Hound Dog

It was nearing the end of the day for my students and the summer-school class I was teaching for Del Norte County Parks and Recreation. The last half hour of school, I usually allowed my students to do whatever they would like, barring destruction or death.

This afternoon they elected to have an informal dance. We had a radio in the room, and it was tuned to KPOD broadcasting out of Crescent City, 20 miles away.

The disc jockey spinning the tunes that afternoon was Dave Angell.

The song, “Hound Dog,” came on the radio and the kids danced like crazy people suffering from electrostatic shock therapy. It was funny to watch this group of kids ham it up like they did.

When the song ended, Dave came on and said, “News out of Memphis, Tennessee—-the King is dead. Elvis Presley has died…”

While I don’t remember the rest of what Dave read from the news wire, I do know you could have heard a pin drop in that small classroom at Margaret Keating School.

Our joy had turned to sadness within seconds. I’m certain now it wasn’t pins dropping on the floor, rather tears.