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The Long Laneway by Colum McCann

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Where Were You When Kennedy Was Shot?

BBC Radio 4, 15 November 2013
 
The first in a season of specially-composed short stories under the title "Where Were You When Kennedy Was Shot?" told of an Irish farmer and his sons' reaction to the tragedy.  Spread across all four corners of the globe - Venezuela, the Sudan, New York - the sons took in what was happening around them and tried to determine their future course of action.  The Kennedy assassination was truly global in terms of its significance, and different people in different territories had their own ways of reacting as the news was broadcast on black-and-white television or via the BBC World Service.
 
Back home in Ireland, the father also heard about the tragedy, but interpreted it in specifically personal terms.  It was only later that he discovered the true significance of what had happened, which prompted him to wonder how he should have reacted (almost as if there was a "right" or a "wrong" reaction to the tragedy).
 
Read by Des McAleer, The Long Laneway acknowledged the uniqueness of the Kennedy assassination; it was not only a global event, but nothing like it had really happened before.  Hence people were not quite sure how to respond to the tragedy.  The producer was Morag Keating.