JOHN KEEL NOT AN AUTHORITY ON ANYTHING

Jhārgrām John made a number of short films in the ’60s; he gives a partial list of them here. Among other things, he experimented with animation, both drawn and stop-motion. “The Amoeba That Refused to Split” never progressed beyond 85 seconds of blurry silent footage, including several frames burned by the projector bulb. I don’t know how to upload it, so here it is for you to savor in storyboard format. We can only regret its abrupt ending. If John had continued it, it might have told the moving story of one of history’s earliest rebels.

We continue with the coverage of the Silver Bridge disaster in the Athens Messenger. The Dec. 29 issue has three articles by Mary Hyre: on the continuing efforts to clean up the wreckage, on the plans to construct a new bridge, and on the community spirit in Point Pleasant.

We continue with the coverage of the Silver Bridge disaster in The Athens Messenger. On December 28, there was only one article, on the continuing “search for cars and bodies.”

John died July 3, 2009. Rest in peace, John! You’re still remembered, and we still read your books.

This is a rare photo of me with John. He’s the one with the mustache.