Former Kennedy Aide Pierre Salinger Dies

[Bossy Monkey]

Oct 16, 9:24 PM EDT

Former Kennedy Aide Pierre Salinger Dies

NEW YORK (AP) -- Pierre Salinger, who served as President John F. Kennedy's press secretary and later had a long career with ABC News, has died, the network said Saturday.

Salinger, 79, died from a heart attack at a hospital in France, the network said. It was not immediately clear when or where in France he died, ABC News said.

Salinger made headlines in 1997 when he became a prominent backer of the theory that TWA Flight 800, which crashed off Long Island in 1996 on a flight to Paris, was accidentally brought down by a Navy missile.

Salinger had said at the time that a government document showed the Navy was testing missiles off the coast of New York, and had been told planes would be flying higher than 21,000 feet. The Navy was unaware that Flight 800 was flying at 13,000 feet because another commercial plane was flying above it, he said.
(more)
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBIT_SALINGER?SITE=SCCOL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

RIP, sir.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. RIP Pierre

Never was sure about the flight 800 thing but he was quite a character.

[Catt03]

7. Rest In Peace Pierre

Good memories of him

[Cha]

2. Bummer! I remember him in 2000 or

2001 leaving for France because bush had been encounsed in the white house..said he couldn't take living here..I've thought about him often and wondered if he would return when Kerry got in?

Oh well, his last years were happy I hope.

[canuckybee]

3. One more link to the past gone.

[MADem]

4. Yeah, I am starting to feel old

RIP, Pierre.

[Bluebear]

6. Well put.

RIP Pierre

[XanaDUer]

5. R.I.P.

To a great man.

[burrowowl]

8. Yes another link to the past gone

Too bad he couldn't have lived to see Bu$h defeated.
RIP Pierre

[kurtyboy]

22. This was my first thought also

What a shame he didn't get to see America reclaimed from the grips of evil....

I grew up listening to Pierre's commentary on all things political. A new generation will never know just how classy a Press Secretary to the President of the United States of America can be.

God Speed, Pierre.

"And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest"

[undergroundrailroad]

9. RIP Mr. Salinger

O8)

Undergroundrailroad

______________________________________________________________________________

[mandyky]

10. Oh no! *sob*

I love to hear him tell stories about talking pictures of John John and Caroline while Jackie was gone!

[AFSCME girl]

28. Me too!

I can hear him now...:cry:

[KoKo]

11. Gently into that dark night, Pierre. You tried to tell us...and no one

listened. Be safe now..you are out of this hell of seeing our Democracy crumble. But, like others you fled to Paris. Don't blame you...

Rest easy.

[AFSCME girl]

29. Beautiful sentiment, KoKo01

thank you! :thumbsup:

[IndianaGreen]

12. President Kennedy kept Pierre Salinger out of the loop during missile...

President Kennedy kept Pierre Salinger out of the loop during missile crisis. Do you know why? Because Pierre's worried face would disclose there was a crisis brewing.

Pierre Salinger belonged to that generation of Presidential press secretaries that did not know how to spin and did not know how to lie. Salinger was an honorable man. Rest in peace, Pierre Salinger!

[sr_pacifica]

18. Well said n/t

[troubleinwinter]

13. Another of the GOOD men lost.

Thank you for your service, Mr. Salinger.

[annarbor]

14. Wasn't he Jackie Kennedy's cousin?

Great loss regardless.

Ann Arbor

[Isere]

15. May his memory be for a blessing...

Aurevoir, cher Pierre.

[goforit]

16. WOW!!!...........God Bless....You're in a better place!

[BrotherBuzz]

17. Lucky Pierre, another native San Franciscan salutes you!

[Bossy Monkey]

19. They've updated the story; now it's a little more dignified

Presumably the earlier link will still point to the same story; they've added some paragraphs about his actual career before they get to the airplane story.

[Wright Patman]

24. Salinger's courage

showed through in the TWA 800 coverup and his attempt to blow the whistle on it. There were a lot of people who knew the truth at the first, including all the witnesses on Long Island, but the FBI under James Kallstrom just sort of wore everyone down over the next few months and convinced them that their "lyin' eyes" were wrong.

[Rochambeau]

20. Au revoir Mr.Salinger et merci.

He was very appreciated and respected by the political and journalistic circles in France. He was exactly the kind of American France falls in love with. His French was delicious of precision and clearness. A page is turned really. Sadness....

[Bossy Monkey]

21. Further details

Salinger died Saturday from heart failure following surgery last week at a hospital in Cavaillon to implant a pacemaker, his wife, Nicole "Poppy" Salinger, told The Associated Press Sunday in a telephone interview.



Again, I'm assuming that the earlier link will still point to the updated story. After this paragraph are a few beautiful passages slamming Bush. Meaning no disrespect, I have a feeling that's how he'd have liked to be remembered.

[Piperay]

23. R-I-P Dear Pierre

you will be missed. :cry:

[depakid]

25. Like he announced when Robert Frost died:

"He had promises to keep and miles to go, and now he sleeps." ~January 29, 1963.

Sleep well, Pierre. You'll be remembered.

[Tsiyu]

26. Aaawwww. What a Loss

Here is another story:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6262332/


He was a guest on Malloy's show when I met this fine gentleman. I was thinking about him just a few days ago, wishing today's journalists had even a fraction of his integrity.

Keen mind. Big heart. Maybe he can twiddle some dials up there (if heaven exists and swept him up) and be our "election angel."

At least he lived his last days in a place of beauty and peace.

[Hand]

27. One of the great ones...

of the New Frontier. I remember that he was always hanging around after JFK's great press conferences. He was the token cigar-chomping, overweight, unathletic big voice in that notoriously physically fit administration.

Quite a character--a real original. He was a bright star and oddly charismatic in his way.

Au revoir, Pierre--and not Adieu. On t'aime!

:hi: :cry: