Week of April 1, 1981
President Regan is described by doctors as “doing extremely well.”
Reports say John Warnock Hinckley Jr., accused of shooting President Reagan,
went a months-long gun-buying spree and took a cross-country trek to
Washington. As important, was a letter he wrote to actress Jodi Foster, telling of
his unrequited love for her, and saying he killed the President. The letter also
disclosed that he planned to get even with the President because he believed
Reagan had once snubbed the 18-year-old actress, who was featured in the
movie “Taxi Driver.” She is now a freshman at Yale. Investigative sources report
that Foster had received letters over the months from Hinckley.
The FBI should have told the Secret service that John W. Hinckley Jr. was
arrested for carrying guns at the Nashville airport last year shortly after President
Carter’s arrival, Treasury Secretary Donald T. Regan said.
Week of April 1, 1981
From cooks to Vice President George Bush from secretaries to top-level officials,
several hundred members of the White House staff gathered to pose for a
photograph that will be sent to President Reagan as a get-well card. It will be
sent to Reagan, White House Press secretary James Brady, secret Service
agent Timothy McCarthy and District of Columbia police officer Thomas
Delahanty.
President Reagan suffers a little setback after he developed a fever that could
delay his return to the White House a day or two.
Soviet President Leonid I. Brezhnev arrives in Prague to attend a congress of the
Czechoslovak Communist Party and to lend an East Bloc meeting on the crisis in
Poland.
Secret Service agents arrest Edward Richardson (22), an armed Pennsylvania
man who allegedly wrote a letter promising to kill President Reagan and “bring to
completion Hinckley’s reality.”
Secret Service agent Timothy J. McCarthy, wounded eight days ago in the
attempt on President Reagan’s life, gets discharged from George Washington
University Hospital and said, “It’s great to be alive.” McCarthy probably saved
Reagan’s life by throwing himself into the line of fire, according to Secret Service
agent Jerry Parr.
Mayor
Jane M. Byrne
of Chicago says her first night in her
apartment at the crime-infested Cabrini-Green housing project
was “lovely” and she promised to stay until the complex is
cleaned up. Some problems Byrne noticed on the first night
included poor garbage pickup, faulty elevators and bugs.
Orkin Exterminating Co. Inc. will assess the buildings
sometime this week. She said Cabrini-Green is only the first
of several housing projects she will temporarily living in.
Exploding bullets hit the President - The FBI concludes after extensive testing
that at least five of the six bullets fired in the assassination attempt were
“Devastator” explosive rounds designed to fragment after impact.
Several hundred people toured the home of former President Jimmy Carter and
his wife, Rosalynn, accepting an invitation from the couple to “come see our
house.”
Week of April 1, 1981
In March, wholesale prices exploded at an annual rate of 16.2%, driven upward
by removal of federal price controls and crude oil and gasoline.
The Federal Trade Commission charges that Volkswagen of America Inc. failed
to alert its customers to potential engine damage from high oil consumption in
more than 1 million Volkswagens and Audis. The commission said the affected
cars are vehicles with water-cooled engines produced form 1974 through at least
the 1979 model years of VW Rabbits, Dashers, Sciroccos and Audis.
Video games - one of the few fads sweeping the country these days. A favorite
is something called “Space Encounters” and of course, Pac Man.
Passing - DeWitt Wallace the college dropout who funded the Reader’s Digest,
the world’s widest-circulation magazine. He was 91.
Actress
Jodi Foster
said it was only when her roommate
shook her by the shoulders and said, “Remember John W
Hinckley” that she realized the young wan who was writing
letters to her was the person charged with trying to
assassinate President Reagan. “I am very scared. I have
tried to be as clear and precise about this.”
Secret Service agents were in the audience, New Haven
police officers were stationed outside the theater and two
security guards stood near her dressing room as Jodie
Faster made her stage debut in the prison drama “Getting
Out.” The appearance was her first in public since law
enforcement officers disclosed that John W. Hinckley Jr.
had written her a series of love letters and may have tried to kill President
Reagan in an effort to win her attention.
53red Academy Awards held this week. Some
winners:
Best Picture - “Ordinary People.”
Best actor -
Robert De Niro “Raging Bull.”
Best actress - Sissy Spacek “Coal Miner’s
daughter.”
Beset original song - “Fame.”
Best supporting actor - Timothy Hutton “Ordinary
People.”
Best supporting actress - Mary Steenbergen
“Melvin and Howard.”
Week of April 1, 1981
Sports
- Pinch-hitting - Vice President George Bush throws out the fist pitch in
Cincinnati for the start of baseball season.
Vince Ferragamo
, one the Rams’ #1 quarterback is going
to the Alouettes of the Canadian Football league for a
reported $400,000 a year. Pat Haden is now the new Rams
#1 QB.
Music news
- Passing - co-founder of the band, “Canned
Heat” dies in the back of a van parked in front of his Mar
Vista (CA) home. He was 38, but was overweight at 370
pounds.
Rick Springfield is on a roll. He has a hit album and single, now, he’ll portray Dr.
Noah Drake on the hot soap “General Hospital.”
Television news -
Debuting this week “Private Benjamin”
adapted from the movie (see ad).
Friday night television -
CBS - The Incredible Hulk, The Dukes of
Hazzard, Dallas
NBC - Harper Valley, PTA, The Brady
Brides, Here Wolfe, NBC Magazine with
David Brinkley, Tonight, Tomorrow
ABC - Benson, I’m a Big Girl Now, Movie,
Nightline, Fridays (see ad).
Dallas - J.R. speeds efforts to sell Ewing
Oil.
