Chamblee54

WFMU Beware of the Blog had a tribute to Art Linkletter, after his death, at 98, on May 26, 2010. The story had a link to We Love You, Call Collect, the spoken word entertainment recorded by Art, and Diane, a few months before she self-defenestrated. One of the comments sent PG down a google rabbit hole. “Recently, I was poking around for info on Bobby Jameson/Chris Lucey, who put out the enigmatic Songs of Protest and Anti-Protest, in ’65. Turns out Jameson was pals with Diane Linkletter right up until the time of her death. The liner notes to Rev-Ola’s reissue of “Songs of Protest…” (released, apparently, without Jameson’s permission) repeated the falsehood that Jameson had supplied Linkletter with the LSD that killed her.” This story is about to get weird.
Bobby Jameson aka Chris Lucey was a piece of work. He was recently honored by Ariel Pink with Dedicated To Bobby Jameson Mr. Jameson was a neighbor of Diane Linkletter, and roommate of Ed Durston. Mr. Durston was with Diane Linkletter when she took her final step. There is a blog, with many stories. What follows is just one version of October 4, 1969. It is not verified, and will differ from other accounts. Selections from four posts are used. Bobby Jameson died May 12, 2015.
The Rev-Ola Records story appears to be real. “In my hands is the paper fold out from Rev-Ola Records reissue of the Chris Lucey album-cd “Songs Of Protest” from 2002 … distributed by Rev-Ola Records …, without my permission or knowledge … “Art Linkletter had a television program entitled “Kids Do The Damndest Things” and he couldn’t have been more right about that on the night of October 5th 1969. On this date, his own daughter, Diane Linkletter (originally turned on to LSD by none other than Bobby Jameson) apparently took her own drug-induced leap into infinity.”
“Nancy Harwood and I ended up subletting an apartment from Timmy Rooney, one of Mickey Rooney’s sons. It was located across the street from the Shoreham Towers, where Diane Linkletter lived on the 6th floor. … We ended up with a roommate in the new place, because he already lived in the apartment. His named was Ed Durston. I didn’t want another roommate, but it was the only way Nancy and I could afford to live there. …”
“The apartment was on the second floor of the building. Below us lived another musician named Jimmy George. … Ed Durston was a shady dude to say the least, but he was highly intelligent and quick witted, so if nothing else, he was fun to spar with mentally and verbally. I had to keep an eye on him though, because his interest in Nancy was obvious. Along with just about everybody else during those times, Ed was a loady, and to some extent that was more of a convenience than a problem. Ed always knew where to get drugs, so he did serve a purpose … Both Timmy Rooney, and his brother Mickey Jr, were always dropping by the apartment to see how we were doing. They were well acquainted with Diane Linkletter. … Nancy and I would get to know Diane as well.”
Here is Bobby Jameson’s October 4 story. “I went up … to talk to Ed Durston after Timmy Rooney told me Ed was in the apartment when Diane jumped from her 6th floor kitchen window. I also wanted to see Jimmy George, who lived below the apartment where Nancy and I had lived with Ed. From what I’d learned, Jimmy had actually been outside his apartment, and seen Diane falling to the pavement below. At first he’d thought someone was playing a practical joke and had thrown something out the window, but then realized it was a person. He didn’t know at first it was Diane, and he’d seen her hit the ground. He was in shock, but ran over to where the person hit the pavement, and that is when he realized it was Diane. He told me he could not do anything for her, and it made him feel like an asshole. He said she was still alive when he reached her, and that she looked up at him but couldn’t speak. He said she was bleeding a lot from her head, and he wanted to help her, but didn’t know what to do. …”
“When I got to Ed, he was doing better than Jimmy, but he still looked like he’d been through the ringer. I asked him, “What the fuck happened Ed, what the fuck was going on?” He looked up at me from where he was sitting and said, ” I don’t know man, I really don’t know. We were just there, the two of us,” he said, “talking a long time about life. You know, like half the night …”
“Then she just started acting crazy.” “Whatta ya mean Ed, crazy how?” I asked. “Well, we were sitting on the couch, and she got up and went out on the balcony, and just started climbing up on the railing like she was gonna jump off. I ran out there and drug her off, and pulled her back into the living room, and pinned her down on the floor and said “What the fuck are you doing Diane? What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Ed was ringing his hands as he told me the story. He was having a lot of trouble going over that night. “So did she tell you what was wrong?” I pleaded. “No,” said Ed, “She told me she was just screwing around and everything was OK and to let her up because it was just a joke.” Ed kept rubbing his hands together like he couldn’t get them clean. He just kept rubbing them together. He continued on, “I made her promise me that if I let her up she wasn’t gonna do anything crazy, and she said, “I promise.” “I let her up, and she said she was going to go in the kitchen and get a glass of water, and I said OK.” Ed looked like he might start crying at any second, and I didn’t blame him, because it was too awful to comprehend.”
“She walked into the kitchen and I turned around to watch her and she just climbed up on the countertop by the window over the sink. I ran in the kitchen and tried to grab her, but she just went out the window before I could get there.” He paused for a moment, as if to get his courage up and said, “I had a hold of her ankle man, I had her by the ankle, but I couldn’t hold her, I just couldn’t hold her man.” I stood there in front of Ed with this crystal clear picture of Diane’s kitchen in my head, with her going out the window, and Ed trying to hold her by the ankle. I just broke down and cried like a little boy. I just couldn’t believe that it had happened. I stood there in front of Ed crying, for I don’t know how long. I just sobbed, because there wasn’t anything I could do about it either.”
Art Linkletter Control Freak is the last Bob Jameson post to be excerpted today. It is a doozy. In this post, we will be introduced to Harvey Dareff. We will hear more about him later.
“This is a picture of the Shoreham Towers, the building where Diane Linkletter lived. To the left is Horn Ave. where Nancy and I lived with Ed Durston. As I mentioned earlier, Diane had a major problem with her dad, Art Linkletter, who was a control freak and attempted, successfully, to intervene in every single attempt by Diane to have a boyfriend. When I got to know Diane, she had met and was extremely happy about it, a guy name Harvey Dareff. …”
“When her dad found out about Harvey he pulled his usual bullshit and appeared on the scene to carry out his dirty work. Art Linkletter showed up to meet Harvey one day and shoved a $10,000 check in Harvey’s face and told him to take the money and stay away from Diane. Harvey took the check and tore it into little pieces and threw it in Art’s face and said “No” thus canceling out Art’s theory that all any guy wanted from Diane was her money. …”
“Art liked CONTROL, he would go to any length to get his way, period. More than anything else in Diane Linkletter’s life, this incident proved to be the final straw and catalyst that pushed Diane over the edge. In conversations with me she complained that her life was not worth living in, unless she could get her father to stop fucking up every relationship she attempted to have. She told me she had even started having relationships with other women, because she was so goddamned lonely …”
“The trouble with people like Art Linkletter, is that they have constructed a false image of goodness about themselves, and use it to manipulate the world around them to their own satisfaction. Prior to Diane’s death, Linkletter’s oldest daughter’s husband also committed suicide by shooting himself. Maybe someone ought to ask what the fuck was going on in that family that caused 2 young people to end their lives in rapid succession. Art Linkletter used his daughter’s death to blame all things on drugs and thus removing himself as any possible cause for the tragedy. My experience in 1969 with Diane, was that her father Art had more to do with her death than any other single factor there was. ”
This is part two of a three part series. (one three ) Pictures are from The Library of Congress. Image #06663: “Fifth International Pageant of Pulchritude and Eleventh Annual Bathing Girl Revue, Galveston, Texas, August 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1930”

When we last checked in on @nhannahjones, she was at the center of a national hissy fit about tenure. This is not usually a hot button issue, but people enjoy controversy. In the few weeks since then, there have been some developments.
Nikole Hannah-Jones will not join UNC-Chapel Hill faculty without tenure This was the day before the chamblee54 piece. “In their letter, Hannah-Jones’s legal team argues information was withheld from her when she signed her fixed-term contract with the school.”
Deadline set for lawsuit in Nikole Hannah-Jones tenure controversy “On Thursday, attorneys … sent a letter to Charles Marshall, the school’s vice chancellor and general counsel. The letter laid out Hannah-Jones’ case and demanded UNC-Chapel Hill make good on what they said was its initial offer of a tenured position for Hannah-Jones … “We intend to bring litigation to vindicate Ms. Hannah-Jones’ rights under federal and state law. This letter is to demand that UNC take immediate action to remedy its conduct to avoid suit by making an unconditional offer to Ms. Hannah-Jones of a tenured appointment as full professor no later than June 4, 2021.”
If you want to make a bad situation worse, have your attorney give an ultimatum. This correspondent is not a lawyer, and was not privy to the negotiations. Is mentioning tenure during contract negotiations a valid reason to break the contract? The dispute went back and forth for a few weeks, and was the occasion for much recreational outrage.
UNC trustees grant tenure to Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of The 1619 Project, after weeks of criticism The journalist celebrated on twitter. There were some hints she would not take the job.
Nikole Hannah-Jones chooses to teach at Howard over UNC-Chapel Hill Ms. Hannah-Jones went on “CBS This Morning” to announce her decision. She said, regarding the initial offer, “I accepted it.” As for why she was denied tenure: “It’s pretty clear that my tenure was not taken up because of political opposition, because of discriminatory views against my viewpoint, and, I believe, my race and my gender.” Ms. Hannah-Jones’s hair was less orange than it was in the graduation gown picture.
This feature will not discuss whether she should have received tenure, or the reasons for this denial. These issues have been discussed, at obnoxious length, elsewhere. Nor will it discuss the shady behavior of the Slanderous & nasty-minded mulattress. (When researching this post, a copy was made of the NHJ twitter profile. It included “Knight Chair @unchussman.” The profile has since been updated. NHJ is known for “revising” her twitter account.)
The issue today is fulfilling your contractual obligations. Her legal team admits “Since signing the fixed-term contract, Ms. Hannah-Jones has …” The time to DEMAND tenure is before you sign a five year contract. Given the ethical issues with The 1619 Project, this should not be surprising. Pictures are from The Library of Congress. More #1619Gate episodes are available. One Two Four Five

Did Art Linkletter’s daughter, Diane, jump out a window while high on LSD? This was one of those indications that the sixties would soon be over. But what really happened? The more one looks, the stranger it gets. Let’s look at the basic story. This is a three part series.(one two three)
“At 9 a.m. on the morning of 4 October 1969, Diane Linkletter lept from the kitchen window of her West Hollywood apartment, plunging six floors to the sidewalk below. She died at County USC Medical Center at 10:30 a.m. The preliminary cause of death was given as “multiple traumatic injuries” according to a coroner’s statement. An autopsy was conducted that afternoon.”
Soon the rumors started to “fly.” Diane was tripping on LSD, thought she was a bird, and jumped out the window. When her father, beloved TV personality Art Linkletter, heard the news, he went into attack mode. He blamed her death on LSD, and those who advocate for its use. Art was still raging eleven years later when he confronted Timothy Leary.
Part of the weirdness was Art Linkletter, who some called the squarest person in America. He hosted an afternoon TV show. Every afternoon, a group of kids would be on. Kids Say the Darndest Things. Art would mug for the camera after every one. This video, hosted by Bill Cosby, showcases the talent. Art was also a popular pitch man for commercials. Two of these commercials featured Diane. (Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, Circus Nuts)
Here is the snopes synopsis of October 4. Many things in this account are contradicted elsewhere. “Edward Durston was in Diane’s apartment at the time of the fall. … He arrived at 3 a.m., after Diane telephoned him sounding “very upset” and asked him to come over. She baked cookies shortly after his arrival, and they sat up all night talking.”
“About 9 a.m. … Diane Linkletter went into her kitchen and didn’t return. Durston went looking for her but failed to “reach her as she approached the window … She went over to a window. I tried to grab her and she went out.” She was found lying on the sidewalk immediately below her kitchen window. After interviewing Durston, LA homicide detective Lt. Norman Hamilton was convinced the girl had been in a “despondent, depressed, emotional state,” that she was “concerned with her identity, her career.” She had complained she “could not be her own person.” …
“According to Art Linkletter, Diane had called her brother, Robert, just shortly before 9 a.m. on the morning she died, and he was hurrying to her side at the time she jumped. Art Linkletter asserted … that Diane had taken LSD the night before her death, with her panic over its effects leading to the fatal plunge. (Art spoke for the family on the subject of Diane’s death. It appears, however, he was relying upon Robert’s account of his phone call with Diane for that tidbit of information. By all accounts, Art Linkletter hadn’t had direct contact with his daughter during the last twenty-four hours of her life.)”
Edward Durston … made no mention of Diane telephoning her brother. According to Robert Linkletter, however, after he spoke with Diane, he then spoke with Durston, asking Durston if he could handle things until Robert got there. …
“Whatever the truth of the phone call, Robert’s account of it appears to be the source of all claims that Diane’s death was related to LSD, both the original claims that she had taken drugs the night before and died while on an out-of-control trip, and the later claims that she had experienced flashbacks from a bad trip taken six months earlier and was panicked into taking her own life.” (There are unverified stories about Robert Linkletter.)
Was Diane tripping that morning? We honestly do not know. The toxicology report shows no sign of drugs in her system Of course, the dosages used for LSD are very small. They might not show up in a post-mortem blood test. This source says “LSD was detectable in blood samples taken 16 hours after participants had been given 200mcg of LSD.” This report was written in 2019. The test used might not have been available in 1969. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.

Wrongfully Arrested Because Face Recognition Can’t Tell Black People Apart This headline. posted on facebook, led to a discussion of Facial Recognition Technology (FRT). The headline pushed all kinds of buttons for PG. People are aroused, to the breaking point, about racism. The person who posted the story disagrees. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. This is a repost.
The reply posted by person #1 featured some other links. One was for a video, Wrongfully Arrested Because of Flawed Face Recognition Technology. To PG, this is more reasonable, and less inflammatory, than “… Can’t Tell Black People Apart.” It is also easier to believe. PG can accept that FRT has more problems with POC, than with PWOC. To make a blanket claim like “… Can’t Tell Black People Apart” seems like an dangerous exaggeration.
The conversation sat still for the rest of the day. Person #1 is an attorney, who used to live in Atlanta. This is where PG met him. Person #1 is an intelligent, thoughtful person, someone you should listen to. PG might disagree with person #1 on this issue, while still having respect for him.
Then person #2 entered the conversation. PG has never met person #2. All he knows is what he sees on her facebook page. It shows pictures of a vacation in Havana. Person #2 is clearly white. The fact that she took a vacation in Havana indicates that person #2 enjoys a certain amount of privilege. Here is what person #2 added to the conversation:
“”…flawed face recognition technology” sounds like there was a glitch, not like the entire technology was designed in a way that supports white, male normativity (aka white supremacy). Your suggestion that this is the same message is false and suggests we should avoid being more upset by avoiding the actual issue here—because we should frame matters in ways that obfuscate the real problem. We can’t begin to solve these problems if we are afraid to actually say what they are. Yeah, people are going to be upset. THEY SHOULD BE.” … “If you are following the protests and the recent changes that have happened, you know exactly what the anger has led to. If Black anger makes you uncomfortable, address your white fragility. Try to let go of your tone policing and actually engage with the issues. That’s work you have to do on your own.”
University Avenue cleared of barricades near property where Rayshard Brooks was killed. This was the story PG posted in response to “you know exactly what the anger has led to.” In the aftermath of the Rayshard Brooks killing, an armed gang took over the burned out Wendy’s on University Avenue, where the incident occurred. “Residents of the south Atlanta neighborhood in the area had grown frustrated by the blockade that formed – guarded by what they described as armed citizens who they said were not protesting but using the space for their own gain. Residents said that the people would block the street and sometimes not allow them to get in or out of their neighborhood.”
This is one of many examples of where the anger caused by current events has spilled over to harm people. Often, the “collateral damage” did nothing to deserve the abuse they are getting. In many cases, it is POC who are suffering the brunt of the damage. When a privileged white person, like #2, rabble rouses people into action, this is what can happen. University Avenue is the first exit on i75/i85 south of downtown, and is an important access point for many neighborhoods. Many of the people affected by the turmoil on University Avenue are white.
After hearing talk about “white fragility” and “tone policing,” PG is inclined to dismiss person #2 as a cliche spouting idiot. Unfortunately, that seems to be the approach many people have to complex issues. The idea that FRT is designed to reinforce white supremacy would be very amusing to the Chinese government. They are major players in FRT, using it to enable Asian hegenomy.
Lets examine the notion that FRT is racist by design. If this were the case, the developers would go the extra mile to make fewer mistakes with POC. If the goal of FRT is to keep the lawless POC masses under control, then it would help if the system actually worked on POC.
One of the articles cited by person #1 mentioned announcements by some major tech industry players that they were not going to sell FRT services to police. The article linked above mentions concerns about race/gender bias. However, the greater focus here is the overall privacy concerns about FRT.
Is it really a good idea to focus on the racial problems with FRT? There have long been overall privacy concerns about Big Brother. Unfortunately, many people will see an headline about racism and either tune it out, or think that it does not affect them. (“If you are tired of talking about racism, how would you like to live with it”) The human rights concerns about FRT affect everyone. To dismiss these concerns as “white fragility” is counterproductive, insulting, and insane.
This feature is approaching the attention limit of many readers. The facebook thread, and the identity of persons #1 and #2, were hidden out of respect for the privacy of the people involved. Even a cliche-spouting SJW deserves privacy.

A jury acquitted Jeronimo Yanez of charges related to the death of Philando Castile. Diamond Reynolds, the girlfriend of Mr. Castile, made a dramatic facebook video immediately after the shooting. There has been outrage on social media regarding the verdict. This is a repost.
PG is not a lawyer, nor did he sit on the jury of this trial. Justice is not a popularity contest, determined by who is shouting the loudest outside the courtroom. PG wanted to learn a bit about the trial, and why the jury came to the decision it did. This post is about that trial.
No opinion will be given as to the guilt, or innocence, of Jeronimo Yanez. The decision of the jury should be respected. They heard the evidence and arguments. The jury deliberated for 29 hours. At one point, the jury appeared to be deadlocked, with 10 jurors wanting acquittal, and 2 wanting to convict. Sources report that the holdout jurors were white. The final jury was 10 white jurors, and 2 black jurors.
Minnesota Public Radio has a series of podcasts, 74 Seconds: The death of Philando Castile and the trial of Jeronimo Yanez. These shows provide more information than facebook posts.
Officer Yanez says that he saw a gun in Mr. Castile’s hand. The people who handled the body disagree on how far down in Mr. Castile’s pocket the weapon was. Miss Reynolds says, at various times, that Mr. Castile was reaching for his driver’s license, and unbuckling the seat belt. Neither the facebook video, or the squad car dashboard video, gives any information on these points.
The dashboard video was shown in the opening statement by the prosecution. This video was shown again several times during the trial. The prosecution felt this helped their case, or they would not have shown it. In PG’s IANAL opinion, showing this video repeatedly may have been a strategic mistake.
The defendant does not have to testify. In many cases, the defendant does not. Officer Yanez testified in this case. He told his story… he saw Mr. Castile with a gun in his hand, and made the split second decision to fire. Officer Yanez was the man who had to make a decision, fast.
Officer Yanez gave an interview to investigators from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) after the shooting. “Prosecutors told jurors at trial that Yanez used “it” several times instead of “gun” or “firearm” in the interview recorded the day after the shooting, proof that he never saw Castile’s gun. But prosecutors didn’t play the audio recording during their three-day case, which is the common practice. They tried unsuccessfully to play it during the defense’s case in an attempt to catch Yanez contradicting himself. Leary (Ramsey County District Judge William H. Leary III) denied the move.”
This post is not a comprehensive review of all the issues in this trial. Many of the issues… marijuana use, gun permits, racial identities … are explored in great detail in other locations. The podcast linked to above goes into great detail, and makes an effort to be fair to all parties. Angry opinions, and incendiary rhetoric, are widely available. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.