A "Flood" of Memories! *

                                      *
   I spent a good part of my Saturday in the State Capital
at the annual meeting the the Pennsylvania Historical
Association.
   I had gone there to with my friends Bill Lewis and
Mae Thomas to speak about the Titanic.
But, while there, I spotted an old familiar face. I saw
it on the cover of a book!
    The book, entitled "Dapper Dan" was about the late
congressman Dan Flood!
    It was written by William Kashatus and it's had some
very good reviews.
    It brought back a lot of memories!
    One of my fist assignments as a young part time
radio station employee was to record Dan Flood at a
speech he was giving at a church in Hazle Township
back in 1959.
     I hauled a large, and heavy, reel to reel tape
recorder to the church and set up the microphone about
a half hour before the congressman arrived.
    Then I worked the controls of that machine as the
congressman, in his best theatrical voice, went from
a whisper to a roar and back again as I desperately
tried to follow him by turning my volume control
up and down.
    I was in a sweat by the time he finished, hoping I
had captured everything he said. Luckily I did!
   Over the years I must have interviewed Dan
Flood a hundred times or more.
    I remember how he called most everybody "Jake"
because he never remembered this name. I know
I was "Jake" to hi on more than one occasion!
    I remember him telling me the Laurel Run Mine
Fire would burn for over a hundred years!
That was in the mid 60's and it's still burning.
    I remember the day he collapsed in the Luzerne
County Courthouse on one of those hot humid days
that followed the Agnes Flood in 1972.
    I, along with about 5 other reporters, waited for
him outside the hospital the following day when he
was released.
    "How are you feeling Congressman" I asked.
5 minutes later one of the other reporters had to
help hold my microphone as my arm tired and "Dapper
Dan" continued to deliver an answer to my question!
    Dan ran into controversy at the end of his career
and stepped down from congress.
    I believe, if he suddenly came back from the dead,
he'd be re-elected to his old Congressional seat!
I'm sure there are a lot of "Jakes" who would vote
for him in a heart beat!
    Hope you remember "Dapper Dan" and that all your
NEWS is good!