Boys Hear Former LIFE Bureau Chief Discuss Acquisition of Film of JFK’s Assassination

Richard B. “Dick” Stolley, Los Angeles bureau chief for LIFE magazine when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated 50 years ago on November 22, 1963, was a special guest speaker at Browning’s Upper School assembly on November 20, thanks to the efforts of a Browning parent who is the chief executive for Hearst International. Mr. Stolley, author of “The Day Kennedy Died,” spoke to the School community about his purchase on behalf of LIFE magazine of Abraham Zapruder’s film of JFK’s assassination. TIME notes that, five decades later, the Zapruder film is “one of the 20th century’s indispensable historical records.”

Mr. Stolley asked Head of Upper School Jim Reynolds to screen a documentary that explains the events from November 22, 1963, forward. After viewing the video interview he gave during a summer school session for journalists at Yale University, Mr. Stolley entertained questions from the boys and their teachers.