognition of his work in organizing Live Aid and other concerts that raised millions of dollars for the starving people of Africa. Madonna released her True-Blue album, which topped the charts in over 28 countries as the bestselling album of 1986. Queen and the Police broke up as bands. I really liked some of the songs of 1986, especially “That’s What Friends Are For” by Dionne and Friends (Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, Elton John, and Stevie Wonder). I liked Lionel Richie with “Say You, Say Me,” “Dancing on the Ceiling,” and “Love Will Conquer All.” Whitney Houston was great with “How Will I Know” and “The Greatest Love of All.” Madonna had a couple of good songs, “Papa Don’t Preach” and “Live to Tell.” I liked John Cougar Mellencamp with “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.” and especially “Small Town.” I also liked other songs like “On My Own” with Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald, “Party All the Time” by Eddie Murphy, “Addicted to Love” by Robert Palmer, “Friends and Lovers” by Gloria Loring and Carl Anderson, “Higher Love” by Steve Winwood, “Stuck with You” by Huey Lewis and the News, “Take My Breath Away” by Berlin, “You Give Love a Bad Name” by Bon Jovi, “When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going” by Billy Ocean, “Mad About You” by Belinda Carlisle, “Something About You” by Level 42, “True Colors” by Cyndi Lauper, “Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins, “Manic Monday” by The Bangles, “Walk of Life” by the Dire Straits, “Crush on You” by The Jets, “Take Me Home Tonight” by Eddie Money, “Living in America” by James Brown, “Why Can’t This Be Love” by Van Halen, “Typical Male” by Tina Turner, “Walk This Way” by Run–D.M.C., “Sweet Love” by Anita Baker, “Your Wildest Dreams” by Moody Blues, and “Go Home” by Stevie Wonder. What was your favorite song of 1986?
Sports in 1986
In the January Super Bowl XX, the Chicago Bears won 46–10 over the New England Patriots with the MVP Chicago’s Richard Dent, but a dynasty never occurred, as they have not won a Super Bowl since then. Linebacker Lawrence Taylor of the NY Giants won the NFL MVP. The Oklahoma Sooners won 25–10 over the Penn State Nittany Lions to win the NCAA national championship. Quarterback Vinny Testaverde of the Miami Hurricanes won the Heisman Trophy. In one of the most famous FIFA World Cup matches, Argentinian football player Diego Maradona scored one handball goal and then dribbled past the entire English football team to score a second goal, with Argentina winning 2–1 against England. Then Argentina defeated West Germany 3–2 to win the 1986 World Cup in Mexico City. In July, the inaugural Goodwill Games were held in Moscow, marking the first international event in a decade for competition between the USA and the USSR. Dave Righetti saved 46 games for the NY Yankees, breaking a record shared by Dan Quisenberry and Bruce Sutter. Jeff King of the University of Arkansas was the #1 overall pick in the 1986 MLB draft selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Arizona Wildcats defeated Florida State Seminoles 10–2 in the College World Series. A routine slow roller slipped through Bill Buckner’s legs, allowing the New York Mets to complete a stunning comeback in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series against the Boston Red Sox. Then the Mets won game seven and the 1986 World Series against the Boston Red Sox, 4 games to 3. In the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, the Louisville Cardinals, coached by Denny Crum and led by Pervis Ellison, won 72–69 over the Duke Blue Devils, coached by Mike Krzyzewski and led by Johnny Dawkins, the College Player of the Year. The Boston Celtics won 4 games to 2 over the Houston Rockets for the NBA title, as the Celtic’s Larry Bird won the NBA MVP Award. In boxing, Marvin Hagler retained the World Middleweight Championship with an 11th-round knockout of John Mugabi. Mike Tyson knocked out Trevor Berbick in round 2 to become the youngest world heavyweight-boxing champion at 20 years old. In the Tour de France, Greg LeMond was the first winner from the USA. In the World Figure Skating Championships, Brian Boitano and Debi Thomas, both from the USA, won titles. In golf, Jack Nicklaus became the oldest Masters winner as age 46. Raymond Floyd won the U.S. Open. Greg Norman won the British Open, and Bob Tway won the PGA, but Greg Norman was the PGA Tour money leader with $653,296. Bruce Crampton was the Senior PGA Tour money leader with $454,299. LPGA Tour money leader was Pat Bradley with $492,021. There was no USA Triple Crown horse winner. The Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading scorer, and the MVP during the regular season was Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers. However, the Montreal Canadiens won 4 games to 1 over the Calgary Flames to win the Stanley Cup. Ivan Lendl and Boris Becker split the tennis Grand Slam events in tennis, while Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova split the woman’s Grand Slam events. ABC Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year was Debi Thomas, in Figure Skating. The AP Male Athlete of the Year was Larry Bird, and the AP Female Athlete of the Year was Martina Navratilova. Coach Joe Paterno of Penn St was named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year. What do you remember about sports in 1986?
Movies in 1986
I saw about half of the popular movies of 1986. I did see Tom Cruise in Top Gun. It was okay. I think I liked Crocodile Dundee a little better, but it was silly. I did not see Platoon, The Karate Kid Part II, or Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. I thought that Back to School was silly. I did not see Aliens, The Golden Child, or Ruthless People. However, I loved Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. I also saw Down and Out In Beverly Hills with Richard Dreyfus and Bette Midler, which was pretty good. I liked Pretty in Pink, another John Hughes movie about Molly Ringwald celebrating her sixteenth birthday in a Chicago suburb. I also liked Tom Hanks in the Money Pit, about buying a house with a few problems. Sweet Liberty with Alan Alda and Michael Caine was okay. I also liked Legal Eagles with Robert Redford, Debra Winger, Daryl Hannah, and Brian Dehenney. I really liked Peggy Sue Got Married, directed by Francis Ford Coppola with Kathleen Turner and Nicolas Cage. I liked the story about the small basketball team in Indiana, Hoosiers with Gene Hackman as the coach. About Last Night was about a bunch of young college graduates on the near north side of Chicago with Jim Belushi, Demi Moore, and Rob Lowe, that was interesting. I think I saw the next movie on TV later called Blue Velvet, a kind of crazy movie by David Lynch and starring Kyle MacClaughlan, Dennis Hooper, and Laura Dern. I remember the Color of Money, directed by Martin Scorsese with Paul Newman and Tom Cruise. Perhaps the funniest movie of the year was the Three Amigos, directed by John Landis with Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short. The 58th Academy Awards were held in Los Angeles, with Out of Africa winning Best Picture and six other awards. Actors Alan Alda, Jane Fonda, and Robin Williams co-hosted the show. The Color Purple failed to win any of its eleven nominations. Other winners included Cocoon and Witness, Anna & Bella, Back to the Future, Broken Rainbow, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Mask, Molly’s Pilgrim, The Official Story, Prizzi’s Honor, Ran, The Trip to Bountiful, White Nights, and Witness to War: Dr. Charlie Clements. This telecast had 37.8 million viewers in the USA. By virtue of her father John and grandfather Walter’s wins for Best Director and Best Supporting Actor respectively for 1948’s The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Best Supporting Actress winner Anjelica Huston made them the first three-generation Oscar winning family. For the first time in Oscar’s history, all lead acting nominees were born in the USA. Argentina’s The Official Story became the first Latin American film to win the Best Foreign Language Film category. What movie do you remember from 1986?
Famous deaths in 1986
Bruce Norris, NHL, died at 61. Marty Friedman, NBA, died at 96. Bill Veeck, MLB, died at 71. Joseph Kraft, American columnist, died at 61. Mike Garcia, MLB, died at 62. Donna Reed, American actress, died at 64. James H “Jim” Crowley, US football player, died at 83. Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist, died at 94. Claire James, American actress died at 65. Gordon MacRae, American singer and actor, died at 64. L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Church of Scientology, died at 74. Lilli Palmer, German actress, died at 71. Christa McAuliffe, died at 37, Dick Scobee died at 46, Ellison Onizuka died at 39. Greg Jarvis died at 41, Judith Resnik, died at 36. Michael J. Smith died at 40. Ronald McNair died at 35, all in the Challenger space shuttle disaster. Ticker Freeman, American songwriter died at 74. Alva Myrdal, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1982, died at 84. Dick James, British dance band vocalist, died at 65. Minoru Yamasaki, American architect, died at 73. Sid Stone, American comedian, died at 82. Howard Da Silva, died at 76. Red Ruffing, MLB, died at 80. James Eastland, American politician, died at 81. Tommy Douglas, Father of Medicare, died at 81. Jacques Plante, NHL, died at 57. Laura Z. Hobson, American TV writer, died at 85. Howard Greenfield, American song lyricist, died at 50. Georgia O’Keeffe, American sculptor and painter, died at 98. Jacob K Javits, American politician, died at 81. Ray Milland, Welsh actor, died at 81. Sherman Kent, father of intelligence analysis, dies at 82. Mark Dinning, American singer, died at 52. James Cagney, American actor, died at 86. Jerry Paris, American director, died at 60. O’Kelly Isley, American rock singer, died at 48. Simone de Beauvoir, French author and feminist, died at 78. Mircea Eliade, Romanian religious historian, died at 79. Harold Arlen, American popular song composer, at 81. Otto Preminger, theatre and film director, producer died at 80. Wallis Simpson, wife of British King Edward VIII, died at 89. Broderick Crawford, American actor, died at 74. Robert Alda, American actor, died at 72. Herschel Bernardi, American actor, died of a heart attack at 62. Fritz Pollard, NFL, died at 92. Theodore H. White, American journalist, died at 71. Chester Bowles, American ambassador and writer, died at 85. Desi Arnaz, actor, producer and bandleader, died at 69. Cary Grant, classic movie star, died at 82. Cliff Burton, American songwriter and musician, died at 24. Gia Carangi, first Supermodel, died at 26. Scatman Crothers, actor and musician, died at 76. Ted Knight, comedy roles on TV, died at 64. Benny Goodman, bandleader, died at 79. Len Bias, NBA, died at 22. Vincente Minnelli, film director, died at 83. Keenan Wynn, American character actor, died at 70. Sterling Hayden, actor, died at 70. Forrest Tucker, actor, died at 67. Kate Smith, singer, died at 79. V. C. Andrews, novelist, died at 63. Harold Macmillan, former British PM, died at 92. Perry Ellis, fashion designer, died at 46. Hank Greenberg, MLB, died at 75. Marlin Perkins, American zoologist, died at 81. W Averell Harriman, NY governor, died at 95. Hyman Rickover, USA Navy Admiral, died at 86. Bobby Layne, NFL, died at 60. Alan Jay Lerner, lyricist, died at 86. Rudy Vallee, singer, died at 85. Norm Cash, MLB, died at 52. Hal B. Wallis, film producer, died at 88. Jacqueline Roque, second wife of Pablo Picasso, died at 59. Roy Cohn, American Lawyer, died at 59. Mae Capone, wife of gangster Al Capone, died at 89. Do you know anyone who died in 1986?
Disasters in 1986
A Canadian National train heading westbound collided with a Via Rail train in Hinton, Alberta, with 23 people killed and 71 injured. The Soviet liner MS Mikhail Lermontov sank in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand, as well as the Soviet passenger liner SS Admiral Nakhimov collided with the bulk carrier Pyotr Vasev in the Black Sea, killing 398. Hotel New World in Singapore collapsed, with 33 killed. A three-day Egyptian Conscripts Riot in Cairo, left at least 25 people dead. The West Berlin discothèque La Belle, a known hangout for USA soldiers, was bombed, killing three and injuring 230. At least 15 people died after USA planes bombed targets in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and the Benghazi region. British journalist John McCarthy was kidnapped in Beirut and three others killed in retaliation for the bombing of Libya. The Bangladeshi double-decked ferry Shamia capsized in the Meghna River, in southern Barisal, Bangladesh, killing more than 500 people. Typhoon Wayne formed over the South China Sea, going on to become one of the longest-lived tropical cyclones at 21 days, killing 490 people. The 6.0 Mw Kalamata earthquake shook southern Greece with a maximum Mercalli intensity of 10, leaving at least 20 dead, 300 injured, and causing $5 million in damage. A magnitude 5.7 earthquake destroyed most of the Bulgarian town of Strajica, killing 2 people. The 5.7 Mw San Salvador earthquake shook San Salvador, El Salvador, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of 9 with up to 1,500 people killed. Hailstones weighing 2 pounds fell on the Gopalganj District, Bangladesh, killing 92. A hotel fire in San Juan, Puerto Rico, killed 97 and injured 140. Titan 34D-9 exploded just after launch while carrying the final KH-9 satellite. The Mindbender at Galaxy land inside West Edmonton Mall derailed, and killed three riders. In Edmond, Oklahoma, a USA Postal Service employee gunned down 14 of his coworkers before committing suicide. The Lake Nyos disaster, a limnic eruption, occurred in Cameroon, killing nearly 2,000 people. In Istanbul, two Abu Nidal terrorists killed 22 and wounded 6 inside the Neve Shalom Synagogue during Shabbat services. Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet survived an assassination attempt by the FPMR, but 5 of Pinochet’s bodyguards were killed. Mass anti-government protests broke out across Kazakh, USSR, resulting in the massacre of over 165 protesters. Mexicana Flight 940 crashed near Maravatío, Mexico, killing 167. A bomb exploded on a TWA flight from Rome to Athens, killing 4 people. Aeroméxico Flight 498, a Douglas DC-9, collided with a Piper PA-28 over Cerritos, California, killing 82. Pan Am Flight 73, with 358 people on board, was hijacked at Karachi International Airport by four Abu Nidal terrorists. Mozambican President Samora Machel’s plane crashed in South Africa, killing him and 33 others. 45 people were killed in the 1986 British International Helicopters Chinook crash. The MV Amazon Venture oil tanker began leaking oil while at the port of Savannah, Georgia, resulting in an oil spill of approximately 500,000 USA gallons. A major environmental disaster near Basel, Switzerland, polluted the Rhine, when an agrochemical storehouse caught on fire. Do you remember any disasters of 1986?
Great events in 1986
The Gateway Bridge in Brisbane, Australia, opened as the world’s longest prestressed concrete free-cantilever bridge. The UK and France announced plans to construct the Channel Tunnel. The USA Senate approved a treaty outlawing genocide. The USA Senate allowed its debates to be televised on a trial basis. At the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the keywords of Glasnost and Perestroika. President Ronald Reagan signed the Goldwater–Nichols Act into law, making official the largest reorganization of the USA Department of Defense, since the Air Force was made a separate branch of the military service in 1947. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met in Reykjavík, Iceland, to continue discussions about scaling back their intermediate missile arsenals in Europe, but it ended in a failure. President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines was ousted from power and went into exile in Hawaii after 20 years of dictatorial rule. Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was shot to death on his way home from the cinema in Stockholm, Sweden. Former United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim was elected president of Austria. Pope John Paul II was the first pope to officially visit the Great Synagogue of Rome. The Voyager 2 space probe made its first encounter with Uranus. Halley’s Comet reached the closest point to the sun, during its second visit to the solar system in the 20th century. The Soviet Union launched the Mir space station. Rutan Voyager completed the first nonstop circumnavigation of the earth by air without refueling. Pixar was founded by John Lasseter along with Steve Jobs. Microsoft Corporation held its initial public offering of stock shares. Eric Thomas developed LISTSERV, the first email list management software. The first child born to a non-related surrogate mother happened. On May 25, my birthday, “Hands Across America” took place when more than 5 million people formed a human chain from New York City to Long Beach, California, to raise money to fight hunger and homelessness. I was not part of it. The New Zealand Homosexual Law Reform Act decriminalized consensual sex between men over the age of 16. In London, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, married Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey. Desmond Tutu became the first black Anglican Church bishop in South Africa. Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov was permitted to return to Moscow after six years of internal exile. Three African Americans were assaulted by a group of white teens in the Howard Beach neighborhood of Queens, New York. The average per capita income in Japan exceeded that in the USA. The first commercially available 3D printer was sold. Informal stock trading was done in Shenyang, China, the first of its kind in Communist China. The Nobel Peace Prize went to Elie Wiesel (1925-2016), a holocaust survivor. What do you remember about 1986?
The Iran–Contra affair
The Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa reported in November, 1986, that the USA had been selling weapons to Iran in secret, to secure the release of seven American hostages held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon. The Iran–Contra affair was a political scandal in the USA that centered on arms trafficking to Iran between 1981 and 1986, facilitated by senior officials of the Reagan administration. As Iran was subject to an arms embargo at the time of the scandal, the sale of arms was deemed illegal. The administration hoped to use the proceeds of the arms sale to fund the Contras, an anti-Sandinista rebel group in Nicaragua. Further funding of the Contras by legislative appropriations was prohibited by Congress, but the Reagan administration continued funding them secretively using these non-appropriated funds. The administration’s justification for the arms shipments was that they were part of an attempt to free seven USA hostages being held in Lebanon by Hezbollah. The idea to exchange arms for hostages was proposed by an expatriate Iranian arms dealer. Some within the Reagan administration hoped the sales would influence Iran to get Hezbollah to release the American hostages. The investigation of this affair was impeded when large volumes of documents relating to the affair were destroyed or withheld from investigators by Reagan administration officials. In March, 1987, President Reagan finally made a nationally televised address, saying that he was taking full responsibility for the affair, stating that what began as a strategic opening to Iran deteriorated in its implementation into trading arms for hostages. The affair was investigated by Congress and by the three-person, Reagan-appointed Tower Commission. Neither investigation found evidence that President Reagan himself knew of the extent of the multiple programs. Additionally, USA Deputy Attorney General Lawrence Walsh was appointed an independent counsel in December, 1986, to investigate possible criminal actions by officials involved in the scheme. In the end, several dozen administration officials were indicted, including Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North. Eleven convictions resulted, some of which were vacated on appeal. The rest of those indicted or convicted were all pardoned in the final days of the presidency of George H. W. Bush, who had been vice president at the time of the affair. In Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981–1987, journalist Bob Woodward chronicled the role of the CIA in facilitating the transfer of funds from the Iran arms sales to the Nicaraguan Contras spearheaded by Oliver North. According to Woodward, then-Director of the CIA, William J. Casey, admitted to him in February, 1987, that he was aware of the diversion of funds to the Contras. Domestically, the affair precipitated a drop in President Reagan’s popularity. His approval ratings suffered the largest single drop for any USA president in history, from 67% to 46% in November, 1986. Do you remember the Iran-Contra scandal?
Joy went to a Marian High School math class in 1986
Meanwhile, Joy, my daughter, was getting ready for eighth grade in 1986. She was going to graduate from St. Lawrence O’Toole grade school in June, 1987. Where would she go to High School? She could go to the local public high school, Rich South, in Richton Park, but Margaret and I decided that she would be better off at Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights. However, all the Catholic High Schools in the Chicago Archdiocese all had standardized tests that students had to take before they could enter a Catholic High School. Since Margaret, my wife, taught at St. Lawrence O’Toole, I felt that she had a better understanding of what was going on. She strongly recommended Marian Catholic as a high school. She also knew that they had a special program for eighth grade students from the various local Catholic grade schools in math. They had a special first period class for these eighth graders in algebra. Obviously, students would have to take a test to see if they qualified. I knew that Joy was a good student, but because of her December birthday, she was nearly a year younger than most of her classmates. Anyway, she was chosen as one of the five girls from O’Toole to take this class. The other girls were Katie Fote, Cindi Bianchi, Megan Siegert, and Bridget Neu. They were all good students. They had to get to Marian HS for first class at 8:00 AM and get transportation back to O’Toole for the rest of their classes. Margaret brought Joy on Monday and Tuesday, and then because of my schedule, I brought her over on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday morning. On Thursday, I picked up all five to get them back to O’Toole for the rest of their classes. It turned out good, because the first freshman class standings after one semester at Marian Catholic HS had Cindi Bianchi first, Joy Finnegan second, and Katie Fotie third. Megan Siegert and Bridget Neu did not go to Marian HS. That is when I knew that I would never have to worry about Joy and school. She was doing fine. She had good abilities, but she also applied herself extremely well. She also turned out well with math, as she became a successful CPA after college. Did you take any special classes when you were in eighth grade?
Gene Finnegan Remembers Living Eighty Wonderful Years 