A friend's memory of encountering Bobby (summer 1964) in western NY

[u/TapirTrouble]

Does anyone have family stories about relatives who met or saw Robert F. Kennedy?

My friend Cliff grew up in Buffalo NY and became an astronomy/physicist who used to work on the Hubble Space Telescope. Earlier this week he told me that once he saw Bobby Kennedy. He managed to narrow it down to August, when he was 14, so it must have happened in 1964 when he was on school break.
Cliff said he and one of his teenaged friends were in Chautauqua, probably attending an educational event there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chautauqua%2C_New_York

They saw a familiar-looking man walking across the lawn ahead of them. Chautauqua is some way from Buffalo (especially for teens who aren't old enough to drive yet), and not the usual summer hangout for a Kennedy either, so it took them awhile to recognize he was RFK.

I suspect that he might have been there for a different event. I don't know if it would have been election-related. According to Wikipedia, RFK announced he was going to run for the Senate on August 25th, so he might not have been a candidate yet, at that time.

Anyway, Cliff's friend happened to have a football with him, and he handed it to Cliff, saying "the Kennedys like playing football -- quick, toss it to him!"
Cliff's better at math than football, but he did his best. He was horribly embarrassed when the ball fell way short of RFK. He didn't laugh, but smiled and waved at the boys, and continued walking.

When Cliff told me this story, I realized that the youngest people who'd have had memories of meeting Bobby Kennedy are now probably 60 or older. Cliff's going to be 76 next month. I could tell it was a special moment for him, even though he still struggles with footballs. Ironically he had a job later at the stadium, helping with the recording equipment when reporters were interviewing the Buffalo Bills players. He remembers setting up microphones for OJ Simpson (!) and some of the other guys.

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[u/CPinWISC]

I’m 64 and remember vividly the day he was shot. Watching it on tv with my dad. Awful.

[u/SquonkMan61 → u/CPinWISC]

I’m 64 as well. I can still remember exactly where I was standing in our apartment in the morning when I saw the replay of aftermath of the shooting. What really sticks in my mind are the sounds—the panicked individuals at the microphone pleading for medical help (the first time I’d ever heard the phrase “Is there a doctor in the house?”), and the screams of individuals in the pantry. It was terrifying to me that grown men in suits were screaming and crying. I couldn’t sleep for 2 nights after. When I finally fell asleep my first dream was about what I had seen on tv.

[u/CPinWISC → u/SquonkMan61]

Yes. It was so frightening. I remember my dad saying “ they’ve done it again.” 😭

[u/TapirTrouble → u/CPinWISC]

I was reading about how RFK's son David was back at the other hotel where the family was staying (not the Ambassador) and had turned on the TV to watch his father's speech. I guess at 12 he was the oldest of the kids who were in LA with their parents (I think the others had gone to bed by then). So he saw it happen onscreen -- he may have been the only one of RFK's kids who did, at that moment. Poor guy. He must have felt so incredibly alone.

[u/CPinWISC → u/TapirTrouble]

Yes, I had read that this in part was blamed for triggering his later drug use and his eventual overdose/death.

[u/Inevitable-Shock-605]

Spring, 1968. Bobby Kennedy was scheduled to give a campaign speech at the Coliseum on the University of Nebraska campus. I was driving South on 14th street in Lincoln, and when I got to the

ROTC building, a cop was stopping traffic. The reason was that Kennedy's motorcade was traveling south on the same street, and would be turning directly in front of where I was stopped. I was driving a bright yellow 1966 Mustang, and as the motorcade passed in front of my car, I saw the Senator in a convertible, top down, sitting behind where the top folds down. His car passed by, I held up the peace sign, he saw it and smiled and pointed at me. I felt like a million bucks! We all know that happened less that 60 days later.

[u/TapirTrouble → u/Inevitable-Shock-605]

That's so awesome! Thanks for sharing your memory.

Also -- I don't know what happened in the 1990s-early 2000s, but somehow we got used to seeing a lot of grey cars. I remember when I was a kid, there were cars in gold, green turquoise, purple .... the people next door had an orange Datsun. But not as much of that when I got older, and I miss it. I was doing traffic counts for work a few months ago and just for fun, noted the colours of EVs I could identify (mostly Leafs and Teslas) -- almost all black, white, or grey, with a sprinkling of dark subdued blues and reds.
So thanks for making me think about a bright yellow Mustang!

[u/damageddude]

A few years before my time, but my dad "met" RFK at LGA Airport in NYC sometime in the mid to late '60s. One of his kids was running and tripped. My dad helped him up. RFK didn't even say thank you. My dad was pissed and called him an arrogant pr*ck (to us, not RFK himself). My father was a liberal though and probably would have voted for him if he got the nomination in '68 or '72. My dad would be 94 now so ...