George Wallace's daughter lives in shadow of past

PHILLIP RAWLS, AP

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — For 50 years Peggy Wallace Kennedy has lived in the shadow cast by her father, Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace, when he stood in a doorway and tried to stop two black students from integrating the University of Alabama.

That single episode in the American civil rights movement — his infamous "stand in the schoolhouse door" — attached an asterisk to her name, she says. It's a permanent mark she can never erase, despite her own history as a moderate Democrat who gave early support to candidate Barack Obama for president in 2008.

"If you're George Wallace's daughter, people think the asterisk will always be there. 'Oh, your father stood in the schoolhouse door,'" she said in a recent interview.

Kennedy was just 13 at the time. Her mother, Lurleen Wallace, had whisked her away to a lake fishing cabin with her three siblings that day, so they would be nowhere near the wrenching historic drama in which her father played a leading role.

George Wallace, a pragmatic politician and a populist, may or may not have been a true believer in segregation — even though he took office in 1963 with a pledge: "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever."

On June 11, 1963, he stood in the doorway of the University of Alabama's Foster Auditorium to keep Vivian Malone Jones and James Hood from enrolling for classes.

Wallace stepped aside after President John F. Kennedy federalized the Alabama National Guard.

Jones and Hood enrolled, and Wallace became a national political figure who would run for president the following year.

On the 50th anniversary, all the major players — Wallace, Jones, Hood and Nicholas Katzenbach, the Kennedy administration's representative in Tuscaloosa — are dead.

Wallace died in 1998 after serving four terms as governor, but never once did he discuss the events of June 11, 1963, with his daughter.

Kennedy says his motivations then remain a mystery to her even now.

"He never talked with me about it. I don't even know that he talked with my mother about it. I never heard them have a conversation about the schoolhouse door stand at all," Kennedy said.

Looking back 50 years, Peggy Kennedy recalled that she was a young teenager who was terrified about what might happen to her father amid the tensions and potential violence of the conflict. And as the years went by, somehow it was just a subject they could not discuss.

"When the subject was broached it was brushed aside," she told an audience last March.

She speculates that maybe he was just keeping a political promise, but she can't say for sure.

Culpepper Clark, author of the 1993 book "The Schoolhouse Door: Segregation's Last Stand at the University of Alabama," believes Wallace's daughter is correct in her assumption.

"Wallace clearly bonded with and identified with white voters in Alabama and he kept a promise," Clark said.

Kennedy said her father's actions were difficult for her to understand because her mother, who also became governor, had raised her not to think that she was better than anyone else.

"At that time I just didn't understand why he would just stand and not let two African-Americans enter a university," she said.

But she said the episode marked an irreversible change for the Wallace family.

"That day was kind of the end of our hope for a simple life. It was really the beginning of our living under the shadow of the schoolhouse door for my whole life."

She visited her ailing father frequently in the last years before his death. The conversations were short, due to his health, and he wanted to talk about politics, not the past. After all, "politics was the family business," she said.

But she never found out why he felt he had to stand in the schoolhouse door. "I definitely regret that," she said.

What Kennedy does know is that her father changed after an assassination attempt during his 1972 presidential campaign. A bullet fired by Arthur Bremer — whose self-proclaimed intent was to assassinate either Wallace or then-President Richard Nixon — left Wallace paralyzed from the waist down and in constant pain for the rest of his life.

"What it did for him, he realized how much he had made the African-American community suffer, and he realized he needed to be forgiven, genuinely forgiven," she said.

Wallace went to black churches to apologize for his segregationist views and won a fourth term as governor in 1982 with widespread black support. He honored Jones and Hood and welcomed civil rights leaders like Jesse Jackson into his Montgomery home.

"He was a different man when he passed away. I can assure you of that," Kennedy said.

Kennedy is also a different woman. For years, she stayed in the background as her husband, lawyer Mark Kennedy, rose through the political ranks to become a justice on the Alabama Supreme Court. Only after his retirement did she step out of the shadows, first by endorsing Obama in 2008. She told voters that America still needed healing and "having Barack Obama to lead will give us back our power to heal."

Then in 2009, she attended events in Selma to remember "Bloody Sunday" — the day in 1965 when her father's state troopers attacked voting rights marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

In Selma, she introduced U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder — Jones' brother-in-law — and they shared a wish that Jones had lived to see the moment. Then she marched across the bridge holding hands with U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, who was severely beaten during "Bloody Sunday."

Wallace said she crossed many bridges in her life, but none as important as that one.

Last March, she joined Lewis and other members of Congress on a civil rights pilgrimage at the University of Alabama, and she walked through the same wood-and-glass doors her father sought to block. The daughter of the governor who promised "segregation forever" saw a campus with a student body that is almost 13 percent black.

Kennedy, 63, said she has tried in recent years to step out of the shadow of the schoolhouse door and show that families can change.

"Maybe I gave somebody a little bit of hope," she said.

Korea talks raise hopes; history may scuttle them

FOSTER KLUG, AP

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The two Koreas will hold their highest-level talks in years Wednesday in an effort to restore scrapped joint economic projects and ease animosity marked by recent threats of nuclear war. That in itself is progress, though there are already hints that disputes in their bloody history could thwart efforts to better ties.

Still, just setting up the two-day meeting in Seoul, through a 17-hour negotiating session that ended early Monday, required the kind of diplomatic resolve that has long been absent in inter-Korean relations, and analysts say it could be a tentative new start. It's also a political and diplomatic victory for new South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who expressed her country's interest in talks and rebuilding trust even as she batted back North Korean war rhetoric with vows to hit back strongly if attacked.

"It's very significant that they're sitting down and talking at all ... after all the heated rhetoric this spring," said John Delury, an analyst at Seoul's Yonsei University. "It shows political will. Both sides could have called it off."

The main topics will be stalled rapprochement projects left over from friendlier days, including the resumption of operations at a jointly run factory park just north of the border. It was the last remaining symbol of inter-Korean cooperation until Pyongyang pulled out its workers in April during heightened tensions that followed its February nuclear test.

North Korea, however, is also pushing for something Seoul hasn't agreed to: A discussion Wednesday of how to jointly commemorate past inter-Korean statements, including the anniversary Saturday of a statement settled during a landmark 2000 summit between liberal President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, the current ruler's late father.

This matters to North Korea because the June 15 statement from the 2000 summit, along with another 2007 leaders' summit, include both important symbolic nods to future reconciliation and also economic cooperation agreements that would benefit the North financially.

Those commitments faded after Park's conservative predecessor, Lee Myung-bak, took office in 2008. His insistence that large-scale government aid be linked to North Korea making progress on past commitments to abandon its nuclear ambitions drew a furious reaction from Pyongyang. Relations deteriorated further in 2010 after a North Korean bombardment of a South Korean island killed four people, and the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan killed 46 sailors.

A Seoul-led international investigation blamed a North Korean torpedo for the Cheonan attack, and South Korea has demanded an apology from the North before it will allow any exchanges. Pyongyang denies any role in the sinking, and the two sides will presumably bring those irreconcilable positions with them Wednesday.

Since her presidential campaign, Park has mixed a tough line with policies of engagement, aid and reconciliation with the North — a recognition of the frustration many South Koreans felt about Lee's hard-line policies.

Analyst Park Hyeong-jung said North Korea wants the past statements on the agenda to forge a "relationship that is to their advantage. They want to hold the present South Korean administration accountable for the declarations of past administrations."

"This is the first time in a long time both sides are meeting," said Park, a senior research fellow at the government-affiliated Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul. "Rather than a breakthrough, this week's talks are only the beginning."

Both Koreas have also agreed to discuss resuming South Korean tours to a North Korean mountain resort and the reunion of separated families, officials said.

There's little chance that the narrowly defined talks will tackle the crucial question of pushing Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear bombs. North Korea has said it will never give them up, though the U.S. and other countries say it must if it is to rebuild its relationship with the rest of the world.

It's still unclear who will represent each side Wednesday. Seoul said it will send a senior-level official responsible for North Korea-related issues while Pyongyang said it would send a senior-level government official, without elaborating. A minister-level summit between the Koreas has not happened since 2007.

Dialogue at any level marks a positive sign in the countries' recent history, which has seen North Korean nuclear tests and long-range rocket launches. The armistice ending the three-year Korean War that was signed 60 years ago next month hasn't been replaced with a peace treaty, leaving the Korean Peninsula technically at war.

Analysts express wariness about North Korea's intentions, with some seeing the interest in dialogue as part of a pattern where Pyongyang follows aggressive rhetoric and provocations with diplomatic efforts to trade an easing of tension for outside concessions.

After U.N. sanctions were strengthened following North Korea's third nuclear test in February, Pyongyang, which is estimated to have a handful of crude nuclear devices, threatened nuclear war and missile strikes against Seoul and Washington, pulled its workers from the jointly run factory park at the North Korean border town of Kaesong and vowed to ramp up production of nuclear bomb fuel. Seoul withdrew its last personnel from Kaesong in May.

Chang Yong-seok, a senior researcher at Seoul National University's Institute for Peace and Unification Studies, said he is optimistic that the Koreas can resume work at Kaesong and reunions for separated families. But he said a quick breakthrough is unlikely because North Korea's gesture for closer ties runs counter to South Korea's demand for apologies.

———

AP writer Elizabeth Shim contributed to this report from Seoul

TSA agents stop Chewbacca actor over light saber

THOMAS PEIPERT, AP

DENVER (AP) — Not even Chewbacca and his light saber get a free pass with airport security before being cleared to travel.

Transportation Security Administration agents in Denver briefly stopped "Star Wars" franchise actor Peter Mayhew recently as he was boarding a flight with a cane shaped like one of science-fiction's most iconic weapons.

Airport officials say they wanted to inspect the huge walking stick before allowing Mayhew, who is more than 7 feet tall, on the plane.

Mayhew tweeted "Giant man need giant cane" from his verified Twitter account when the incident happened June 3. He also posted photos showing a TSA agent holding the replica laser sword, which comes up to his chest.

Many subsequent media reports made it seem as though security officials buckled to pressure from Chewie's fans in allowing the actor to board the flight to Dallas with the cane, but officials say that characterization is inaccurate.

"Because of the unusual weight of the passenger's cane, a security officer alerted a supervisor. Less than five minutes later the passenger and cane were cleared to travel. Social media played no role in the determination," the TSA said in a brief statement released to The Associated Press on Saturday.

There was no word on whether agents were initially suspicious that Chewie had a weapon more commonly associated with other "Star Wars" characters, including Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and Yoda.

Attempts to contact Mayhew, 69, for comment — or roar — were not immediately successful.

(and so the TSA continues it's anti Jedi agenda, we must send a message to Emperor Palpatine that this sort of prejudice will not stand! )

10 women, many in 90s, escape burning Calif. limo

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say ten elderly women escaped unharmed when the limousine they were in burst into flames while idling in Northern California.

The Sunday morning fire in Walnut Creek comes a little more than a month after five nurses were killed while trapped inside a burning limousine on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge.

Fire officials say they were called to a gated community in Walnut Creek around 11:35 a.m. Sunday for a vehicle fire and quickly put out the burning 2009 Lincoln Town Car.

Many of the women are in their 90s. They were apparently headed to Sonoma to celebrate a friend's 96th birthday.

Passenger Mary Chapman told KGO-TV she and two other women got out and helped others escape. She says the other passengers were dependent on walkers and canes

(so why are all these limos randomly catching fire?)

Rival Koreas make counterproposals for talks

FOSTER KLUG, AP

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The rival Koreas on Friday traded counterproposals over where to meet for talks Sunday, as mutual interest in mending abysmal ties clashed with mistrust stemming from years of animosity and hard-line stances.

South Korea's suggestion that officials meet in a truce village straddling the heavily armed border between the countries came hours after Pyongyang said it favors holding talks in its border city of Kaesong.

South Korea on Thursday had suggested high-level talks Wednesday in Seoul, but North Korea said Friday it wanted lower-level talks first because the countries' "relations have been stalemated for years and mistrust has reached the extremity."

Two officials with Seoul's Unification Ministry, which deals with North Korea matters, said South Korea made the latest proposal through a cross-border Red Cross communications line newly reopened by the North. The South Korean officials spoke on condition of anonymity, citing office policy.

Pyongyang didn't immediately respond to Seoul's most recent offer, but even the restoration the Red Cross line in the truce village of Panmunjom signals an easing of tensions. The line, used for exchanging messages on humanitarian and other issues, was shut down by the North in March during a weekslong period of animosity marked by North Korean threats of war and South Korean vows of counterstrikes.

Friday's developments followed the countries' agreement a day earlier to hold talks on issues including reopening a jointly run industrial complex in Kaesong that had been the last symbol of inter-Korean cooperation before it closed this spring.

The news was welcomed on both sides of the world's most heavily fortified border.

Kwak Sok Gyong, a Pyongyang resident, told The Associated Press that the North's announcement "reflects what people want in both north and south. I think the relations between north and south should be improved as soon as possible." North Koreans interviewed by foreign media in Pyongyang often echo statements carried by the country's official state media.

In Seoul, Park Gyeong-hyun, a 17-year-old student, said the Koreas have many unresolved problems, such as families separated by the Korean War six decades ago. "So I view the talks as a positive thing because the relationship between the two Koreas will get better if the talks go well."

Officials in Seoul said it wasn't yet clear what Sunday's proposed talks will focus on, if they happen. Such meetings in the past have involved lower-level officials charged with ironing out administrative details and reporting back to their bosses. The next step would be higher-level talks.

The last government-level contact between the Koreas on their peninsula took place in February 2011 at Panmunjom, according to the South's Unification Ministry, which deals with North Korea issues.

The mood on the Korean Peninsula has been tense since North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died in December 2011 and his son, Kim Jong Un, took over. Pyongyang, which is estimated to have a handful of crude nuclear devices, has committed a drumbeat of acts over the last year that Washington, Seoul and others deem provocative.

The proposed talks could represent a change in North Korea's approach, analysts said, or could simply be an effort to ease international demands that it end its development of nuclear weapons, a topic crucial to Washington but not a part of envisioned inter-Korean meetings.

Pyongyang understands that dialogue with Seoul is a precondition for any meaningful talks with the United States, and the North's latest overtures are aimed at creating a mood that could lead to U.S.-North Korea negotiations, said Yoo Ho-yeol, a North Korea expert at Korea University in South Korea.

Because Pyongyang needs talks with Washington to win aid and security guarantees, "realistically, the North doesn't have a choice" in pursuing talks with Seoul. "Its relations with the United States can't improve while its relations with South Korea remain tense," Yoo said.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Thursday that Washington supports improved inter-Korean relations but cautioned that it doesn't signal progress on restarting talks on North Korea's nuclear program. For that to happen, North Korea has to abide by its previous commitments to abandon its nuclear weapons, she said.

If the Koreas meet Sunday, the talks will come on the heels of a high-profile summit Friday by Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama in which North Korea is expected to be a key topic. Xi is also scheduled to meet with South Korean President Park Geun-hye later this month.

Beijing, which is Pyongyang's only major economic and political ally, has expressed growing frustration with its neighbor, tightening inspections on cross-border trade and halting business with North Korea's Foreign Trade Bank. But Beijing, worried about its own economy and a possible influx of refugees, also views stability in Pyongyang as crucial.

The proposals for dialogue by the Koreas follow a meeting late last month in Beijing by Xi and the North Korean military's top political officer, who reportedly expressed a willingness to "launch dialogue with all relevant parties."

Associated Press

Nude revelers greet popular Colorado tourist train

DURANGO, Colo. (AP) — Passengers on a recent run of a popular historic railroad in southwest Colorado got a bit more scenery than they paid for: More than a dozen revelers partying on a nearby beach doffed their clothes to greet the train.

Their antics on the May 25 run of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad drew warnings, but no charges, from police in Durango.

A photograph taken by James Slavin, a Phoenix tourist on the train, shows beer-holding — and nude — men and women whooping as the train pulled into town, The Durango Herald reported Thursday (http://tinyurl.com/lj4hef6 ).

"I thought they were mooning the train, and I didn't think it was going to be that bad," said Slavin, 77. "I guess I didn't realize how bad it was until I looked at the pictures and zoomed in on them."

Train personnel have reported similar incidents previously to Durango police, but it's difficult to patrol.

"We can't stop the train. If we do report them, by the time anybody's able to respond, then whoever was responsible is usually gone," said the railroad's general manager, Paul Schranck.

Jack Llewellyn, executive director of the Durango Chamber of Commerce, urged residents to be considerate to tourists, who are critical to the city's economy.

"There are people enjoying their vacation, and to see that — they don't want to see that," Llewellyn said.

Built in the 1880s to service area mines, the steam-powered Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad takes thousands of tourists each year on a scenic 45-mile journey between Durango and Silverton, Colo.

———

Information from: Durango Herald

NY authorities: Self-help couple commits suicide

TOM HAYS, AP

NEW YORK (AP) — On a radio show they hosted called "The Pursuit of Happiness," John Littig and Lynne Rosen urged listeners to embrace spontaneity.

"So much about life is about impulse," Littig said on a broadcast this year on an FM station in New York, WBAI. "It's about doing it right now."

A shocking decision the couple made together appeared more methodical: Police say they killed themselves side by side as part of a suicide pact.

Autopsies found that both Littig, 47, and Rosen, 45, died from asphyxiation after inhaling helium, a spokeswoman for medical examiner's office said Thursday.

The bodies were discovered Wednesday on a couch in the couple's brownstone in Brooklyn, with so-called "exit bags" over their heads. The suicide method — using plastic bags with draw strings and a hose attached to helium canister — is becoming more common because of it provides "a fast, peaceful, undetectable death" compared with suffocation by carbon dioxide, according to a recent fire department memo prepared for paramedics.

In separate suicide notes, Lettig indicated that they were determined to die together, while Rosen apologized to her family, police said. But beyond that, why two people who made a living giving advice on how to lead more fulfilling lives decided to cut short their own wasn't clear.

There was no immediate response to a message left Thursday at WBAI.

"RIP Lynne Rosen + John Littig. Partners on the air and in life," the station wrote in a tweet.

The victims were partners in self-help venture called "Why Not Now," according to their website. The site describes Littig as a motivational speaker, workshop facilitator and personal life coach, and Rosen as a life coach, speaker and consultant.

Rosen also was the host of "The Pursuit of Happiness," a once-a-month, hour-long show on the left-leaning WBAI. She was often joined in the Manhattan studio by Littig.

The pair's breezy banter about life's lessons is on display in YouTube postings of the broadcasts. In one, they mull a famous quote, "do one thing every day that scares you," attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt.

"People get scared to make changes and step outside of that comfort zone, right, John?" she says.

"Stepping outside you comfort zone is very important. Or alternatively you can start to get comfortable with change," he responds.

"Yeah! I like that!" she says. "That's great."

And while pondering Albert Einstein's observation, "Imagination is more important than knowledge," Littig espouses the virtues of acting on impulse.

"Intuition, impulse are extraordinarily important things in life," he says. "You will not be well-served if the impulse is shut down or you think about everything too much. Sometimes you just do it."

(talk about do it yours-elvers)