Where he Went to University

FFP is only a few miles from all the schools he attended. The closest, of course, is the University of Texas where we frequently walked from our downtown condo. (Currently, due to COVID-19 we are avoiding getting outside our apartment as much as possible.)  Here FFP is looking across the fountain on the mall looking toward the Tower. Because of the events of August 1966, that edifice always gives him pause. Today is Theme Day at City Daily Photo and 'school' is the theme. Click here to see what others have offered for this theme.

My City's Skyline

There are plenty of skyline pictures in this blog showing soaring downtown office and condo buildings. But, when we saw that the theme day for City Daily Photo was "My City's Skyline" for the first of the month of August, we immediately realized that an image of UT's iconic tower would appear here. When it was finished in 1937, this 29-story, over 300-foot tower had no competition on the skyline except for the Capitol Building itself. (Amazingly the Capitol is about the same height.)

Fifty years ago, on August 1, 1966, a sniper ascended to the observation deck of the tower and killed and wounded a number of people. A memorial is being held today in the Memorial Garden north of the tower with the unveiling of a memorial to those who died that day.

Click here for other interpretations of the theme from around the world.

Towering Symbol

We've probably posted lots of shots of the UT Tower. I like this ones of the steps from the east side of campus. That's FFP in the picture. And a sculpture that makes you go 'hmmm!'

Gingerbread Tower

This year's Four Seasons decorations are all about Austin and Texas. Their gingerbread village includes lots of Austin's iconic places. The University of Texas tower is shown here. I have digitally altered the lights a bit so it appears that there is a number 1 there. No, the boys haven't done that well in football but the women of Longhorn Volleyball brought home a national championship trophy last night. If you are in Austin, find time to go see the Austin 'village' in the Four Seasons lobby. I'll show you a few more shots leading up to Christmas.

National Championship

The University of Texas has had some struggles in sports of late but earlier this month the golf team clinched a national title and the tower glowed orange to commemorate it. Thank to Jackie for shooting this from downtown. Later when the team is home they light it up again with window lights forming a big '1' for the national championship.

Objects May Appear Closer

Shot this from the Sky Lounge terrace at Four Seasons Residences last Friday as the sun was going down. Zoomed in on the Capitol. This creates an illusion where the UT Tower and other UT-area buildings appear closer both to the camera and to the Capitol than they actually are. I think the tower is about 14 blocks from the Capitol. For extra points, identify the building to the left of both.

Three Brave Men

I apologize for not sticking with the theme of "bright colors." I just got up in the early morning and had an impulse to post this photo. Linda reminded me about the theme after I had this photo and text up.

I always look on August 1st as my "second birthday." Reason being, at approximately 11:57 a.m. on August 1, 1966, the "Tower Sniper" Charles Whitman, chose to shoot a high-powered rifle round through the body of a man standing about four feet to my right instead of me. (He died in a local hospital's ER about two-and-a-half hours after that.)

Largely because of the wonders of the Internet, I have managed to meet and become acquainted with many of the former police officers who ascended the University of Texas tower and took Whitman out that fateful day. On April 1, 2007, I was privileged to go to the top of the tower with them and relive the moments they spent up there.

Here you see three of them in the elevator they used on August 1, 1966, to reach the top. Left to right, they are Houston McCoy, Jerry Day and Phillip Conner. McCoy is the man who put two shotgun rounds in Whitman's head and ended the rampage at around 1:20 p.m. Jerry Day, armed with nothing more than his service revolver, was headed towards Whitman from the south side of the observation deck. Phillip Conner had stationed himself in the west window of the deck, trying to get a shot at the sniper from there. (Whitman was in the northwest corner.) If you want to read my account of what I went through, here is the link:
http://www.austinprop.com/Whitman.htm

Forty-four years later, I can still remember so much about that day.

Big Twelve Champions

The University of Texas eked out a win over Nebraska last night to win the Big Twelve Championship. The UT Tower was solid orange for a conference champtionship and had '09 spelled out. Thanks to our friend Jackie for snapping this picture which I cropped a bit so you could get the effect.