Monday, March 30, 1981 ...
It was a Monday and I remember hearing about what had happened as I walked to a lecture at UWM's Bolton Hall. After hurrying over to the Union, where I knew there would be television coverage, I watched in silence with fellow students in disbelief; the president had been shot.
Years later I would meet President Reagan in person at a White House luncheon. There he was in a trademark brown suit saying hello to me as he walked into the room. After our lunch with a handful of regional media I was going to ask him about why he wore brown so often. I never got the chance because I wasn't called on. It really didn't matter that much to me though, the president just said hello to me at his luncheon at the White House!
Then there was the matter of trying to figure out if the stuff in that soup bowl on the table was really soup or not. I recall the entire funny story of that day on the PhilCast show today, and also play some audio from the day the president was shot. He remains the only standing president to survive a shooting assassination attempt.
You'll also hear a moving tribute I produced, a montage of the sounds from the day that Ronald Reagan was buried.
As I say on the PhilCast show today, if there is such a thing as the most beautiful place in the world to be buried, perhaps it is where Ronald Reagan was laid to rest.
Listen to the PhilCast for more ...
Phil is a Milwaukee guy. He was born and raised in Milwaukee, a graduate of UW-Milwaukee in 1982. He first took to the airwaves in the Milwaukee market in the fall of 1978 when he began attending classes at UWM.
Married to Sandy, another Milwaukeean. No children but a Cairn terrier named Gabby. (Phil is very active with the Wisconsin Humane Society).
Phil has made a connection with the people of this area through his decades of reaching out to them via the radio while talking about the events and news stories that affect the entire community. That connection is reflected in the hundreds of e-mails and blog comments that have been sent or posted in support of his next project, the PhilCast podcast.
