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Sunday, February 23, 1997

Interest in JFK killing begets years of research

By NANCY BARTOSEK

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

ARLINGTON - Jim Marrs says he was just doing his job back in 1968, when, as a reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, he began to ask questions about the John F. Kennedy assassination.

When he noticed that some things just didn't fit, his interest was piqued. So piqued that he eventually quit his reporting job to devote all his energies to the topic and published a book used as a basis for the Oliver Stone film "JFK."

In 1976, a casual conversation with a University of Texas at Arlington administrator started what has become a 20-year continuing- education class delving into the mysteries of the president's death.

"While some say that the Kennedy assassination is controversial, I say that it's just a wide gap of knowledge between people who have studied the facts about what happened and those that haven't," Marrs said from his home in Springtown. "The facts are all there, once you look at them."

Each semester, 12 to 20 students take the nine-week class, said Nancy Kinsey, director of continuing education at UT-Arlington. Attendance leapt to 80 when the movie was released in 1991.

"Everybody thinks it is the neatest thing," she said. "Jim, of course, is one of the assassination buffs. We're lucky to have someone like him to teach the class."

Cathie Jackson, director of admissions at Tarrant County Junior College, took the class recently with her husband, Earl. She said she would recommend it to anyone, even the naysayers.

"I enjoyed it very much," she said, noting that her husband is intensely interested in the subject. "Jim is very knowledgeable, and there was a very interesting mix of people in the class."

The course, now based on his book "Crossfire: The Plot that Killed Kennedy," begins with an explanation of the political climate and the forces that played a part in the assassination, Marrs said.

After a thorough discussion of the background, the class goes to Dealey Plaza and studies the crime scene.

"I've had an inordinate number of police and lawyers come take this course," Marrs said. "They can look at this and see the most basic rules of police procedure, ballistics and forensic pathology were all violated."

Not everyone is enthusiastic about Marrs' theories, however.

Journalist Hugh Aynesworth has covered the assassination and nearly every event associated with it for various publications, including Newsweek magazine. He believes that conspiracy theorists such as Marrs twist the facts to suit their own purposes.

"These guys have made a living out of the assassination," he said. "They've not only made a living, they've lied about it and they know it."

Aynesworth said that Marrs has reached various conclusions over the years and that he adapts as each theory is debunked.

Marrs said that those who criticize his theories simply don't know what they are talking about. He believes that his critics start with the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald was a lone gunman and work from there.

"Anything that supports that evidence is published," he said. "Anything that doesn't is just a buff's theory. What I'm offering is the other explanation, and it's fully supported by facts."

Those interested in more information about the Kennedy assassination can read two newly published works:

"JFK for a New Generation" by Conover Hunt, published by the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas and SMU Press, ($34.95, paperback $19.95) is available through local bookstores.

"Reporting the Kennedy Assassination: Journalists Who Were There Recall Their Experiences," edited by Darwin Payne and Laura Hlavach. This book is the printed proceedings of a 1993 SMU conference, "Reporters Remember 11/22/63," a meeting of 80 journalists who covered the assassination. It is available through Three Forks Press in Dallas. Call (214) 503-0738 to order the $10 book. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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