Photo credit: Janet Donovan
To say that guests at the 60th Anniversary of The Georgetowner ‘walked on water’ would be an understatement. Blame it on the Blood Moon.
Hosted by Publisher Sonya Bernhardt on the rooftop of the Capella Hotel, it was a walk down memory lane with the bi-weekly tabloid-size newspaper that launched about the same time that Elvis recorded his first demo in Nashville; when I Love Lucy, Donald O’Connor & Eve Arden won the 6th Emmy Awards and The first Church of Scientology was established in Los Angeles, California.
No one was better able to capture those sixty years in Georgetown though than David Rothman, Publisher for 42 of the 60 years.
“I have many memories of the village I served — its people, its places and its events. Here are moments in Georgetown I recall with love. I could go on, but these are some memories for our newspaper’s 60th anniversary.”
“Sunday brunches at Doc Dalinsky’s Georgetown Pharmacy with the likes of Herblock, David Brinkley, Joe Califano, Ben Bradlee and Collins Bird. Celebrations at Wisconsin and M for the championship wins by the Redskins, Hoyas and Bullets. Parades down the length of Wisconsin Avenue as part of the annual Francis Scott Key/Star-Spangled Banner celebrations in the early 1980s. Louis Alexander Traxel brandishing two antique pistols to keep order at a Citizens Association meeting. Lunching regularly with Virginia Luce Allen at the Georgetown Senior Center. Experiencing the “Rocky Horror Show” at David Levy’s Key Theater.”
Mary Bird
“Meeting Muhammad Ali at Chris Murray’s Govinda Gallery. Conducting a walking tour of Georgetown for actor Eli Wallach and his wife actress Anne Jackson. Admiring CAG’s many presidents, including Grosvenor Chapman, Charles Poore, Olcott Deming, Peter Belin and Juan Cameron. Christening Francis Scott Key Park on M Street. The Georgetowner conceived the idea, and thanks go to Jonda McFarlane, Norm Larsen, Randy Roffman, Robert Devaney and others for making the dream come true. The day Martin Luther King was killed and the mandatory curfew placed in Georgetown – and the Vietnam War protests in Georgetown. Working with Gary Tischler, the most versatile writer in D.C. Having Grace Bateman, Rory Quirk, Bob Sellers, Debbie Dean, Suzi Gookin and Mary Bird write for the newspaper.Averell and Pamela Harriman — and, of course, Katharine Graham.” David Rothman
Gary Tischler, Champion’s Mike O’Harro and Robert Devaney
